I know Bobby personally. Back in the early 1980's my aunt married his great friend named Rob C. All through the 80's Bobby and several other guys were always around especially birthday parties. The Pointer Post Bobby mentioned many times was a place we had several family parties. I was a young teen so Bobby to me was ALWAYS uncle Bobby. Same was true for his buddies. Bobby's dad was known as Mr. Martini, period. It wasn't until the late 1908's when I learned who these people were. ALL of them were Winter Hill Gang associates. They were all the kindest men you could ever know. I'm so happy I've gotten to know these people and had them in my life for some time. Love you Uncle Bobby.
My Father was also friends and associates with some of these men, and I have a lot of the same stories! Took a few years (decades)for this all to percolate and me to put the pieces together…lol Uncle Jimmy always gave the best bday presents 😂🎉
Loved this show, first time viewer. Hope you do many more like this. Just subscribe- sure I won't be disappointed. So much out there on Cosa Nostra especially the big 5 in N.Y. and on Whitey but very little on Winter hill gang overall. Also, not much on Patriarcas either. Any stories of O.C. in S. Florida. A lot of history here but little reporting on it. They were all active down here from the '20's through today. Very little has been covered.
I spent my childhood in the Pointer Post, idolizing Big Bob and the rest of the guys down there and all the bikes. Bobby used to give us a handful of quarter to play the Cyclone pinball machine and the Harley motorcycle games. Between there and the Dante Club. Hey Bobby, remember the day we went to the JFK aircraft carrier in your Cadillac? Great memory. My father still has the hats we bought that day. So sorry to hear the Howie passed.
@@00bankz24 so was mine! They were childhood friends, best friends. They joined the Marine Corps together as soon as they were old enough because another friend of theirs who was a year older joined the Corps a year earlier and came home in his Dress Blues. That was Jim Adams, who passed away recently. The three of them went to Vietnam but not together. Ronnie was killed, Jim Adams came home with some pretty serious mental injuries, and my father lost his leg. Ronnie Pointer was a name I heard all the time growing up in Somerville. It’s why my father joined the Pointer post.
@@00bankz24 I’ve heard the name. It would be pretty crazy if they didn’t know each other. Somerville was still living in the 50’s in the 80’s and it’s a really small town. What’s your Dad’s name? Was he a member of any of the clubs like the Dante Club or any of the posts?
Oh boy it was great to hear thoughs stories...I grew up on Jay st. Davis sq...My uncle worked at the bud/surrey rm. Peter messina... materese family East boston....New subscriber
Thank you for this informative and insightful interview. I lived in Winter Hill at one time and was always fascinated with the history. Someone suggested for me to read Bobby Martini's book.
Growing up in Milton, I went to school with Steve & Billy Hussey. (Steven was in my class and we were friends 'till about 9th grade. I remember going to his house a few times). Our next door neighbor owned an Italian restaurant on the South Shore. (His mother owned one of the old old Italian restaurants in the North End). Another guy down the street was running guns to the IRA (My father told me one day, before the guy went missing) . --- Dot Ave, Quincy quarries & Blue Hill have were my playground as a teenager (None of it was good. By the time I was 30 I left the state to get away from it all). My father had a pretty big construction company in the city back then & did a lot of the big jobs (JP MBTA station, Andrew Sq Substation, Comm Ave etc.). We'd have pool parties where a lot of his "friends & business associates" would show up. - I thought it was all normal until recently, when I decided to look up some of my old classmates. Finding out that Steve & Billy's father was Stephen Flemmi kinda floored me. -- Now all this stuff is coming back & some of the strange things that went on growing up are starting to make sense. (I still have vivid memories of finding a body one Friday night on the Quincy side of Chickatawbut Rd. Then a year or so later when my neighbor Kevin came running over to our house to tell me that they'd found a guy in the woods behind their tennis court). 20yrs perspective. Man, I love Boston. Miss it. But late 70's early 80's were a f'kt up time for me as a kid.
Do you remember any interactions with Stephen Flemmi? What was he like personality wise? From what I’ve read and heard from those that knew him he was quiet but would joke from time to time and very unassuming when it came to his criminal activities.
