The Making of a Jazz Town

If it wasn’t for Tom Pendergast, Kansas City might not have been a jazz Mecca, nor would it have been known as The Paris of the Plains. Tom learned the value of liquor from the ground up having worked as a kid in his brother’s bar. By the 1920’s, he’d become a corrupt politician.

Then came  prohibition and Pendergast made a fortune by insuring Kansas City stayed a wide-open town. Customers flocked to clubs featuring famous and soon to be famous jazz musicians. Mixed drinks cost pennies and great music was free. Prostitutes, liquor, eatable pig snouts, chicken parts, and pigs feet were available on the streets.

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