Chicago 50 - No. 29 - Big Jim Colisimo's
- Lauryn Johnson
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
In the scene that leads up to Matron Mama Morton’s song, “When You’re Good to Mama,”
Velma says, “Mama, I always wanted to play Big Jim Colisimo’s. Could you get me that?”
Matron: “Big Jim’s! Well now, that’s another story,. That might take another phone call.”
Have you ever wondered who Big Jim Colisimo is? Well he was real!
Colisimo was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who built a criminal empire in Chicago based on prostitution, gambling and racketeering.
In spite of his vice business, however, Colosimo saw his popularity skyrocket with the city’s elite when he opened Colosimo’s Cafe on South Wabash in 1910. A lavish nightclub featuring a world-class chef, good wine, and famous entertainers like opera singer Enrico Caruso, the Cafe quickly became a popular nightspot for the rich and powerful of Chicago, criminal or otherwise. Patrons came to drink at the renowned mahogany-and-glass bar, and to eat in its dining room, whose walls were covered with green velvet and gold filigree, beneath chandeliers made of solid gold, racketeers mingled with society figures and famous performers.
Once it obtained national renown, any given night would see a mix of sporting figures, big businessmen, collegians, gangsters, journalists, politicians, the rich, the chic, the famous and the infamous, the tourists—plus pimps, whores, thieves, and all manner of criminal riffraff. A big, fleshy man, he would move with ursine tread from table to table, gesticulating grandly, charming the women and amusing the men, ordering champagne and cigars on the house. Big Jim loved playing host, and his patrons loved him for it.
Colosimo was assassinated in his cafe on May 11, 1920, and no one was ever charged with his murder.
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