You kept calling it The Departed. The movie was Black Mass. The Departed had a character that was based on Whitey. But it was a different story. Black Mass was the true story (basically) of Whitey Bulger and John Connolly.
I'm 62 years old today. When I was a kid my father at times would babysit me but he also had to make money and so he would drop me off at the Royal Tap or at the Winter Hill gang clubhouse aka doghouse. I have amnesia due to DID and I'm always remembering old memories. The memories are so fresh too like it just happened. Many of the original gang members were distant relatives of mine. At the Royal Tap I would get hotdogs and chips and Hersey bars to eat. "Don't give him so many Hersey bars" Jimmy would say. At the doghouse there were Christmas tree lights strung along the wall and every holiday Jimmy would change the lights with colors that matched the holiday. Halloween I remember. When Jimmy died I was so sad. When Joe Mac went to prison in the 1980s I cried my heart out. So many memories. Good memories. The movies and books today about the Winter Hill Gang and Jimmy Bulger are so fictional it is disgusting. The movie Departed believe it or not possesses the most truth but the movie is still basically fiction based on true stories.
Just a quick question, he tells a story about his father with a shotgun at 5:30 at night in the middle of the day, my question is how can it be night time in the middle of the day? Is Massachusetts near Alaska or the North pole?
@O B Jesus christ its a joke about his use of words describing the situation because he says at night in the middle of the day! However thank you for clearing that up, do you feel better?
OK!!! Would You Expect Anything Otherwise??? Why do You Feel the Requirement to Defend the Fat Rat Balloon Head Riddled with Bullets Coward????? BRIAN HALLORAN , LMFAO!!!!!
Mama Lisa pizza ..The hair salon which my friends owned ...The Bar ..Sal visited the salon alot he always brought gifts.. Oh yeah Izzy the Pharmacist. I took care of BoBo's Mother @ Holy Ghost Hospital in the 70s
Pretty cool that he went to get a WW11 German Lugar pistol to scare away a couple of guys planting a bomb under his hood. Does not get any more gangster than that.
Very interesting interview and yes “Citizen Somerville” is a good read if you grew up in the greater Boston area during the 60’s/70’s/80’s. As someone who grew up in East Boston during that period, I would most definitely extend that “OC ring of Crime” you discussed to Eastie where LCN operated in full view and with impunity for many years. One point of contention, John Kerry definitely served and served admirably in Vietnam winning a Silver and Bronze star for valor as a commander of a navy swift boat team. It’s really sad that some people are persuaded by the baseless Republican defamation/dirty tricks machine that completely slanders someone’s heroic wartime deeds-actions and deeds that were validated by his crew members by investigative sources-in order to elect a guy who had a posh stateside National Guard assignment during the Vietnam war because of his family’s powerful political connections.
I know Bobby personally. Back in the early 1980's my aunt married his great friend named Rob C. All through the 80's Bobby and several other guys were always around especially birthday parties. The Pointer Post Bobby mentioned many times was a place we had several family parties. I was a young teen so Bobby to me was ALWAYS uncle Bobby. Same was true for his buddies. Bobby's dad was known as Mr. Martini, period. It wasn't until the late 1908's when I learned who these people were. ALL of them were Winter Hill Gang associates. They were all the kindest men you could ever know. I'm so happy I've gotten to know these people and had them in my life for some time. Love you Uncle Bobby.
My Father was also friends and associates with some of these men, and I have a lot of the same stories! Took a few years (decades)for this all to percolate and me to put the pieces together…lol
Uncle Jimmy always gave the best bday presents 😂🎉
Loved this show, first time viewer. Hope you do many more like this. Just subscribe- sure I won't be disappointed. So much out there on Cosa Nostra especially the big 5 in N.Y. and on Whitey but very little on Winter hill gang overall. Also, not much on Patriarcas either. Any stories of O.C. in S. Florida. A lot of history here but little reporting on it. They were all active down here from the '20's through today. Very little has been covered.
I spent my childhood in the Pointer Post, idolizing Big Bob and the rest of the guys down there and all the bikes. Bobby used to give us a handful of quarter to play the Cyclone pinball machine and the Harley motorcycle games. Between there and the Dante Club. Hey Bobby, remember the day we went to the JFK aircraft carrier in your Cadillac? Great memory. My father still has the hats we bought that day. So sorry to hear the Howie passed.
