Back in the Prohibition Era, Chicago was home to many illegal speakeasies. John Barleycorn in Lincoln Park was a well known speakeasy regularly frequented by notorious bank robber John Dillinger.
Today, John Barleycorn's decorative door is surrounded by security cameras and door buzzers. Back in the 1920s and early 1930s, this door was boarded up, and John Barleycorn was disguised as a Chinese laundry.
The sale, production, transportation and importation of alcohol was strictly prohibited, so booze was snuck in underneath piles of dirty laundry.
Oh Pipkin! Look into those innocent eyes...who would have thought Pipkin capable of such dirty deeds?
The modern day John Barleycorn sells alcohol legally to those of drinking age, and you can find them at 658 W. Belden Ave.
