Front Rows Seats

passed away. Forced to find a job and keep food on his family's table, he worked as an aid at the nineteen twenty eight Democratic National Convention in Houston, and it was there that Roy got a taste for his future career. In nineteen thirty one, he started his own private law practice after graduating college. A few years later, he became the youngest member of the Texas House of Representatives.

His ambitions carried him up the political ladder from a judgeship in Harris County to Lyndon Johnson's congressional and senatorial campaign manager. The two had actually met at that convention back in nineteen twenty eight, and Roy eventually went back to law, but he found new opportunities for success in a variety of industries. He would take slag or buy product from steel production and sell it off as aggregate

for building roads. He also made quite a bit of money in broadcasting, owning a series of television and radio stations across Texas. But eventually Roy found himself returning to politics in nineteen fifty two when he was elected as mayor of Houston, a position that he held for two terms. He didn't always get along with his constituents nor the other members of the local government. He'd been a strong proponent of integration when many of his white colleagues wanted

to keep Houston racially segregated. Unfortunately, he was ousted in a special election in the mid nineteen fifties and was forced to step down, But he wasn't out because Roy was about to change Texas sports forever. In nineteen fifty nine, the former judge and Mayor joined the Houston Sports Association, which had been formed by a committee of local business owners, and they all had one purpose to get Houston its

own baseball team. This dream came true in nineteen sixty when Houston acquired the Colt forty five franchise, but by the early nineteen sixties roy knew that they needed a proper stadium to play in, so he went to the HSA with a plan. He recalled a vacation that he had taken to Italy with his wife in nineteen sixty two. While touring the coliseum, he marveled at its design and features. It didn't matter better what was going on in the

center of the arena. The round shape could accommodate just about anything, and if the outside temperature got too hot, a cover could be drawn over the top of the coliseum to keep everyone cool. And that's what the US needed around All Weather Stadium, and it would be built right in Houston. The facility was constructed on several hundred acres of swampland and featured a domed roof made of

plexiglass to allow light in. It was given the futuristic name of the Astrodome, and the Colt forty fives moved in in nineteen sixty five under a new name of their own, one to match their home. They were now called the Houston Astros. Speaking of homes, Roy wanted somewhere to live that was close to the stadium. He had a flare for the theatrical visible in his sprawling mansion

along Galveston Bay known as Huckster Home. For example, there was a space inside called the Circus Room, which featured colorful decor and old arcade games. So he had a lavish apartment constructed where he could both live and work. Bob Hope described it as early King Faruk, referencing the Egyptian king who was overthrown in nineteen fifty two in part for spending too much money on parades and his

extravagant playboy lifestyle. Within this opulent apartment, Roy built a number of rooms, each one designed to fulfill a specific

purpose or whim. His grandchildren had their own playrooms styled like a circus tent, while adults could while away the hours playing bowling or shooting pool in separate recreational areas, and if business had to be conducted on premises, there was a conference room with a long white table flanked by chairs covered in zebra fer He also had a personal movie theater, a children's library and inter faith chapel, a miniature golf course, a barber shop, and a salon

for his wife. There was even a special presidential suite used only by Lyndon B. Johnson. But Roy wasn't content living far from his beloved Astros. Wanted to be where the action was, so he had this lavish apartment and office suite built as close as he could get to the team. Inside the Astrodome, Roy could literally walk out of his bedroom or office and watch a game going on below. He even had a special dining area that overlooked the field. Following his death in nineteen eighty two,

everything was renovated to accommodate more stadium seating. Almost all traces of the Astrodome apartment are now gone, and the building itself has sat unused since two thousand and eight. Several attempts to revitalize and refurbish it have failed. In twenty thirteen, the county tried to turn it into a public park, Others tried to bring the building up to code, and some lobbied to have it demolished entirely until it was added to the National Register of Historic Places the

