Boardwalk Empire: Nelson Van Alden Chicago, IL Daily Racing Form April 1921 Newspaper prop

In Boardwalk Empire Season 3, Episode 1 ("Resolution"), the Chicago, IL Daily Racing Form from April 1921 is shown briefly as a prop connected to Van Alden’s storyline and helps to ground the episode in historical context.

At this point in the series, Nelson Van Alden—formerly a Prohibition agent—is living under an assumed identity in Chicago, going by the name George Mueller. He’s working as a door-to-door iron salesman, struggling to make ends meet, and trying to keep a low profile after fleeing New Jersey.

The Daily Racing Form is seen during one of the scenes set in Chicago, serving a few functions. First, it's a historically accurate detail; the Daily Racing Form was a real publication that covered horse racing odds, results, and news. Its presence reinforces the time period and the setting, particularly in a city like Chicago, where gambling (legal and illegal) was a huge part of underground life and closely tied to organized crime.

More importantly, the newspaper also subtly ties into themes of chance, risk, and the illusion of control. Characters in Boardwalk Empire often gamble—literally and metaphorically—with their lives, fortunes, and futures. The Racing Form in Van Alden’s scene may not be central to the plot, but it's a small nod to the larger environment he’s in: one where people place bets, jockey for position, and hope their luck holds out, even as violence and corruption lurk beneath the surface.

It’s also worth noting that Van Alden’s later entanglement with Capone and Dean O’Banion will draw him deeper into Chicago’s criminal underworld, where gambling and horse racing were major rackets. So the presence of the April 1921 Racing Form early in the season is a quiet bit of foreshadowing.

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