Chicago American

Dion O'Banion, Vincent Drucci, Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran first sold the Tribune.

Measures to bolster the paper were unsuccessful, and Chicago Today published its final issue on September 13, 1974.

The American was the product of the merger or acquisition of 14 predecessor newspapers and inherited the tradition and the files of all of them.

[citation needed] The tradition was exemplified by the longtime night city editor of the American, Harry "Romy" Romanoff, who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone.

Romanoff enjoyed the fearful but absolute regard of pressmen, the composing room and the entire night staff of the Tribune Tower, which owned and housed the Chicago American's operations in its final decades.

One night, floods threatened Southern Illinois, and the American did not have a big story for the front page.

Romanoff then turned to his rewrite man to dictate the lead story: It never did flood, but the American had its banner headline.

One notable headline: Headquarters for the paper was the Hearst Building, located at 326 West Madison Street in Chicago.