@@00bankz24 so was mine! They were childhood friends, best friends. They joined the Marine Corps together as soon as they were old enough because another friend of theirs who was a year older joined the Corps a year earlier and came home in his Dress Blues. That was Jim Adams, who passed away recently. The three of them went to Vietnam but not together. Ronnie was killed, Jim Adams came home with some pretty serious mental injuries, and my father lost his leg. Ronnie Pointer was a name I heard all the time growing up in Somerville. It’s why my father joined the Pointer post.
@@00bankz24 I’ve heard the name. It would be pretty crazy if they didn’t know each other. Somerville was still living in the 50’s in the 80’s and it’s a really small town. What’s your Dad’s name? Was he a member of any of the clubs like the Dante Club or any of the posts?
Oh boy it was great to hear thoughs stories...I grew up on Jay st. Davis sq...My uncle worked at the bud/surrey rm. Peter messina... materese family East boston....New subscriber
Thank you for this informative and insightful interview. I lived in Winter Hill at one time and was always fascinated with the history. Someone suggested for me to read Bobby Martini's book.
Growing up in Milton, I went to school with Steve & Billy Hussey. (Steven was in my class and we were friends 'till about 9th grade. I remember going to his house a few times). Our next door neighbor owned an Italian restaurant on the South Shore. (His mother owned one of the old old Italian restaurants in the North End). Another guy down the street was running guns to the IRA (My father told me one day, before the guy went missing) . --- Dot Ave, Quincy quarries & Blue Hill have were my playground as a teenager (None of it was good. By the time I was 30 I left the state to get away from it all).
My father had a pretty big construction company in the city back then & did a lot of the big jobs (JP MBTA station, Andrew Sq Substation, Comm Ave etc.). We'd have pool parties where a lot of his "friends & business associates" would show up. - I thought it was all normal until recently, when I decided to look up some of my old classmates. Finding out that Steve & Billy's father was Stephen Flemmi kinda floored me. -- Now all this stuff is coming back & some of the strange things that went on growing up are starting to make sense. (I still have vivid memories of finding a body one Friday night on the Quincy side of Chickatawbut Rd. Then a year or so later when my neighbor Kevin came running over to our house to tell me that they'd found a guy in the woods behind their tennis court). 20yrs perspective. Man, I love Boston. Miss it. But late 70's early 80's were a f'kt up time for me as a kid.
Do you remember any interactions with Stephen Flemmi? What was he like personality wise? From what I’ve read and heard from those that knew him he was quiet but would joke from time to time and very unassuming when it came to his criminal activities.
Dana Owen’s book is called Shotgunned.
It’s a a good read.
You kept calling it The Departed. The movie was Black Mass. The Departed had a character that was based on Whitey. But it was a different story. Black Mass was the true story (basically) of Whitey Bulger and John Connolly.
I grew up with the Winter Hill gangsters I loved everyone of them we were all tightnit ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😂🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Joe McDonald was a savage contract killer, and him Howie, & Buddy will go down in history. Winter Hill will never die.
I'm 62 years old today. When I was a kid my father at times would babysit me but he also had to make money and so he would drop me off at the Royal Tap or at the Winter Hill gang clubhouse aka doghouse. I have amnesia due to DID and I'm always remembering old memories. The memories are so fresh too like it just happened. Many of the original gang members were distant relatives of mine. At the Royal Tap I would get hotdogs and chips and Hersey bars to eat. "Don't give him so many Hersey bars" Jimmy would say. At the doghouse there were Christmas tree lights strung along the wall and every holiday Jimmy would change the lights with colors that matched the holiday. Halloween I remember. When Jimmy died I was so sad. When Joe Mac went to prison in the 1980s I cried my heart out. So many memories. Good memories. The movies and books today about the Winter Hill Gang and Jimmy Bulger are so fictional it is disgusting. The movie Departed believe it or not possesses the most truth but the movie is still basically fiction based on true stories.
I thought the doghouse was 98 prince street.
@@00bankz24 That was the Angiulo family.
