Capone, Dillinger, Babe Ruth, George Gershwin. Why did the famous and infamous names of the early 20th century hang out here?

Few eras in few places are as exciting, outrageous and tragic as the period between the end of World War I and the hammer fall of the Great Depression, when Florida partied and passed out and woke up with one heck of a hangover.

Palm Beach Post staff writer Eliot Kleinberg has covered that era in historical features and in segments of his weekly “Post Time” column in Neighborhood Post.

Now, he’s gathered them into a book, Wicked Palm Beach: Lifestyles of the Rich and Heinous (History Press).

Test your knowledge of the era!

1. In which Palm Beach County city did Al Capone try to settle?

A. Palm Beach

B. Boca Raton

C. Jupiter

D. Lake Worth

2. What did the John Dillinger gang reportedly do at a Palm Beach beach house at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1933-34?

A. Fired machine guns into the air.

B. Robbed partiers at a nearby home

C. Skinny-dipped

D. Broke champagne bottles against rocks

3. For what crime did Al Capone’s son get arrested in 1965 in North Miami Beach?

A. Shoplifted aspirin and flashlight batteries totaling $3.50

B. Robbed a bank

C. Stole a car

D. Gunned down a competitor

4. What job did Hoagy Carmichael try in West Palm Beach before he made his fortune in music?

A. Policeman

B. Farmer

C. Salesman

D. Law clerk

5. What musical project did legendary composer George Gershwin toil on in Palm Beach?

A. Fascinatin’ Rhythm

B. Rhapsody in Blue

C. Porgy and Bess

D. An American in Paris

6. While staying in Palm Beach in 1930, baseball legend Babe Ruth held out for how much salary from the Yankees?

A. $1 million

B. $100,000

C. $50,000

D. $85,000

7. What did the former Carefree Theatre, south of downtown West Palm Beach, originally open as in 1939?

A. Television studio

B. Car dealership

C. Laundromat

D Bowling alley

8. What entertainment was offered early in the 20th century in an indoor arena on the north side of Clematis Street?

A. Wrestling

B. Boxing

C. Roller derby

D. Dances

9. What operated in the early 20th century at the pond at Howard Park, across from the Kravis Center?

A. A terminal for boats from Lake Okeechobee

B. A giant fountain

C. Kiddie boat rides

D Submarines

10. What 1921 event prompted President Warren Harding to push for creation of the Intracoastal Waterway?

A. Members of his Cabinet drowned when a boat sank

B. Terrorists sneaked ashore in Palm Beach

C. His schooner ran aground

D. His wife was soaked in a thunderstorm

11. What happened to the newly finished Royal Park Bridge in December 1921?

A. It opened for business

B. Its pilings sank into the bottom as the first car drove over it

C. It collapsed

D. It was blown up

12. How did Thomas Sperry, who owned a mobile home park along the Jupiter Inlet in the early 1900s, make his fortune?

A. Airplanes

B. Trading stamps

C. Car design

D. Airplanes

13. What is Palm Springs dairyman Bill Boutwell credited with inventing?

A. “Half and Half”

B. Whipped cream in spray cans

C. Ice cream bars

D. Ice cream sandwiches

14. What was historic about Lantana’s first mayor?

A. Died before taking office

B. A woman

C. Resigned in scandal

D. Was a write-in candidate

15. What’s the name of the historic black neighborhood in Boca Raton?

A. Mizner Farms

B. Pearl City

C. Blacktown

D. Boca Park

16. What Glades town originally was named Hillsboro?

A. Belle Glade

B. Pahokee

C. South Bay

D. Canal Point

17. What pet did famed architect Addison Mizner bury on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach?

A. Dog

B. Cat

C. Horse

D. Monkey

18. What stands where George Wright Field stood?

A. The Kravis Center

B. South Florida Fair

C. West Palm Beach City Hall

D Mizner Park

19. Which of these was banned in Boca Raton in 1929?

A. Public begging

B. Brawling

C. Stubborn children

D. All of the above

20. According to the 1939 New Deal-sponsored WPA Guide to Florida, what was the greens fee at the Lake Worth municipal golf course?

A. $1

B. 75 cents

C. $10

D $100

21. What was Palm Beach County’s first radio station?

A: WJNO

B. WBZT

C. Sunny 104.3

D WXEL

Answers:

1. B. Capone later went to prison and lived out his last years, dying of syphilis, in Miami.

2. A. Seven months later, lawmen shot down Dillinger as he left a Chicago theater.

3. A. Albert Francis Capone Jr., who changed his name to Albert Francis Jr., died at 85 in 2004.

4. D. Hoagy was a clerk in a West Palm Beach law firm.

5. C. Gershwin spent 1935 at a Palm Beach home to write much of the groundbreaking opera.

6. D. The Babe eventually signed a two-year, $80,000-a-year deal, $5,000 more than what President Herbert Hoover made. Ruth would later say, “I had a better year.” It made Ruth the highest-paid player in baseball history.

7. D. The Carefree Bowlaway opened in 1939; it became the Carefree Theatre in 1948 .

8. B. Bleachers held as many as 2,000. Palm Beachers bought private boxes that framed the ring.

9. A. A stub canal connected to a basin at the current site of the pond. At the “turning basin,” barges unloaded passengers and thousands of crates of Glades produce.

10. C. Stuck in a channel near Fort Lauderdale, he was stranded with his party for hours. Later, as president, he would not forget his unpleasant day in Florida.

11. C. A masonry structure was being built to replace the old wooden bridge, which had stood for about nine years. It was two days from being dedicated when it fell into the water. It would be nearly two years before the bridge finally opened on Aug. 11, 1924.

12. B. Sperry was the “S” in S&H Trading Stamps.

13. A. Boutwell opened a grocery store and masonry supply business and in 1927 started a dairy herd on 5 acres in what is now Palm Springs.

14. B. On July 20, 1921, when the town incorporated, J.H. Vance was elected mayor. But he changed his mind right after the election and never took office. So the town appointed Ellen M. Anderson, who served for two years. Women had held the right to vote only since Aug. 26, 1920.

15. B. Many of the residents came to the city to work at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

16. A. Legend has it the town was named for a boat, the Glade Belle.

17. D. Spider monkey Little Johnnie Brown died April 30, 1927, six years before Mizner.

18. A. After Municipal Athletic Field was built in 1924, it was renamed Wright Field in 1927 for George L. Wright, city manager in the 1920s and the man behind the stadium. It was renamed Connie Mack Field in 1952 and now is the parking garage for the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

19. D

20. B

21. A. WJNO signed on at 1 p.m. on July 31, 1936.