Thanks to the birth of the Internet in 1983 and introduction to American homes just a decade later, the resulting wide use of e-mail has greatly impacted the United States Postal Service.
Where mailboxes and snail mail once reigned supreme, today a gazillion e-mails a day share information in split seconds and trips to the post office are less needed than ever.
The result? Starting in the 1990s, and for decades ever since, the USPS has been shutting down locations and selling them off to be repurposed for everything imaginable.
Of the more than 31,000 post offices nationwide, 16,000 are now under review, with hundreds already having been closed and sold off year-after-year. Some are smaller locations, while others are huge… each one a vanishing surprise to locals and steady customers alike.
The 1920s Chicago Post Office, for example – once the largest in the world – was sold in 2019 to become a vast multi-use office and event space… and in Washington DC, the historic old 1899 Washington DC Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, was sold in 2016 to become the luxurious Trump International Hotel.
Border to border and coast to coast, thousands of non-profitable Post Offices locations – big and small – have been methodically closed and repurposed… and ours, in downtown Las Vegas, was no exception.
What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas
While other Post Office transformations logically have become everything from apartments to gyms and restaurants… only Vegas would consider repurposing its retired location to focus on the history of organized crime.
The stately Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, located downtown at 300 Stewart Avenue, was built in 1933 and was once the hub of local business activity. It was also the site of the famed Kefauver Committee hearings to investigate organized crime in America. In 1950 and 1951, casino owners and managers with ties to notorious Mob bosses – like Moe Sedway, manager of the Flamingo Hotel, and Wilbur Clark, front man for the Desert Inn – were subpoenaed and grilled for answers about the Mob… uncovering heretofore sworn secrets and making fascinating national news.
When the Vegas Post Office was closed in 2002, USPS sold it to the City of Las Vegas for $1 with the stipulation that it be preserved and used as a cultural center. Then Mayor Oscar Goodman, who had previously represented mobsters as a defense attorney in the hey-days of vintage Vegas, proposed a museum that would explore the complicated history of the Mob, and its mostly hidden role in society.
“A visionary concept in 2009, The Mob Museum has become a major influence in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas,” states Las Vegas Mayor, Carolyn G. Goodman. “Top national leadership in museum design, development and operations was retained and a balanced board of directors was created, chaired by a retired FBI regional director, to formalize the building and to gain [501](c)(3) nonprofit status.”
“The city used matching grants, historic tax credit financing, and both public and private support to fund required restorations and improvements to the facility,” she adds.
With these various federal, state and local funds in place, the building was renovated, repurposed and officially renamed The Mob Museum.
Hiding Vegas Past? Fuggedaboutit!
The Mob Museum officially opened on February 14, 2012, a historic day in the annals of crime and the 83rd Anniversary of the famed St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago.
The three-story building, featured not only historic Vegas ties to the Mob, but it revealed astonishing insider secrets about organized crime everywhere…all throughout America and in surprising locations worldwide… along with an array of curated personal items once owned by famous mobsters.
The two most famous centerpieces of The Mob Museum are the originally preserved second floor courtroom that once held the Kefauver hearings (where films relive the proceedings and criminal testimonies) and the actual brick wall from the Chicago warehouse where the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place… complete with the pock-marked bullet holes from that fateful day.
100 Years of Organized Crime
One’s self-guided tour begins up on the third floor, available by steps or elevator. The first two stops are an interactive police line-up set – where you can take photos of yourself and friends as wannabe mobsters – and the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre brick wall.
From there, corridors of twists and turns wind their way through hundreds of exhibits, photos and artifacts on the third, second and first floors… with numerous sections dedicated to specific areas of the Mob’s eye-opening involvement in everything from extortion, gambling and drugs to bootlegging and prostitution. There’s even a grisly photographic display, appropriately titled “The Mob’s Greatest Hits.”
As one goes from one exhibit and display to another, you quickly realize that “what you think you know”… from movies like the Godfather, Goodfellas and TVs Sopranos… barely scratches the surface of the depth and reach of organized crime in our daily lives – from the 1920s up to, and including, today.
The Best By Wiseguy
Here’s a little known (and fascinating) example: Did you know Al Capone is responsible for expiration dates on milk?
In the early 1930s, his brother Ralph became sick from drinking soured milk. Always looking for ways to diversify his reach into legitimate businesses, an angered Capone purchased Meadowmoor Dairies in Chicago to ensure that it showed the date its milk was bottled.
