The rise of the Purple Gang followed the same pattern as the other immigrant groups that had come to America to search for a better way of life. They found, like the other young immigrants, that the streets were not paved with gold but were as covered with filth and led to a hard way of life like back in the Old Country. The young gang members found that the use and threat of violence could create shortcuts to the American Dream of wealth and success that they sought. They began their strong-arm tactics with people their own age but quickly graduated to dealing with adults in the same manner. They were viewed as rotten meat that displayed the color purple to project the level of the how far the meat had gone bad. The name stuck and soon the gang members were referred to as the Purple Gang.
The Bernstein Brothers held form the original organization utilizing the belief that public displays of excessive violence would aid in the process effectively deal with other gangs. Hijacking from more established gangs added to their bankroll and to their level of power and control. They appeared to be making it clear that they intended to control the flow of illegal liquor that passed through their perceived territory. The use of excessive violence served the gang well, since the fear of reprisals from the gang always influenced the reactive decision in relation to hijacking. The real beauty of the gang's operation was that by stealing from other members of the underworld they had little to fear from the police. Rival gangs could not go to the authorities crying about a load of illegal liquor that had been hijacked. As the reputation of the gang grew some rival gangs found it best to employ the Purple Gang to carry out some their strong-arm work. Kidnapping of high-ranking members of rival gangs, that did not play ball with the Purple Gang, soon became an alternative means of raising money and was also meant to carry the message that they intended to have complete control of their own territory. With this increase of power and influence the potential grew for rival gangs to move against the Purple's. This threat caused the gang to reach outside of the immediate territory in search of new gang members that had additional expertise in areas that that would provide defense from rival gang actions. By the mid-1920's the make up of the gang was much different from the original group that had formed the organization.
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