I don't really have much of a dick in this measuring match considering I'm a product of the 80's but a quick google shows that there was a Hells Angels gang prior to 1963.
An old myth or legend of the NOPD.......
- Thread starter leVieux
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I don't really have much of a dick in this measuring match considering I'm a product of the 80's but a quick google shows that there was a Hells Angels gang prior to 1963.
From what I have read , the Hells Angels were formed in late 40's to early 50's . Their own website says 1948 .
http://www.hells-angels.com/?HA=history
http://www.hells-angels.com/?HA=history
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Right there were several small local California Clubs calling themselves Hells Angels throughout the 40's and 50's and into the early 60's. The Global Criminal Orginization we know as the Hells Angels with Sonny Barger at its head did not come into existence until the mid '60s. There were also no HA at the Hollister Event. In fact most of whats commonly repeated about the Hollister Event is fiction. Sensationalist Journalism. Even the infamous photo of the fat drunk biker in the garage cap was staged. There was only one organized club in Hollister; the San Fran Chapter of the Booze Fighters MC. Sonny Barger has a book out. In it he whines about every time a Policeman was mean to him in detail. He makes no mention of NOPD whipping his ass. I think its also true that anybody who knows early Harley will tell you that a ride from San Fran to NOLA would have taken weeks with the number of breakdowns that would have occurred.
I don't think I'm wrong about when the current club was formed. I have been wrong before and I will be again. I got no problem with that. The story is still BS either way. I spend more time paying attention to Banditos and Outlaws since they have local chapters.
I didn't hear about that story. I did hear about a story about a single biker though from a retired NOPD officer. He said there was a tiger act in the quarter at the time. He put the guy in with the tiger for a few minutes (the criminal didn't know the tiger was tame). After a few terrifying minutes they let the biker go...
Again I don't vouch for its truthfulness, especially considering the number of empty glasses in front of the aforementioned NOPD officer when I heard the story.
Those old NOPD guys had a way of getting things done back in the day.
Again I don't vouch for its truthfulness, especially considering the number of empty glasses in front of the aforementioned NOPD officer when I heard the story.
Those old NOPD guys had a way of getting things done back in the day.
Much as leVieux and I disagree about stuff I didn't read him mentioning Sonny Barger anywhere. Nor did he say, "The international Criminal Organization, The Hells Angels ..." He just said, "The Hell's Angels." Unless I'm mistaken, Hunter Thompson's book about them was published in 1966.
LeVieux, do you think it's possible that some other scenario could have accounted for the NOPD undercover guys renting the van and returning it with bloodstains?
LeVieux, do you think it's possible that some other scenario could have accounted for the NOPD undercover guys renting the van and returning it with bloodstains?
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I'm not sure just how organized they were, but weren't what is now known as the Hell's Angels formed from a group of returning WW2 Vets?
I couldn't say whether the story involving NOLA/Mardi Gras was anything more than a rumor that caught fire or not (before my time)- but I can say that some of my more "senior" siblings remember the news reports, FWIW. Of course, media hysteria and sensationalism didn't exactly begin yesterday, so....
I couldn't say whether the story involving NOLA/Mardi Gras was anything more than a rumor that caught fire or not (before my time)- but I can say that some of my more "senior" siblings remember the news reports, FWIW. Of course, media hysteria and sensationalism didn't exactly begin yesterday, so....
As I said from the beginning, I have no direct knowledge of what actually happened. I had heard snippets from various people during that time.
I was hoping that someone with more facts could fill in the story. Indeed, the deal may just be a myth.
Of course, the trucks could have been used for anything else.
We frequently found all sorts of weird stuff left in vehicles by customers or their employees.
Remember that this was the same decade as the Kennedy assassination, the Garrison investigations, the "Moon Shot", the Howard Johnson's massacre, and other bizarre happenings in New Orleans.
Could these events just be a coincidence ? I don't know.
leVieux
I was hoping that someone with more facts could fill in the story. Indeed, the deal may just be a myth.
Of course, the trucks could have been used for anything else.
