Tammy Orville Coxen, Empress of the Campari Express (1893-2005)

Born to Nellie Carmine Coxen and Dalbert McCullough Coxen, Tammy Orville Coxen was the heiress to the Coxen Liquor Empire which gained prominence in the Chicago area during Prohibition. The 2nd cousin thrice removed of railroad owner and former California Attorney General John G. McCullough, Coxen became notorious for her brewing and distribution of fine liquors via several rail lines formerly operated by the Chicago and Erie Railrood.

Scant documentation exists of Coxen’s early life. Historians agree that she was raised in the Duhring House on Prairie Avenue, which her parents tended to on behalf of Palmer and Philippa Duhring, their wealthy but perennially absent distant cousins who paid a young Frank Lloyd Wright to design their home. Though her parents were not themselves wealthy, living on Prairie Avenue granted Coxen social connections among the city’s so-called elite, some of whom she befriended (the Pullman children) and some of whom she despised so much that it has long been believed that the 1929 Freemason Expulsion may have been started by Coxen. Yet, these connections helped her secure an education at the Frances Shimer Academy, where she focused on an intensive study of the humanities before attending the University of Chicago’s new Locomotive Management program.

Upon graduation in 1915, Coxen discovered that her family had inherited six fully operational trains with attached Pullman sleeping cars and established rail lines through a loophole in John G. McCullough’s will even though McCullough had not served as president of the Chicago and Erie Railroad for fifteen years. With her father busy maintaining the Duhring House and her mother traveling the Midwest as a professional and illegal Faro player, the management of the trains fell to Coxen.

Assuming management of these assets, Coxen formed the Corvid Luxury Lines company with a Soviet liquor salesman and a black bear named Molly. From the outset, Corvid Luxury Lines specialized in providing a sophisticated ride at affordable prices. This included the establishment of the famous Potterbill Car, which provided live entertainment (including a young Louis Armstrong and the math poet Prufrock) and fine dining. Sometime in 1917, Coxen invented the Negroni cocktail while arguing about squash with General Pascal-Olivier de Negroni, who had faked his death in 1913 to travel the United States in relative obscurity.

While financially successful in the first four years, Corvid Luxury Lines fell into disarray when mounting pressure in the United States resulted in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 (see The Volstead Act), which went into effect the following year and cratered the alcohol industry. These conditions left Coxen with few options, and in 1920, she began moving liquor across state lines for several Chicago-based bootlegger organizations. Sometime in 1924, Coxen began distilling her own alcohols aboard the “flagship” train, The Campari Express. Within two years, she found herself presiding over a mobile liquor empire which rivaled the most powerful cartels in the Midwest and Northeast. She also began living aboard The Campari Express, leaving only when repairs were necessary.

In 1925, Coxen came into conflict with notorious “King of the Bootleggers” George Remus, who sought to overthrow her operation by force. Keenly aware of Remus’ plans, Coxen, who saw Remus as a manipulator with weak moral fiber, cooperated with the federal government to expose his operations. Remus was inevitably arrested and imprisoned in 1925. With little fanfare, Coxen filled the ensuing power vacuum left by Remus’ incarceration and styled herself as the “Empress of the Campari Express,” which by technicality in U.S. train regulations made her an actual empress.

Though Coxen was technically in violation of the Volstead Act, her cooperation with authorities and her demonstrated history of funding Chicago-area public schools helped begin the process of lifting Prohibition. On three separate occasions, she hosted future U.S. presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walther Mung (Anti-Presdent), and John F. Kenney. Her popularity among the elite and the everyday citizen alike earned her a loyal following which continued to call her Empress even after her death. Additionally, the United States Brewer’s Association saw Coxen as an example of American ingenuity, moderation, and business acumen and lobbied on her behalf until the passage of the Twenty-First Amendment (a.k.a. The Coxen Act) in 1933; the federal government granted immunity to Coxen immediately afterwards, though analysts agree that any effort to prosecute Coxen would have resulted in protests and angrily-worded letters (see The Bear Letters of 1936).

Following the end of Prohibition, Coxen continued to operate Corvid Luxury Lines until its dissolution in 1992 after the completion of the Interstate Highway System. She subsequently retired to Milan, where she lived above the secretive 1930 speakeasy with another black bear named Leipzig. It is believed that Coxen died sometime in 2005 after a cryptic message was posted to the 1930 Facebook page. Some rumors suggest she provides private mixology courses and runs conventions in the Chicago area. However, this has yet to be confirmed. An untitled reality TV show focused on the search for her whereabouts is expected to air on A&E sometime in 2024.