Mickey Finn

Mickey Finn. Local business owner, bartender. Lived in Chicago. Ran the Lone Star Saloon and Palm Garden from 1896 to 1903. Famous for his drinks. Not a good man – in trouble with the law more than once. Liked to be on the slip. It was said that you could find things at his place – money, girls, goods. Mickey was a fence. From what the underworld would tell you, a successful one.

Apocryphal story. Good one though. Goes like this. Mickey Finn liked to add special ingredients to his drinks. Called it the “white stuff”. Probably chloral hydrate. Very bad for you. Sedative. Put it in alcohol – even worse. Knocks you out cold. Gives you amnesia. Later used in Jonestown.

Once victim was anaesthetized Mickey would carry them to the back room. Rob them. Dump the body in an alley. Victim wouldn’t remember what happened. Finn paid off cops to keep them off his back. Not enough though. Eventually shut down.

Story continued though. Stayed in the loop. People liked it. Origin of the phrase “slip a mickey“. Possibly. Either way. People like stories. They like having a villian. Attach a face to a name – story lives on.