We frequently found all sorts of weird stuff left in vehicles by customers or their employees.
Remember that this was the same decade as the Kennedy assassination, the Garrison investigations, the "Moon Shot", the Howard Johnson's massacre, and other bizarre happenings in New Orleans.
Could these events just be a coincidence ? I don't know.
leVieux
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http://www.hells-angels.com/?HA=history Scroll down to ' Lineage clarification "
The Hells Angels surely existed in 1963. They were first formed by returning GIs from WWII and Korean Wars,,,mostly airmen and thrill seekers. Below is from Wiki and I remember seeing a History Chanel special which documented them. In any case,,,,they DID EXIST in 1963,,,that is a given.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hells_Angels
The Hells Angels were originally formed in 1948 in Fontana, California[2] through an amalgamation of former members from different motorcycle clubs, such as The Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington. The Hells Angels website denies the suggestion that any misfit or malcontent troops are connected with the motorcycle club. However, the website notes that the name was suggested by Arvid Olson, an associate of the founders, who had served in the Flying Tigers "Hells Angels" squadron in China during World War II.[19] The name "Hells Angels" was inspired by the common historical use in both World War I and World War II, to name squadrons or other fighting groups by a fierce, death-defying name. The Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group) in Burma and China fielded three squadrons of P-40s; the Third Squadron was named "Hell's Angels".[20] The 1930 Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels displayed extraordinary and dangerous feats of aviation, and it is believed that the World War II groups who used that name based it on the film.
Some of the early history of the HAMC is not clear, and accounts differ. According to Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, founder of the Oakland chapter, early chapters of the club were founded in San Francisco, Gardena, Fontana, as well as his chapter in Oakland, and other places independently of one another, with the members usually being unaware that there were other Hells Angels clubs.
Other sources[21] claim that the Hells Angels in San Francisco were originally organized in 1953 by Rocky Graves, a Hells Angel member from San Bernardino ("Berdoo"). This implies that the "Frisco" Hells Angels were very much aware of their forebears. According to another account,[22] the Hells Angels club was a successor to "P.O.B.O.B." Motorcycle club,[23] The "Frisco" Hells Angels were reorganized in 1955 with thirteen charter members; Frank Sadilek, who designed the original death's head logo, served as President. The Oakland chapter, at that time headed by Barger, used a larger version of the patch nicknamed the "Barger Larger" which was first used in 1959 and later became the club standard.
In an interview in September 2011, with one of the original "thirteen", the above history is confirmed as basically accurate. The person interviewed is perhaps the only one of the original thirteen still living. The youngest member would be aged mid-seventies at this point, and they all engaged in a life of reckless behavior. The Frisco Hells Angels were formed in 1953 by Rocky Graves, a member of the Berdoo Hells Angels. The group fell apart and was reformed in the summer of 1955 with thirteen living members. This is the group that continues today. The number thirteen was considered inauspicious by those in attendance at the formation meeting, so another member, known as "Crazy" was installed posthumously. Crazy was killed in 1954 when he rode his motorcycle off of an unfinished elevated San Francisco freeway. Frank Sadilek was the president of the group, which was formed in 1955. His wife Leila was secretary. Both held these offices until they moved to Hawaii in 1961. The Death's Head emblem was not designed by Sadilek. The emblem on the original Frisco Angels jackets was a copy of Rocky's Berdoo Angels jacket. The emblem used on the membership cards, which was a very detailed pen and ink drawing, was done by a man who was known as "Sundown". His signature could be seen in very tiny letters in the originally printed membership cards. He was one of the habitués who hung out in the pool hall upstairs in the building on the north east corner of 7th and Market Streets in San Francisco, which for a time was the common meeting place, both before and after the formation of the 1955 group.
The Hells Angels are sometimes depicted in a similar mythical fashion as the James-Younger Gang, as modern day legends, or as free spirited and iconic of an era of brotherhood and loyalty. Others describe them as a violent criminal gang and a scourge on society.[24] The 1966 Roger Corman film, The Wild Angels depicts the gang as violent and nihilistic.
