Chapter 15

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penny scale
These existed back then, exactly as described;

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Al, Benny, Chuck, deQuincy, and Edgeworth
"fictional names" of guys working at Wisebroad's Shoes

bringing out a fin
A five-dollar note is known colloquially as a fin, a fiver, half a sawbuck. A ten-dollar note is known colloquially as a ten-spot, a dixie, a sawbuck, or a tenner.

Brannock Device
The classic metal foot-measuring instrument you’ve seen in shoe stores and, yep, it dates right back to the 1930s.

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Pinochle and Sheepshead games Both Pinochle and Sheepshead are old, very social trick-taking card games with deep German and Central European roots, and both were hugely popular in the American Midwest (especially Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois) during the 1920s–1940s.

what curlers call a bonspiel
A bonspiel (Scottish Gaelic bàn spèil, meaning “a fair play” or “a gathering for a game”) is a curling competition or meet, usually involving multiple teams and lasting several days.

guy with the augur
An augur is a diviner, in this context a device to locate fish

Missouri Synod Lutheran
The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, formally known as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), is a conservative, confessional branch of Lutheranism based in the United States. They believe that the Bible is the inspired and salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

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swinging traffic at a bankruptcy sale
Moving stolen merchandise: fencing hot goods, or passing them along the chain (“He’s swinging traffic out the back door”).

o mio babbino caro
"O mio babbino caro" ("Oh my dear papa") is a beloved soprano aria from Giacomo Puccini’s 1918 opera Gianni Schicchi. It’s one of the most beautiful and frequently performed pieces in all opera repertoire — tender, lyrical, and heartbreakingly simple. The plot centers on a group of greedy relatives trying to alter a rich man’s will. Lauretta pleads with her father to help because she wants to marry her beloved, Rinuccio. Her line “O mio babbino caro” is both affectionate and manipulative — she’s tugging at her father’s heartstrings so he’ll agree to her marriage.

Bacciagaluppi
Perhaps this refers to Giuseppe Bacciagaluppi who, during World War II, Gwas a leader in the Italian Resistance who worked to rescue Allied prisoners of war. He served with the Committee of National Liberation (CLN) and was a friend of Ferruccio Parri, another significant figure in the Resistance. The records for Bacciagaluppi's efforts in saving over 1,500 POWs are preserved at the Istituto Parri in Milan. But this is a stretch, as I can't locate any crime figures with that name.

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Hope Twinkletoes ain't taking it too personally
Someone who's "twinkle-toes" moves lightly on their feet—such as a dancer, athlete, or boxer. But it could be used sarcastically toward men to suggest someone is overly delicate, fussy, or not rugged.

treb-bi la zuppa
Italian: thresh the soup but in this case it's separating the nitroglycerin from the soup, instead of the more common meaning of "thresh" which is to separate corn or wheat, eg, from the plant;

Vesti la giubba
“Vesti la giubba” (“Put on the costume”) is one of the most famous arias in all of opera — the heart-rending moment from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1892). It’s where comedy and tragedy collapse into one another.

Ba-ccia, galuppa
There is a real Italian surname Bacciagaluppi that dates back centuries, especially in Liguria and Lombardy, and it’s composed of two parts: Baccia (a variant of Bacchia or Bacio, “kiss”) and Galuppi (from galoppo, “gallop,” or from a personal name) So etymologically, “Bacciagaluppi” means something like: "He who kisses and runs" — or playfully, "kiss-and-gallop."

Dinah, is there anything finger

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box-blower
In this context, this might mean a thief or safe-cracker using explosives to “blow” a strongbox or safe. But a "box-blower" was also how folks referred to both radio announcers and crooners, meaning guys who blew hot air into that talking box (early slang for radios), i.e., radio personalities or studio singers. And "Dinah" was one of the first major hits of the radio era.

Edgewater Beach
In the early 20th century it was literally a beach — wide, sandy, and extending east toward Lake Michigan before landfill and the extension of Lake Shore Drive reshaped the shoreline. It symbolized elegant social life (tea dances, supper clubs, fashion shows), early radio culture (“from the beautiful Edgewater Beach Hotel...”), Chicago’s version of seaside luxury, and the optimism of pre-war urban resort living

it's a paradise over there
"there" being Italy, natch

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gabadost
A sort of mock-Italian slang meaning “a fancy guy,” “a hotshot,” or “somebody full of himself.”

Vuscenza
If someone is called “Vuscenza,” it usually means they’re a talker — loud, opinionated, always running their mouth.

lit up like Dearborn and Randolph
Dearborn and Randolph Streets intersect in Chicago’s Loop, a few blocks from the lake and right in the old theater and nightlife district. In the 1930s, it was lined with theaters, cabarets, and movie palaces, including the Garrick, the Oriental (now Nederlander), the Woods, and others, and surrounded by restaurants, cigar stores, dance halls, and hotels. It was brightly illuminated with electric signs, marquees, and "white way" lighting, much like Times Square in New York.