In the pre COVID-19 world, it wasn't uncommon for you to be sitting at the bar and have either a random stranger or someone you know talk your ear off. But imagine you are at the bar and get into a scuffle with a fellow patron. Next thing you know, you've been knocked down to the ground via a club or a similar weapon. Then you find your ear in the bouncer's mouth as said bouncer is dragging you towards the door. If you struggle, your ear is bitten off and you are sent home minus an ear while your separated ear becomes a trophy. Sounds like quite the way to bring your night to an end.
In this era of twenty-first century surveillance where cameras are everywhere and people with phones that would record your every move, you would think this scenario is impossible. And it might as well be impossible since what bouncer (or patron) wants to get immortalized on video on such outlets like WorldStar, Instagram and YouTube. But think back to a more simpler time.
Let's go back to a time where gangs ruled such neighborhoods as the Lower East Side, the Five Points and the waterfront of New York City. These lads and lassies were described in dramatic, exaggerated and colorful tones used by many newspaper journalists, as well as, Herbert Asbury did in his book entitled Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. In that rough and tumble time of 1850 - 1890 New York City, a scenario that I mentioned could have probably been fairly common. Legend (or history) says that there was indeed a rugged bouncer in NYC that was known to not only chew off ears of unruly patrons, but also collected said ears in an alcohol filled jar which would sit behind the bar. What was this fellow's name you ask? No ladies and gentlemen. That bouncer was not a man.
HER name was Gallus Mag.
I love a great story regardless if it is true or false. Especially when it comes to NYC. Now this post would be something that I would post to my
HistorySisco Tumblr account but since it relates to bars I decided to highlight it here. So who was Gallus Mag. To be honest, no one really knows. Here is what is most commonly known about that spirited gal.
As you can see from the drawing of Gallus Mag by artist
Chris Schweizer, she cut quite the figure. Standing at six feet tall with some estimates having her tower at six foot four inches in height, this British lady would work the floor of the Hole in the Wall bar which was located on Water Street. It is believed that the
Bridge Cafe (
279 Water Street) is located where the Hole in the Wall once stood.
The Gallus portion of her name came from the galluses aka suspenders that she would wear to keep her skirt from falling while she was at work. Normally these galluses would be buttoned into a pair of trousers. But as the lady that she was, she wore her skirt while kicking ass. She would walk around with club such as a shillelagh and she would have a rusty Colt revolver tucked into her belt in case shit really got serious.
As for the ears, as you can see, Gallus Mag used to keep her trophies in a large jar of alcohol or pickling solution. Once she chewed of the ear "Plop" it went with the other ears. The jar would sit right behind the bar to deter those who might think twice about starting something at the Hole in the Wall. The history behind the Hole in the Wall is also shrouded in legend. I've been able to find two stories about the origins of the Hole in the Wall.
One story has the story taking place at the Hole in the Wall bar and brothel which was a place near today's South Street Seaport where pirates, thieves and other persons of ill-repute would gather. According to the January 20, 1874 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle, in an article entitled
River Thieves: The Pirates Who Prey Upon Our Waterfront Sketched:
About this time, Charley Monnell, alias “One Armed Charlie” became a recognized power among the thieves and murderers in the Fourth Ward. He opened a place on Dover Street which he called the “Hole in the Wall,” and with Kate Flannery and “Gallus Mag” as Lieutenants, soon made his den attractive to his kindred spirits.
You might be thinking to yourselves that since she is mentioned in a newspaper then she must be real, right? That's not so easy to say.
Not to besmirch the Brooklyn Eagle, but many newspapers of the time relied on articles being outlandish to draw in readers. That also includes the writings of the aforementioned Herbert Asbury with his book Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. Though he wrote his accounts of crime based in the late 19th and early 20th century, he did the majority of his writing in the early to mid 20th century while writing for such publications as the
New York Sun, the
New York Herald and the
New York Tribune. It's hard to take seriously the majority of his work at least from an academic perspective or as a primary source. But since Asbury is quoted in many of the sources I came across, here is what he said about Gallus Mag of the Hole in the Wall on pages 46-47 in the Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld:
A famous Water street resort was the Hole-in-the-Wall, at the corner of Dover street, run by One-Armed Charley Monell and his trusted lieutenants, Gallus Mag and Kate Flannery. Gallus Mag was one of the notorious characters of the Fourth Ward, a giant Englishwoman well over six feet tall, who was so called because she kept her skirt up with suspenders, or galluses. She was bouncer and general factotum of the Hole-in-the-Wall, and stalked fiercely about the dive with a pistol stuck in her belt and a huge bludgeon strapped to her wrist. She was an expert in the use of both weapons, and like the celebrated Hell-Cat Maggie of the Five Points, was an extraordinary virtuoso in the art of mayhem...She was one of the most feared denizens of the water front, and the police of the period shudderingly described her as the most savage female they had ever encountered.
The Hole in the Wall would eventually be shut down due to seven murders being committed on the premises in a two month period. There was no mention if Gallus Mag was part of any of them.
The other story about Gallus Mag, which comes from the
Infamous New York website has a slightly different take on Gallus Mag. Here is what they tell about her on the post
Save The Bridge Café: New York City’s Last Pirate Bar dated November 14, 2013:
Gallus’s real name was Mag Perry, but Water Streeters called her Gallus on account of the very un-lady like suspenders (galluses) she wore. Gallus ran the Hole In The Wall with her husband Jack, the distinguished thief whose greatest claim to fame, other beating a fourteen year prison sentence, was when he swiped Josh Ward’s championship rowing belt.
Jack ran the front of the house, tending bar and robbing and drugging sailors, while Gallus worked clean up, biting off the ears and fingers of obstreperous bar flies. She kept those grisly trophies in a pickling jar on a shelf behind the bar that is still there today.
That's quite the couple. But what about One-Armed Charlie? The Infamous New York website states that he would later take over the bar and covert the upper floors into a brothel. There is one more story about Gallus Mag. This one concerns her feud with female pirate and gang leader Sadie the Goat.
Sadie the Goat stepped up to Gallus Mag in an attempt to become the alpha female of the New York waterfront. All she got in return was her ass kicked and her ear chewed off by Gallus Mag. Sadie would turn tail and leave the area earning her own reputation as leader of the Charlton Street gang whose base of operation was the Hudson River. Like half the length of the river. The gang would raid business and farmhouses all along the Hudson as far up as Poughkeepsie. But as with all good things, the Charlton Street Gang's dominance of the Hudson came to an end.
Sadie returned to the Fourth Ward and in doing so, she paid her respects to Gallus Mag. Gallus Mag in turn returned Sadie's ear. Sadie would wear her ear on a chain while her and Gallus would become friends. The story is drunkenly told by actress Hillary Anne Matthews with Dennings playing Sadie and UFC/WWE/Olympic competitor Ronda Rousey playing Gallus Mag from the Comedy Channel's Drunk History. Trust me the legend is better than the video. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The 1947 comic series
Real Clue Crime Stories v2 issue 6 did an eight page story on Gallus Mag including the brawl between Gallus Mag and Sadie the Goat. You can read that story here:
Real Clue Crime Stories v2 issue 6.
And I guess that's it for Gallus Mag. History doesn't have anything else more to say about her. But what else can I say aside from that lady was one badass mamma jamma. Come back soon for more stories and historical posts.
Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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