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nickatnite
Crybaby Hater...
Speaking about Hollister:
The famous picture was a set up from the beginning!
Gus Deserpa lived in Hollister. He is the smiling young man seen in the background of the famous 'Life Magazine' photo.
"I was projectionist by trade. I worked at the Granada Theater, which was on the corner of Seventh and San Benito. I would have got off work around 11 p.m.. My wife came to pick me up, and we decided to walk up Main Street to see what was going on.
I saw two guys scraping all these bottles together, that had been lying in the street. Then they positioned a motorcycle in the middle of the pile. After a while this drunk guy comes staggering out of the bar, and they got him to sit on the motorcycle, and started to take his picture.
I thought 'That isn't right', and I got around against the wall, where I'd be in the picture, thinking that they wouldn't take it if someone else was in there. But they did anyway. A few days later the papers came out and I was right there in the background.
They weren't doing anything bad, just riding up and down whooping and hollering; not really doing any harm at all."
Link to Hollister story:
http://www.salinasramblersmc.org/history/Classic_Bike_Article.htm
The famous picture was a set up from the beginning!
Gus Deserpa lived in Hollister. He is the smiling young man seen in the background of the famous 'Life Magazine' photo.
"I was projectionist by trade. I worked at the Granada Theater, which was on the corner of Seventh and San Benito. I would have got off work around 11 p.m.. My wife came to pick me up, and we decided to walk up Main Street to see what was going on.
I saw two guys scraping all these bottles together, that had been lying in the street. Then they positioned a motorcycle in the middle of the pile. After a while this drunk guy comes staggering out of the bar, and they got him to sit on the motorcycle, and started to take his picture.
I thought 'That isn't right', and I got around against the wall, where I'd be in the picture, thinking that they wouldn't take it if someone else was in there. But they did anyway. A few days later the papers came out and I was right there in the background.
They weren't doing anything bad, just riding up and down whooping and hollering; not really doing any harm at all."
Link to Hollister story:
http://www.salinasramblersmc.org/history/Classic_Bike_Article.htm
Being a life long Harley rider I have rubbed elbows with members of the Angles, Banditos, etc at various biker rallys. I don't remember many if any them at any local rallys like the Blowout in Gulfport, mostly Banditos and Outlws.
I remember the news reports of the Angles coming to Mardi Gras but I believe it was after the movie Easy Rider came out and brought attention of Mardi Gras to the country. My wife also remembers the news reports. It may have been around the time of the NOPD Mardi Gras strike.
I remember the news reports of the Angles coming to Mardi Gras but I believe it was after the movie Easy Rider came out and brought attention of Mardi Gras to the country. My wife also remembers the news reports. It may have been around the time of the NOPD Mardi Gras strike.
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Speaking about Hollister:
The famous picture was a set up from the beginning!
It looks like the guy standing is playing pocket pool?
You ain't wrong.
For what it's worth, I asked a friend of mine who grew up in New Orleans, and was living there as an adult at the time this occurred, what his recollections were and this is what he said, "Kevin, I remember that -- it was big news in New Orleans and much was made of it. The rest of that story just doesn't jive, though. I remember them coming to town with the news media following them around reporting their every move. And nothing happened that I remember, they participated just like everyone else and then left. This is the first I've heard of the story below and it seems that if it had happened that way, the news media, or someone, would have been right there for that big story."
I am inclined to agree with his assessment, not because it couldn't have happened, but because I just don't think a story like that, if true, would stay bottled up for so long. Human nature makes it pretty difficult to keep big secrets like that, especially, if more than a few people know about it. My .02 anyway.
I am inclined to agree with his assessment, not because it couldn't have happened, but because I just don't think a story like that, if true, would stay bottled up for so long. Human nature makes it pretty difficult to keep big secrets like that, especially, if more than a few people know about it. My .02 anyway.
BINGO ! That's what I was hoping to find. And, thanks, f350 !
This happened about six years prior to the HoJo shootings.
