Brandon Johnson, Courtesy Almighty & Insane Books
Long before digital media took hold, people built their reputations through business cards. Offering the perfect balance of professionalism and panache, these cards communicated the holder’s identity to friends, associates, and enemies with bold, blackletter typefaces.
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On Chicago’s North and West Sides during the 1960s and 70s, business cards were one of the ultimate status symbols for gangs like the Royal Capris, the Almighty Playboys, and the Imperial Gangsters, who used these discreet slips of paper to rep their set.
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“The practice carried over from membership cards of social athletic clubs in Chicago that many gangs evolved from,” says Brandon Johnson, author of Thee Almighty & Insane: Chicago Gang Business Cards From the 1960s & 1970s – his second in-depth volume documenting the long-underground culture. “In my opinion, these cards offered the gangs a sense of validation as official organisations.”
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Brandon Johnson, Courtesy Almighty & Insane Books
Brandon Johnson, Courtesy Almighty & Insane Books