by B. » Wed May 30, 2018 11:17 pm
Based on FBI docs from the 1960s, "Outfit" was a regional term used by many if not most mafia families in the midwest. I've never seen anything that points to it being a more formal name like we sometimes see with "Cosa Nostra" or "Mafia", just a casual way members in those areas referred to the organization. As other families dwindled away and Chicago became more popular in the media, I'd guess it took hold of the name. Along the same lines as "life imitating art", I would guess the members themselves were influenced by the media / publicity and eventually adopted "the Outfit" as a more formal name in their minds.
With the Aiello problems in the late 1920s, some Chicago members fled to Milwaukee / Madison so there is a connection between some of the early membership (plus connections we don't know about) but Milwaukee was its own family as far back as the 1910s with no known roots in Chicago. Chicago became much more involved in arbitrating disputes and meddling in Milwaukee activities in the 1950s as the family was having internal issues and sought Chicago's influence. By the 1960s, all mafia families in Wisconsin and Illinois were under Chicago's influence though they remained their own independent families
Based on FBI docs from the 1960s, "Outfit" was a regional term used by many if not most mafia families in the midwest. I've never seen anything that points to it being a more formal name like we sometimes see with "Cosa Nostra" or "Mafia", just a casual way members in those areas referred to the organization. As other families dwindled away and Chicago became more popular in the media, I'd guess it took hold of the name. Along the same lines as "life imitating art", I would guess the members themselves were influenced by the media / publicity and eventually adopted "the Outfit" as a more formal name in their minds.
With the Aiello problems in the late 1920s, some Chicago members fled to Milwaukee / Madison so there is a connection between some of the early membership (plus connections we don't know about) but Milwaukee was its own family as far back as the 1910s with no known roots in Chicago. Chicago became much more involved in arbitrating disputes and meddling in Milwaukee activities in the 1950s as the family was having internal issues and sought Chicago's influence. By the 1960s, all mafia families in Wisconsin and Illinois were under Chicago's influence though they remained their own independent families