“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Peter Clemenza; The Godfather
Such famous movie lines underscore our fascination with the “Mafia,” “Mob,” “Cosa Nostra” and other names for organized crime. It’s still said to be in existence though not as prominent as it was from 1920 to 1980 – especially in New York during the days of John Gotti.
In St. Louis, where I grew up, a newspaper columnist once lamented how sad it was that the local mob was something of an embarrassment. His reasoning stemmed from secret FBI recordings of local “mobsters....”
On one tape, a “family” gang was plotting a wintertime attack against a rival St. Louis mob. The plan as heard on the recording involved waiting until the mob guys in a house had lit a fire in the fireplace. The competing mobsters would then climb onto the roof and lower a bundle of dynamite down the chimney to blow up those inside. Wait…dynamite? Wouldn’t that also blow up the guys on the roof? As the columnist noted, it was like having Wiley Coyote lead the St. Louis mafioso.
Poorly conceived antics aside, the mafia in the US was very real and dangerous. From gambling and prostitution to bootlegging and drugs, profits were substantial … and maybe still are.
Mob luminaries of the past such as Al Capone; Lucky Luciano; Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegal remain household names. Other mafia members might have stayed under the radar if not for movies such as The Untouchables, Casino, Goodfellas and, of course, The Godfather. Last week, Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills put hundreds of letters, photos, memorabilia and even guns from some of those gangsters up for sale. The prices realized underscore our ongoing intrigue with everything mob-related.
A jewelry box owned by Bugsy Siegel in the 1950s was slated to sell for $200 to $300. It went for $800. His “silver-tone” cigarette case estimated to bring $400 to $600 sold for $2,880. Siegel’s used alligator wallet also brought over $2,500. Two reels of movie film he owned were expected to bring around $4,000. I’ve no clue what was on them but the final price was a staggering $28,800.
Four pages of a hand-written letter from Siegel to his wife were slated to be worth upwards of $20,000. They went for almost double – $38,400.
Several small pieces of furniture connected to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana (closely tied to the Kennedy election in 1960) brought hundreds of dollars each. So did some glassware. Of special note was a pair of silver dice owned by Giancana. They brought $3,500.
Loads of items once belonging to Meyer Lansky also crossed the block. He was portrayed as the character Hyman Roth in The Godfather. Stacks of his family color photos were expected to bring a few hundred dollars per lot; they sold for $3,000 and $4,000 each. Lansky’s backgammon set estimated to sell for $200 brought $1,600 as did a simple rubber stamp bearing his name and address. One of Lansky’s old hats sold for over $11,000. His eyeglasses brought $6,250. His paper Social Security card even went for just over $5,000.
Not surprisingly, several old slot machines were also on the block. Curiously, those didn’t hit the jackpot selling for barely $1,000 each.
At any flea market, a boring glass ashtray from the “International” hotel in Vegas might have sold for 25-cents. One that once belonged to Anthony Spilotro (the psychotic and vicious villain played as Nicky Santoro by Joe Pesci in the film Casino) brought $768. Three prop poker chips from the fictitious Tangiers casino in that movie were expected to bring $600. Nope. Those little round pieces of plastic sold for over $2,500.
The prize of the sale was a letter written by Al Capone to his son while the mob boss sat in prison at Alcatraz. The three handwritten pages brought almost $45,000.
Thanks to Hollywood, collectors remain fascinated with the mob and will pay dearly to own a piece of it. That’s assuming the provenance of the items can be proven. If so, it’s clear buyers will always “make ‘em an offer they can’t refuse.”
For more collecting advice, visit www.PRexford.com