Beyond The Mafia: Italian Americans And The Development Of Las Vegas

Introduction

Introduction LasVegas has provided opportunities for economic advancement to hundreds of thousands of immigrants since its establishment in 1905. It has also provided those who have sought fame or power a chance to attain civic leadership positions . Essentially a railroad town until the Nevada legislature re-legalized gambling in 1931, Las Vegas welcomed entrepreneurs regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or previous affiliations. Italian Americans were able to move more rapidly into the upper middle class in LasVegas than were their counterparts in the Eastern cities of the United States.They were not unique; LasVegas gave German Americans, Irish Americans, Jewish Americans, and many others opportunities for economic advancement and community leadership. ItalianAmericans were among the pioneers who built LasVegas. ItalianAmericans owned Las Vegas bars and hotels when the city's only source of fame was being the major railroad stop between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Tony Cornero opened the first plush casino with carpets and live entertainment in 1931, immediately after the re-legalization of gambling. An Italian American, Frank Detra, owned and managed the Pair-a-Dice, the first casino on the Los Angeles Highway. Pietro Orlando Silvagni, an Italian-born contractor from Utah, built the Apache Hotel-the most modern and elegant of Las Vegas's many hotels in the 1930s and early 1940s. Another Italian American, Al Corradetti, supported LasVegas's growth and development while serving on the LasVegas City Commission from 1938 through 1947. World War II brought an end to the dusty desert town of Las Vegas with its small hotels and casinos along two major streets. The growth of defense industries in California and the establishment of military bases in both California and Nevada significantly increased the number of potential gamblers. Las Vegas attracted the capital of legitimate and not-so-legitimate businessmen, too. Two investors , owners of hotel and theater chains respectively, opened hotels and casinos in the empty stretch of desert on the Los Angeles Highway, the area that would eventually become the Strip. Even more important, men with extensive experience in running large-scale illegal gambling operations in the East or in California visited LasVegas and decided to invest in the city's future. Meyer Lansky and Benjamin"Bugsy"Siegel were only the most visible of many individuals with shady pasts who brought their capital and expertise to Las Vegas. For the most xvii xviii Introduction part, the newcomers were welcomed. This was the tradition in LasVegas. Newspaper editors and local law enforcement officers made strong statements about not tolerating the Mob in Las Vegas, but during the 1940s, with rare exception, the notorious but well-heeled men from the East or California easily bought property and became licensed casino operators or found Las Vegans to act as their agents. Italian Americans were well represented among those with shady pasts who came to Las Vegas during and immediately after World War II. The Mob, Mafia, The Boys-whatever term one uses-were a major presence in the boom years of the late 1940s through the late 1960s and remained so through the corporate era (the 1980s)-a predictable part of an economy based on cash transactions.1 Italian Americans were overrepresented among The Boys, but so were Jewish Americans. The Mafia, originally strictly a Sicilian organization, was not an equal opportunity employer, but clearly American Mafia leaders, most notably Lucky Luciano and his successor Frank Costello (ne Franco Castiglia), cooperated closely with Jewish Americans. Although Meyer Lansky was the best known of the Jewish-American mobsters who worked closely with the Mafia, he was not alone. Moe Dalitz and Phil Kastel, prominent developers of Strip hotels, had close business and social relationships with reputed Mafiosi. Anglo-Saxon, Arab, Greek, Irish, and Scandinavian Americans with shady pasts also invested in Las Vegas. Organized crime has never been the exclusive preserve of anyone, or two, ethnic groupS.2 The national media's focus on the role of Italian Americans with alleged Mob connections in gambling and other illegal activities has too often distorted the diverse and important contributions Italian Americans have made to Las Vegas's growth from a sleepy desert town to a world-renowned resort city. Italian Americans have worked in every casino as dealers, pit bosses, Boormen, and shift managers . Although they made up about 6 percent of the United States population in the 1950s and 1960s, Italian Americans constituted more than 25 percent of the singers, musicians, and comedians whose names were featured on LasVegas hotel marquees...