Chapter 2

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prohis
"prohis" was a slang term for federal Prohibition agents, who were tasked with enforcing the ban on alcohol during the Prohibition era (1920–1933). The term comes from the shortening and slang-ification of "prohibition".

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These are the people who invented the meatball, the bocce ball – rolling objects, it comes naturally to them
Those Italians and the ball bearing

1917 and the bomb that went off...
The single deadliest event in national law enforcement history occurred in Milwaukee on November 24, 1917, when nine officers and two citizens were killed in a bomb blast. The bomb exploded inside the assembly of the Central Police Station at Broadway and Oneida Street, now known as Wells Street. Police were not the intended target. More...

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ice cream cones
During the Great Depression, ice cream was recognized as an enduring comfort food that could provide a psychological lift during difficult times. Ice cream consumption initially dipped during the 1929 stock market crash but endured as a "sweet" and uplifting food that contrasted with the "depressing foods" common during the era, such as mustard sandwiches. The popular Rocky Road ice cream flavor was invented during the Depression to help lift people's spirits. Its name was intended as a metaphor to help people cope with the "broken, rocky pieces" of life at the time. The Wisconsin Milk Strikes of 1933