Mob Museum Description
The Mob Museum is going to expose you to history that your school textbooks didn't dare to cover.
Located
in the heart of downtown Las Vegas on Stewart Avenue and Third Street
(right by Main Street Station), The Mob Museum is an interactive
attraction showcasing the history of these famed gangsters. Here you'll
get an inside look at organized crime's impact not only in Las Vegas,
but its influence in America and the world.
From the same design
team that created the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the
International Spy Museum in Washington D.C., the 41,000-square-foot Mob
Museum includes about 16,000 square feet of exhibition space on three
floors. It features in-depth exhibits about the mob, myths about the
mob, and so much more.
Some find mobsters strangely fascinating,
while others get excited about the good guys who brought them to their
demise. If you're into the law enforcement side, you'll get a chance to
read a lot about them, too.
One of the key exhibits is the actual
courtroom used in the Kefauver hearings, the first mob-related event to
be televised. The museum is located inside the former federal courthouse
where the 1950-51 Kefauver Committee hearings were held. The Kefauver
Committee investigation contributed to the national debate on organized
crime that developed after World War II.
"This was the first
media sensation," said Kathleen Hickey Barrie, curator for the Mob
Museum. "Viewers invited the mob into their living room. The Kefauver
hearings became the thing, and Americans were absolutely mesmerized with
[it]. They'd spend hours watching them.
"The big thing about the
Kefauver hearings is not so much the laws that came out of it, but
really the way the public opinion turned," she continued. "And you have
this marvelous cast of characters around the country talking about their
business enterprises."
The dimly-lit courtroom shows historical clips on a big screen and just outside, you can read more about the hearings.
More
law enforcement exhibits include a wire-tapping station where you can
listen in on actual conversations that happened. See testimonies of FBI
agents on audio-visual panel (AVP) screens and even try your aim with an
FBI firearms training simulator. There's also a police lineup booth
where visitors can step into and be "suspects."
If you're all
about seeing the bad guys and their dirty deeds, the Mob Museum exposes
just that. Read a timeline of the mob, watch an AVP screen on becoming a
"made" man, step into a room and learn how a "skim" works, and see a
wall explaining where mobsters go once incarcerated.
The museum's
most valuable artifact is the brick wall from Chicago's Valentine's Day
Massacre in 1929. The museum explains the murder of seven Moran gang
members led by Al Capone's South Side Italian gang. The wall includes a
38-caliber Colt Detective special revolver, the only gun directly
related to the shooting. This gun is believed to have belonged to Moran
gang member, Frank Gusenberg.
"[This] was the most violent crime in America, even the world," said Barrie.
Another
object on display is the original barber chair where mobster Albert
Anastasia (who was brutally shot and killed while getting a haircut and
shave) once sat. Another artifact is an Abercrombie & Fitch leather
valise that dates to the 1920s. This valise features a false bottom in
which flasks of liquor were once hidden during Prohibition.
The
museum also carries items that belonged to Al Capone, Charlie Luciano,
Meyer Lansky, Benjamin Siegel, Sam Giancana, Frank Rosenthal, Mickey
Cohen and Tony Spilotro, among others. Other artifacts include guns,
weapons, jewelry, personal belongings and hundreds of photographs.
If
you're sensitive to gory details, then this museum may not be for you -
the attraction showcases weapons and violent photos of deceased mob
members found at crime scenes.
For those into the glitz and
glamour of the mob portrayed in Hollywood, the Mob Museum has you
covered. Take a seat in one of the comfy booths in a posh and swanky
theater room and see all your favorite clips from various gangster
movies.
From the archives of the Las Vegas News Bureau, the Mob
Musuem features photos of downtown as it appeared in the 1950s. Photos
of hotels, local businesses and storefronts comprise this unique
collection. The Mob Museum, seen from its days as a federal courthouse
and U.S. Post Office, is also part of the exhibition.
The enormous gift shop includes all sorts of fun souvenirs, including tuxedo-printed baby onesies.
Built
in the 1920s, the restored courthouse is one of the city's last
remaining historical buildings. The attraction cost approximately $42
million to construct.
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