Ciro Terranova, a member of the New York mafia, cornered the artichoke market by buying all the crates coming in from California and reselling them at a 30 to 40 percent profit. Known as the “Artichoke King”, Terranova sustained this profitable monopoly through intimidation of distributors, merchants and even growers. The artichoke monopoly was swiftly defeated, and the ban lifted on its third day when the five companies which imported the commodity from California signed an agreement at City Hall →