following year. But maybe the best use of the astrodome has been sitting under everyone's noses this entire time. They should follow in the footsteps of Roy Hoffeinz and just turn it into an apartment building. It's strange to think that the most trivial parts of daily life might be influenced by nefarious players. It's even stranger to think that we might owe thanks to dangerous people for making our lives safer. This story is one of those twisted and

unexpected tales from history. In nineteen thirty three, the prices of dairy products in the Midwest were fixed. However, independent dairy farmers demanded a higher price for their milk, but representatives from the Associated Milk Dealers, a dairy trade group, argued that the public would not be willing to pay more. As a result, these dairy farmers, who were union members of the Pure Milk Association, went on strike. Meanwhile, two brothers, Ralph and al were looking for a way to make

more money. The brothers were a le of sorts. Their business tactics were highly uncommon unless someone was a close confidant, it was nearly impossible to even speak with them. At this time. The brothers were in the business of selling alcohol, but they had reason to believe that the industry was going to take a hit, so they turned their attention

to Midwestern dairies. These dairies lacked regulation, and the brothers and their associates already controlled other food products like Wisconsin cheese. Ralph and Al's associates acquired Meadowmoor Dairies, located in Chicago, Illinois. Ralph had milkship from neighboring Wisconsin, which was much cheaper, and then bottled in Meadow Moore's facilities. When word of what they were doing got out to caused major conflict

between themselves, union officials, and other dairies. Tensions were especially high because the economic hits of the Great Depression left many dairy farmers feeling helpless and desperate, so the two brothers hatched a scheme they wanted to take advantage of the situation. As the story goes, there, Cronies met with the leader of the local milk wagon drivers union, Steve Sumner, and asked him to let Meadowmoor higher non union workers. They also asked to sell their milk at a lower

price than other dairies. They told Sumner that later on his union drivers could protest these changes, which in the public eye, would force Meadowmore to increase milk prices. Since the milk they got from Wisconsin was already cheaper, Ralph and al still stood to profit if Sumner agreed the brothers would protect him and his union. Ralph and al knew their protection was worth a lot. Two years prior, they reportedly kidnapped the president of the milk drivers union

and held him for a fifty thousand dollars ransom. They used that money to buy meadow More. You could say that by offering Sumner protection, the brothers were really just promising to leave him alone. But Sumner wasn't so easy to push around, you see. There was a story that he had once caught a milkman drunk on the job, and he threw the man from his wagon and delivered the rest of the milk himself. Always to his principles,

Sumner declined the brother's offer. This decision brought the conflict to a head, with many farmers feeling cornered, and the brothers determined to make a pretty penny. Violence erupted, store windows were smashed, people were attacked, and trucks were damaged. This period of street warfare went on for eighteen whole months,

and it became known as the Chicago Milk Wars. However, Ralph and al were never actually caught in the violence, and that's because both of the brothers were already behind bars. Al for his part, was in on tax evasion charges and perhaps by now you have realized how he and his brother were so able to pull the strings. That's right,

I'm talking about Ralph and al Capone. The bootlegging brothers strong armed their way into the dairy industry after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that he would repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, which outlawed the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. Once alcohol became legal again, no one would have had any

use for the brother underground racket. Being two of the most legendary mom men of all time, they didn't care that their new endeavor would bring violence to the region. But there is a chance that al Capone did some good while in prison. Rumor has it a family friend's son became gravely ill and passed away after drinking expired milk, so from his cell al Capone lobbied to have expiration

dates printed on all milk bottles. However, this may have just been another way for Capone to undercut his adversaries. We know that union regulations prevented him from cornering the dairy market and that dairy farmers were already struggling to make a living. This was particularly because store bought milk was becoming more popular than home delivered milk because it

was cheaper for consumers. As you know, milkmen were union members, and it's no surprise that milk didn't stay fresh on someone's doorstep for as long as it would in a store. So it's possible that al Capone wanted the expiration dates printed on the bottles to give customers more or reason to opt for store bob milk. Either way, we can be grateful that milk does come with expiration dates and that we no longer have to go to war just to get a bottle.