Berns' Funeral Home is a mortuary outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
History[]
Season 1[]
Berns' Funeral Home is visited by Nucky Thompson and his driver Jimmy Darmody late in the afternoon of January 17, 1920, in order to check the bootlegging operation of Mickey Doyle, who has an illegal distillery in the basement of the building. There is a funeral in progress and Nucky has not visited before so uses the public entrance. Before they can descend Nucky is approached by the widow of the decedent. Nucky tells her that he was a good friend of her husband to conceal the purpose of his visit (in reality, he knew nothing about him, let alone the fact that the decedent had had a laryngectomy and couldn't talk).
They meet Doyle at the preparation room. Doyle takes them through a secret entrance to the room where he has his operation - 10 men, working two shifts covering 24 hours a day. Doyle assures Nucky that he can produce 2000 cases each week, using only one real part per eight of water, and obtaining the alcohol through fermenting potatoes. The smell will be masked by the cadavers. Doyle tricks Jimmy into drinking a glass of formaldehyde. He uses the chemical to make the bubbles in his bootleg whiskey. Jimmy reacts violently, breaking the glass on Doyle's head. Doyle tries to shoot Jimmy but is restrained by Nucky. He fires into the room above where the funeral is taking place. Afterwards, Nucky orders Jimmy out of the building.
Jimmy takes vengeance on Doyle the next day, giving the location to the Bureau of Prohibition. At night, Prohibition Agents lead by Nelson Van Alden raid the mortuary and arrest Doyle and his workers. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Al Capone take advantage of this distraction to stage the hijacking of a liquor shipment intended for Arnold Rothstein near the town of Hammonton, 5 miles away. ("Boardwalk Empire")
Appearances[]
| Season one appearances | |||
| Boardwalk Empire | The Ivory Tower | Broadway Limited | Anastasia |
| Nights in Ballygran | Family Limitation | Home | Hold Me in Paradise |
| Belle Femme | The Emerald City | Paris Green | A Return to Normalcy |