Two bartenders were arrested for selling the powder at the bar at the waiters' union headquarters, and W. Stuart Wood and his wife were arrested for manufacturing the powder. Chemical analysis showed that it contained antimony potassium tartrate, also called " emetic tartar" which in addition to causing vomiting, headaches, dizziness and depression, can be lethal in large quantities. Guests who tipped poorly were given "Mickey Finn powder" in their food or drinks. On June 22, 1918, four people were arrested and over one hundred waiters taken into custody over the apparent widespread practice of poisoning by waiters in Chicago. He was apparently arrested again in 1918, this time for running an illegal bar in South Chicago. The victim would wake up the next morning in a nearby alley and would remember little or nothing of what had happened.įinn's saloon was ordered to be closed on December 16, 1903. The incapacitated patron would be escorted or carried into a back room by one of Finn's associates, who would then rob him and dump him in an alley. First, Finn or one of his employees (including "house girls") would slip chloral hydrate into the unsuspecting patron's drink. The act of serving a Mickey Finn Special was a coordinated robbery orchestrated by Finn. Before his days as a saloon proprietor, Mickey Finn was known as a pickpocket and thief who often preyed on drunken bar patrons. His cited sources are Chicago newspapers and the 1903 court testimony of Lone Star prostitute "Gold Tooth" Mary Thornton. The first popular account of Mickey Finn was given by Herbert Asbury in his 1940 book Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld. Moreover, the first known written example of the term, according to the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED), is in 1915, 12 years after his trial. In December 1903, several Chicago newspapers documented that a Michael "Mickey" Finn managed the Lone Star Saloon and was accused of using knockout drops to incapacitate and rob some of his customers. The "Mickey Finn" is most likely named after the manager and bartender of the Lone Star Saloon and Palm Garden Restaurant, which operated on South State Street in the Loop neighborhood of Chicago from 1896 to 1903. The "spiking" of drinks is a practice used by sexual predators at drinking establishments who lace alcoholic drinks with sedative drugs. Serving someone a "Mickey" is most commonly referred to as "slipping someone a mickey". We strive to find these vintage artifacts in the best condition, but at the lowest prices, to give you affordable fine listening.In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with an incapacitating agent, particularly chloral hydrate, given to someone without their knowledge with the intent to incapacitate them or "knock them out" hence the colloquial name knockout drops. Due to the nature of pre-loved vinyl, a few scattered pops/clicks may remain. (If a record was found with a custom inner sleeve, we include that.) They are spot-played to ensure no overall listening problems. Our vintage vinyl finds are expertly wet-cleaned, and returned to their jackets inside fresh inner sleeves. Thoroughly Modern Millie (from movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie") Medley: Swinging on a Star/It's a Sin to Tell a Lie Hear covers of The Beatles and "Cabaret." (Oops, inside the jacket of "Saturday Night at Mickie Finn's.") We'll throw in the bonus album "The Now Sound of Mickie Finn," too. Here's a great souvenir you won't find in better condition.Īnd how about that wild cover art by W.T. NBC briefly brought the merriment to national TV in 1966 in a weekly half-hour program that helped promote records like "Mickie Finn's Live!" Our copy is still in its original (opened) shrink wrap, and sounds new again after our thorough vinyl cleaning.ĭid you see the TV show? Visit the nightclub? Or catch the act in later Las Vegas or dinner theater runs? Maybe your parents or grandparents still talk about it. The music and the motto were pure escapist fun, on old tunes like "Bye Bye Blackbird" and Beer Barrel Polka," plus then-new songs like "King of the Road." It was part of an American old-time revival that also included Farrell's Ice Cream Parlours and other throwback amusements. Wearing a vintage showgirl costume, she'd play Dixieland banjo while husband Fred pounded the piano in their San Diego warehouse turned nightclub. Mickie Finn turned the Gay Nineties and Roaring Twenties into a 1960s career.
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