Al’s brother then lobbied (and muscled) milk industry leaders to follow suit… and they did. Over decades, both milk expiration and best by dating became national law and ultimately spread to all consumables from baby formula and ketchup to sliced bread and canned goods.
The next time you look at a milk expiration date or best by label on food, remember it was Al Capone’s idea… and the Mob that got it started. Who knew?
Chicago “Bang… Bang”
As you tour the Mob Museum, you will be surprised to learn how many cities were crime ridden… both openly and secretly, just below the surface… and you may find yourself identifying with events that you recall or experienced in years past.
Such was the case as I toured the museum. I was born and raised in Chicago, and it was impossible to escape its history and reputation. When I traveled to cities like Paris, London and Zurich, mentioning you were from Chicago inevitably elicited a gleeful “Al Capone,” along with a finger pistol “bang…bang” or the “rat-a-tat-tat” of an imaginary Tommy Gun.
I also lived near many of the items on exhibit, such as the where the St. Valentine’s Massacre took place at the SMC Warehouse at 2122 North Clark Street. For a time, I lived at the nearby Hotel Rienzi (another Mob residence in the 20s and 30s) and frequently passed by this infamous location.
For 18-years, I also lived atop the twin Marina City Towers at 300 North State Street… just a few blocks down from Holy Name Cathedral where pock-marked bullet holes are still visible from where a famous mob hit took place.
Down State Street to the South, and one block over, was the “Four Deuces,” Al Capone’s headquarters in the 1920s and 30s at 2222 South Wabash… and the famous phone booth inside… both of which are on display at the Mob Museum, physically and photographically.
A few hours touring the museum will surely draw you in with memories and personal recall, as it did with myself.
What’s the Password?
After touring for three or four hours, and reaching the first floor of fascinating exhibits, you’ll be ready for a first-hand visit to a “blast from the past” in the museum’s Underground where you’ll find a recreated Speakeasy and a working Distillery where real bootleg Moonshine is being brewed… that you can order to drink or purchase to take home.
The authentically recreated Speakeasy offers 1920’s style drinks along with a limited snack and dessert menu. When asked what’s best, my friendly bartender recommended the “The Underground Old Fashioned” noting it is by far, the most popular and ordered by one out of every four patrons.
I followed suit and it was a great choice… served inside a leather-bound book, I found a small bottle containing the old fashioned. I opened open the book and poured my drink into an upscale decorative glass with ice and topped with a tasty authentic Amerenna Cherry imported from Italy. Do try one.
The Speakeasy itself is one of the most popular bars in Las Vegas. It’s a trip back in time to the days of prohibition and hideaways where the Mob satisfied the nation’s thirst for forbidden spirits.
Many nights feature live entertainment and there’s also special door for direct access from outside that requires a “password” for entry. Inside there’s a secret door that leads to an adjacent hidden VIP room. (Psst: It’s actually behind the large gold-framed vintage photo of a 1920s glamour girl.)
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
“We opened the new museum on February 14, 2012, in recognition of the Mob-related St. Valentines’ Day Massacre,” notes Mayor Carolyn Goodman. “Since then, The Mob Museum has educated and entertained more than four million visitors.”
“It is a must-see Las Vegas attraction,” she adds, “reputed to be one of the best museums in the country. Surely it has been one of our city’s best investments.”
Badda bing badda boom. The Mob Museum, located at 300 Stewart Avenue (downtown) is open daily from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. The Underground Speakeasy and Distillery are open Monday – Wednesday 11:00 am to 10:00 pm and Thursday – Sunday 11:00am to midnight.
General Admission is $34.95 for self-guided tours with a special discount of $19.95 for locals with ID. There are also special prices for interactive experiences such as a tour of an authentic “Crime Lab,” an immersive “Firearms Training Simulator” – with live role-playing requiring split-second shooting decisions – and a tasting tour of the working “Moonshine Distillery.” For more information visit www.themobmuseum.org or call (702) 229-2734.
From your first up-close-and-personal look at the St. Valentine’s Massacre brick wall to having a cool and refreshing 1920s cocktail in the Underground Speakeasy hideaway hours later… you just may find yourself feeling a bit like a flapper or Mob wiseguy of yesteryear… and talking-the-talk after walking-the-walk.
The Mob Museum?… Fuggedaboutit !
(meaning “don’t”)
Don Logay is an award-winning journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of three national magazines. Today he writes luxury lifestyle articles for numerous publications. He can be reached at (949) 240-4444 or [email protected].
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