Once again the Mason record card does not give us a Club name but enough info to ferret it out.

From the info I received I am very comfortable using the Club name in the info. If for no other reason than, what else could THT stand for in a city with a population today of only 32,467? Wonder what the population was in 1941?

One little bonus, as with many Northern Illinois illegals, this one comes back to Al Capone in the prohibition era. You got to love the history! Guess what? I finally got the info on the Miami, FL, LJC hub I showed on the board a few days ago. It also comes back to Al Capone. Al and his boys were all over the place in that era.

I am going with “Top Hat Tavern” on this one. Read on!

Enough of that:

Illinois:

Thomas Perona
Top Hat Tavern
105 Pine St
Danville, IL
100 blue, 200 white
4/21/41

Thomas Perona emigrated from Italy in the 1890’s and went to work in the coal mines. In the early1900’s he was injured in a mining accident which left him permanently disabled. After the accident and for most of the rest of his life Perona was involved in the tavern and liquor business. The chip delivery address105 Pine, was Perona’s residential address. He was 63 years old when the chips were ordered in 1941.

According to an account written in 2011 by the wife of Perona’s grandson, during prohibition Perona’s activities with illegal liquor at both Danville and nearby Westville got him in trouble with the law. She also relates a story in which Perona’s illegal liquor activity got him into more serious trouble:

As with most Al Capone stories, without corroborating evidence to support the story it probably needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Perona’s “16 year old son James” would have turned 16 in Sept.1933 (prohibition repealed Dec.1933). In addition to the Capone story, she says that during a poker game Thomas Perona won a house in Danville from the Vermilion County sheriff. Perona died at Westville in 1970 age 90.

There was a tavern south of Danville in the 40’s and 50’s called the “Top Hat Tavern” which might account for the THT on the chip. The place had gambling but I don’t know if Perona had anything to do with it.

pic of Perona:

Thomas Perona’s grandson Michael Perona lives in Minnesota. His wife Juleigh is the one who wrote the account of Perona’s activities. Here’s their FB profiles in case someone wants to contact them for further info:

I had Juleigh messaged through her face book page but no reply to date.