The Hazards of the Hot Towel (Part I)

"This is the part that makes me nervous."
     "Why?"
     "I'm afraid someone's going to knock me off when you put that towel on my face."

     Obviously it's a joke, but it's one that any barber who has placed a hot towel on a customer's face has heard. Apparently, the wet heat of a steamy towel opens the pores, increases blood flow, and brings persecution complexes to the surface. The fear of a mob style assassination usually goes away when the towel is removed and a two inch long razor blade dances across the customer's neck. When another towel is plopped on the face, the anxiety cycle takes another spin.

     Unsurprisingly, barber shop hits are quite rare. With that said, I was unable to locate any solid quantitative data to support that claim.  Nonetheless, I am going to be bold and state that the fear of being the victim of a mob hit should never deter a man from a trip to the barbershop...unless he is in the mafia, and he does have a hit out on him. Which was the case for the two highest profile barbershop murders, which occurred on November 11, 1925, and October 25, 1957.

    Sam Amatuna was a dilettante Chicago mobster known for his above average singing voice and violin playing abilities. Sam, or Smoots, was said to have owned over 200 embroidered silk shirts, and newspapers even referred to him as the Beau Brummel of Little Italy (The Beau Brummel reference is losing power over the years. If you mention the name in most places, you'll probably be greeted with blank stares or with luck, the faintest hint of recognition. For those who don't know, George Bryan Brummel was the arbiter of men's fashion in Regency England, and is credited with establishing the modern suit and tie. For further reading, sit down with a glass of wine and kick back with Captain William Jesse's two volume The Life of Beau Brummel). Amatuna, like all stereotypical mobsters was fastidious in his grooming. Sam wanted to look good, and he wanted everyone around him to look good, that is why he would buy haircuts and shaves for the neighborhood teenagers who hung around his favorite barbershop. Sam Amatuna was a lover of opera and fine clothing, he was also a ruthless criminal who did not shy away from violence. There is one (perhaps apocryphal) story about an unfortunate dry cleaner who damaged some of Smoots' clothing. Instead of demanding a refund, the deadly dandy ripped out the stairs connecting the dry cleaner's shop to the street, and shot the man's horse in the head. Sam had a temper.

     On November 11, 1925 Smoots walked into Isidor Paul's barbershop on 804 Roosevelt Ave. He needed to get a shave and a manicure before he and his fiancee went to see a performance of Verdi's Aida. It seems that Sammy was so confident in his community standing, that he chose to go to the barbershop without a gun, and sans his regular bodyguards. This proved to be an unwise move. As Amatuna reclined in Paul's chair with a towel over his face, two men walked into the shop with guns drawn. Eight shots were fired, one hit Sam Amatuna, while two hit Isidor the barber. With the barbers and the patrons hiding or on the floor, the gunmen ran out of the shop, and onto Roosevelt Avenue. Two friends helped the wounded Amatuna into a taxi where he was driven not to the hospital, but to his brother's cigar shop. It would be a stretch to surmise that Smoots stopped for a fine Montecristo and a snifter of brandy, but still the decision to not go directly to the hospital is mindboggling. Most likely, the first stop was made to tell his brother Luigi that he'd been shot (obviously), and to give a description of the gunmen. After that one quick stop, the bleeding gangster was driven to the hospital. For two days, doctors at Jefferson Park Hospital tried to save Amatuna, but to no avail. At 2:00AM on November 13, 1925, Sam "Smoots" Amatuna was pronounced dead. Unlike Amatuna, the barber Isidor Paul, recovered from his wounds, and ran his barbershop until 1956.

     Only a year after Isidor Paul's retirement, on October 25, 1957, the biggest mob hit in barbershop history occurred. The hit that cemented the mob hit/hot towel association...

(Check back for Part II)