black hand

Black hand refers to extortion through threatening letters, particularly associated with Italian and Italian-American criminal organizations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The letters typically demanded money under threat of violence and were signed with a black handprint or drawing of a hand.

The shopkeeper received a black hand letter demanding five hundred dollars.

The practice preceded and overlapped with organized crime but was often the work of freelance extortionists rather than any single organization.