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Artifact Spotlight: Hollywood prop guns

March 27, 2024

What’s a Mob movie without guns? Prop guns have been a part of this movie genre since the first silent gangster film in 1906, The Black Hand. In the prop master’s armory, you’ll find everything from real guns and blank-fire guns to toy guns and hard rubber casts. The Mob Museum has preserved some of these prop guns in its collections. The Sopranos blank-fire prop pistol In the final episode of Season 2 of The Sopranos, Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) joins his boss, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), and fellow mafiosi “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) ...

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The Buffalo Mafia’s ill-advised art thefts

“Art Collection Is Looted; Loss Put at $1.3 million,” read a headline in the August 22, 1968, edition of the…

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Artifact Spotlight: Alternative liquor products from Prohibition

When Prohibition started on January 17, 1920, beer brewers, liquor distillers and winemakers were in a predicament. The 18th Amendment…

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‘The Green Felt Jungle,’ published 60 years ago, rattled Las Vegas

When The Green Felt Jungle was published 60 years ago, the book created a stir by detailing Mob influence and…

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Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar killed 30 years ago this month

Warning: This blog contains graphic images that some readers may find disturbing. Thirty years ago this month, the bloody reign…

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Ninety Years Ago Today, Prohibition Ended at 2:32 p.m. Pacific Time

On Tuesday, December 5, 1933, the unprecedented repeal of a constitutional amendment went into effect, officially relegalizing intoxicating liquors in…

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Artifact Spotlight: Frank Gusenberg’s Colt .38 Special Revolver

This Colt Detective .38 Special was the only firearm found at the crime scene of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. This snub-nosed revolver was the go-to sidearm for lawmen and lawbreakers alike.

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John Gotti’s takedown detailed in new Netflix series

A three-part docuseries now available on Netflix examines the dramatic rise and fall of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti…

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