The clutching hand

[Dwalin2014]

Could somebody please explain the confusion: which mobster had a disfigured hand and was nicknamed "The clutching hand"? Was it Giuseppe Morello or Giuseppe Piraino? Books and articles I read state differently; I thought this Morello photo is pretty well known:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... o_1902.jpg
But then some sources say it was Giuseppe Piraino who was "The clutching hand", for example:
http://deadgangster.blogspot.it/2008/03 ... umped.html
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1931 ... es-killing
or the book "The origin of organized crime in America" by David Critchley.

[DPG]

I'm sure there are a few Johnny Boys as well. Nicknames are most often given by cops or newspapers, it not like they are exclusive.

[Dwalin2014]

I'm sure there are a few Johnny Boys as well. Nicknames are most often given by cops or newspapers, it not like they are exclusive.

Yes, but the nickname was because of a hand disfigurement, so the hand looked like a claw. It's not that common, such an injury, could they both have the same one?

[DPG]

I've heard the name attached to them both but I know nothing about Piranio other than the nickname .

[Angelo Santino]

Joe/Peter Morello's right hand was deformed, I believe he had a thumb and pinkie and hence "clutched" things like a crab leg. Morello had to use his left hand which in the 1900's had a connotation considered of bad or shady character.

[CG1]

This has confused me too. According to this source Joseph Piraino was the last person to see Frankie Yale alive. It also mentions that he was the father of Anthony "Big Tony" Piraino and Joseph S. Piraino. https://books.google.fi/books?id=2eCPAg ... no&f=false

The same book quotes The New York Dailies report, that Joseph Piraino (I assume the father) was in the office when Joe Morello was shot to death. Piraino was shot twice, fell out of the window and died. Now, I doubt that two "clutch hands" would have been murdered in the same hit, so my assumption is that this is confusion created by reporters. https://books.google.fi/books?id=pmaRAg ... no&f=false

[willychichi]

Could somebody please explain the confusion: which mobster had a disfigured hand and was nicknamed "The clutching hand"? Was it Giuseppe Morello or Giuseppe Piraino? Books and articles I read state differently; I thought this Morello photo is pretty well known:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... o_1902.jpg
But then some sources say it was Giuseppe Piraino who was "The clutching hand", for example:
http://deadgangster.blogspot.it/2008/03 ... umped.html
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1931 ... es-killing
or the book "The origin of organized crime in America" by David Critchley.

The tribune article described Piraino with a deformed left hand and Morello's right hand was deformed.

[Pogo The Clown]

That hand of his was freaky. Imagine you are wiseguy and you have to try not to stare at that thing when Morello is inducting you or you're at a sitdown with him.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

That hand of his was freaky. Imagine you are wiseguy and you have to try not to stare at that thing when Morello is inducting you or you're at a sitdown with him.


Pogo

He covered his arm by putting a cloth over it.

Again, from a social perspective using your left hand would/could prohibit someone from finding work, housing and being accepted by society. It's amazing Morello was able to rise to the level that he did, to be influential in cities outside of NY such as New Orleans or Chicago.

[CG1]

I was wrong, it wasn't at least the father Joseph Piraino who was shot with Morello. Piraino was shot on the street and he had a massive funeral in Brooklyn.

This article says "fingers of his right hand were gnarled and weirdly distorted by paralysis." Murder son of slain racketeer http://www.fultonhistory.com/highlighte ... 8d7#page=1

I think Morello was completely missing fingers.

[cammy_sanzone1]

Yeah,definitely morello was the "clutch hand"he wore a cape type of garment to try and hide it but everyone knew what it was.I dont know of the piraino fella,did he have a disfigurement as well?photo anyone of piraino?thanks.

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Morello had like, only an index finger and a thumb. According to Mike Dash, his counterparts never stared at it for too long, and he kept it covered with a cape sort of apparel. Interestingly, there's this kid around my way, street guy, who has the same deformity on his right hand, he keeps it in his pocket mostly, but he'll shake your hand with it. Its so weird because we do a specific type of handshake and it just feels so funny. He's a cool guy though.


And the elder Giuseppe Paraino is mentioned in the Peter Lance book on Scarpa and Devecchio. Says he was a former bootlegger and associate of Salvatore Maranzano.

[B.]

Does anyone know if there was a fairly common Sicilian or Italian term that was used to describe people with deformed hands? I am wondering if "clutching hand" was a translation of this which is why it may have been used for more than one guy.

Either that, or the media gave the same nickname to both of them because they each had a deformed hand. I can't imagine both of them were known as "the clutching hand" to their peers unless it was derived from an Italian saying.

I always get Piraino and Pinzolo mixed up in my mind, as they were both "Joes" with P last names who were leaders for a short time around the same period. Pinzolo was the boss of the Luccheses for a brief period, representing the pro-Masseria faction, but who was Piraino with? His sons would be Profaci members and Piraino has been listed as an affiliate of Frank Yale, who had some future Profaci members with him, but it's not clear to me who Piraino was officially with.

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Gonna try to find some more info, but again, Deal With The Devil refers to him as an associate of Salvatore Maranzano and that he was killed in 1930. Thats literally all the information given on the guy as far as that one source goes.

Take this info for granted, I found it on Wikipedia, Giuseppe Peraino immigrated from Sicily around 1911, after escaping a 25 year prison sentence. He settled in NY on the same year and Anthony Peraino was born 4 years after. Says by 1930 he had risen through the ranks to become the boss of the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn area rackets, taking over bootlegging, gambling and extortion activities once controlled by Frankie Yale. Said to be powerful and once again, a powerful ally of Salvatore Maranzano. He supposedly attended a bootleggers summit on March 27, 1931, in which he was murdered afterward. His death was attributed to the Castellamarese War. Some also state his death was a result of a separate conflict in relation to bootlegging. Mafia historian, Richard Downey, theorizes that Peraino was the early patriarch of the Profaci family, the reason for this is many of his rackets, soldiers and territory was absorbed by Joseph Profaci. This theory is both dismissed and supported by many. Downey uses the fact that the Peraino brothers were members of the Profaci, later the Colombo Crime Family as proof of this. Take this with a grain of salt. And I'm sure you guys probably heard all of the previous info before. Thats literally all I've been able to find on the guy.

[LcnBios]

.