@@myradioon yeah I’m aware of that. Hence why i said 98 Prince st. The Hills spot was not called the doghouse
@@00bankz24 O.k. Most organized crime club houses were called their "Doghouse". It's a term they all used for their hangout/card spots.
@@myradioon aaaah ok that makes sense
My father was dear friends with Howie Winters Sal. We had block parties when I was a kid my father name is Walter Curran. I miss those days 😢
Your exactly right about Kerry rich pos my brother got kia 20yrsold 67 Danang
Just a quick question, he tells a story about his father with a shotgun at 5:30 at night in the middle of the day, my question is how can it be night time in the middle of the day? Is Massachusetts near Alaska or the North pole?
@O B Jesus christ its a joke about his use of words describing the situation because he says at night in the middle of the day! However thank you for clearing that up, do you feel better?
OK!!! Would You Expect Anything Otherwise??? Why do You Feel the Requirement to Defend the Fat Rat Balloon Head Riddled with Bullets Coward????? BRIAN HALLORAN , LMFAO!!!!!
Somerville no place like home baby..
Exactly
Hey guys, love the interview but you seem to have the brilliant film Black Mass mixed up with The Departed (one of Scorsese's lesser movies)
Wicked tough guy
Wasn’t this Whitey Burger’s gang?
@Gary Stevenson But the Winter Hill gang was one gang and Whitey controlled that. Right?
No. He took it over near it's demise. He was from South Boston another part of town and went to them for protection. He took over when the heads died.
Ya guy … fukin sweet
George... still in....
Tripe isn't fish!?
They called Halloran Pumpkin head, not balloon head.
Brian Halloran was a good man with a kind heart and a good soul who was given a bad reputation.
His Son is a Good Dude. I did Time with His Son. Justin is his Name I believe. Real Good Kid.
@@EdgarHoover-oj7nz OK! Would you expect otherwise for some reason?
@@robsim4692 U try to be Nasty??? LMFAO!!! Put away Your Kiddie Porn You Disgusting Sex Offender.
OK!!! Would You Expect Anything Otherwise??? Why do You Feel the Requirement to Defend the Fat Rat Balloon Head Riddled with Bullets Coward?????
Sal Sperlinga Lives!!!
I love the steak story the best
Mama Lisa pizza ..The hair salon which my friends owned ...The Bar ..Sal visited the salon alot he always brought gifts..
Oh yeah Izzy the Pharmacist.
I took care of BoBo's Mother @ Holy Ghost Hospital in the 70s
I love mama Lisa's as a kid my father ran the Portuguese bar on Marshall St behind mama lisas
. MY late friend Dan Madeiros & I had a few at that Bar )
It was Georgie! Your barred ,hahaha
Pretty cool that he went to get a WW11 German Lugar pistol to scare away a couple of guys planting a bomb under his hood. Does not get any more gangster than that.
Stabbing up the bum is a Glasgow tradition, sometimes also in Ireland
That's turkey you goose
My sister is related to Howie
Very interesting interview and yes “Citizen Somerville” is a good read if you grew up in the greater Boston area during the 60’s/70’s/80’s. As someone who grew up in East Boston during that period, I would most definitely extend that “OC ring of Crime” you discussed to Eastie where LCN operated in full view and with impunity for many years. One point of contention, John Kerry definitely served and served admirably in Vietnam winning a Silver and Bronze star for valor as a commander of a navy swift boat team. It’s really sad that some people are persuaded by the baseless Republican defamation/dirty tricks machine that completely slanders someone’s heroic wartime deeds-actions and deeds that were validated by his crew members by investigative sources-in order to elect a guy who had a posh stateside National Guard assignment during the Vietnam war because of his family’s powerful political connections.
Especially when the opponents making these claims are rich, draft-dodgers
My family is from eastern mattarese
The sayers family in Newcastle UK are the same totally in with the police and Freemasons
Lol like Freemasonry is intertwined with any crime, especially in Newcastle 😂😂😂 ridiculous
Not for nothing , but these cats terrorized Boston and their own community.
Funny how whitey killed rats while being a rat! I seen the departed so I know everything about everything in regard to table tennis
YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT KIDDIE PORN!!!!!
Yeah I knew people… shouldn’t be talking shit
Dude looks too young to been around that far back