With their murderous rabbits, awkward graffiti and awesome nicknames, the business cards handed out by Chicago gang members in the 1970s and 80s are a peek into a violent underworld.

Thee Almighty & Insane: Chicago Gang Business Cards from the 1970s & 1980s, by Brandon Johnson, catalogues a strange graphic design subculture.

‘This is the first card in my collection,’ he says. ‘I soon discovered this “compliment card” was part of a larger phenomenon, most prevalent during the 1970s and 80s when Chicago street gangs made business cards displaying their symbols, nicknames, territories, and enemies as a means to assert their pride, recruit new members, and serve as general tokens of affiliation.’ The second edition of the book is available to preorder.

STONED YARDERS The Stoned Yarders were a party crew affiliated with the Almighty Gaylords (as indicated by the crosses with two slashes above) who hung out in Mozart Schoolyard in the West Logan Square area. The graphics are perfect and the names - Weed, Stoner, Buzz, Fry - are fitting. The blackletter style font used is typical, but the blue linen paper is notable.

‘The slogan says it all. The Villa Lobos were from the Little Village part of South Lawndale. The name translates from Spanish as “Village Wolves”, which makes sense given their location. The Villa Lobos were enemies of Two Six and therefore allies of the Latin Kings, and eventually joined the People Nation – a gang alliance formed in 1978 in response to alliances in the prison system, extending later to the streets. These alliances’ symbols can be found on many cards, including pitchforks, crowns, devil’s horns and tails, 3D pyramids, crescent moons, and five- or six-pointed stars and crowns’‘The slogan says it all. The Villa Lobos were from the Little Village part of South Lawndale. The name translates from Spanish as “Village Wolves”, which makes sense given their location. The Villa Lobos were enemies of Two Six and therefore allies of the Latin Kings, and eventually joined the People Nation – a gang alliance formed in 1978 in response to alliances in the prison system, extending later to the streets. These alliances’ symbols can be found on many cards, including pitchforks, crowns, devil’s horns and tails, 3D pyramids, crescent moons, and five- or six-pointed stars and crowns’

‘I believe this translates from Spanish to something like “the Hustlers”. This is a more obscure gang atypically using what I assume are real names rather than nicknames. The hand-drawn ZigZag and Playboy logos are choice graphics’

‘The Stoned Freaks started in the late 1960s, taking their name from the hippy culture from that time. Notorious for partying, they were based in Hermosa and quickly shifted from a party crew to a full-fledged gang allied with the Latin Kings. The Freaks later allied in the late 1970s with other white gangs such as the Gaylords, C-Notes, and Taylor Jousters to combat the influx of Latino gangs in their neighbourhoods. In my opinion, this card has some of the best nicknames. And with a catchphrase like “Sworn to Fun Loyal to None” their motivations are clear’ 

‘The hooded figures represent the mystery associated with the gang’s name, and the Puerto Rican and Mexican flags indicated their primary membership. However, there were some Unknowns branches that included white and black members. The Unknowns started in West Humboldt Park and were associated with the Latin Kings, sometimes being referred to as the Unknown Kings. But the Unknowns expansion in the Kings’ home territory of Humboldt Park set off a war between the two. By the late 1970s, the Unknowns became well known for killing the leaders of rival gangs’

‘I like that this card uses the word Chi-Town prominently, one of Chicago’s well-known nicknames. It also has some excellent member nicknames – Shy-Lad (a nod to the pronunciation of Chi-town), Nando, Young Blood, Elvis, Lips, and Little Man. You can also see where the moniker “compliment cards” comes from. The history of the Warlords is a little hazy, but they were known to operate in Bucktown and Wicker Park. Their colours were black and orange, hence the colour of the card. The Warlords ceased activity in 1990’

The Almighty Gaylords are one of the oldest gangs in Chicago and at their peak one of the largest and most powerful. They mainly comprised white working-class teenagers whose families could not afford to leave the city in the era of white flight; they opposed what they perceived as foreign influence altering their neighbourhoods. They adopted white supremacist symbols and slogans, including Klansmen, swastikas, and flaming Celtic crosses. This card depicts two Klansmen preparing to execute a Simon City Royal rabbit. It’s a reminder of the violence under the surface of these cards’