Las Vegas, a destination easily reached by cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, now has another major non-casino attraction to boast about; namely The Mob Museum which chronicles the lives and deaths of such famous gangsters as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel and the lawmen determined to bring them to justice.
Las Vegas is unique in that its founding fathers were alleged mobsters. Organized crime has played a key role in the history of Vegas.
The museum opened on Valentines Day and features 17,000 square feet of exhibit space split between a history of the mob and actions of G-men, police and elected officials to fight it.
Featured exhibits share stories of Siegel, Meyer Lansky and other early Vegas gangsters, along with later day thugs, including Sam Giancana, John the Teflon Don Gotti, and Frank Lefty Rosenthal.
Also on display is the wall from the infamous St. Valentines Day massacre in 1929, the barbers chair where Albert Anastasia met his grisly end in 1957, and a film about Hollywoods fascination with wiseguys, goodfellas and mafia figures. Some exhibits include graphic images depicting violence, prostitution and other criminal activities.
The museum also features famous crime fighters, including Eliot Ness, J. Edgar Hoover and Poe Pistone who gained fame under the name of Donnie Brasco while working six years undercover for the Bonanno and Colombo families.
The objective of the museum is not to glamorize gangsters but to explore both criminals and crime fighters, particularly as it relates to immigration, Prohibition, the criminal justice system, and the impact of popular culture. www.cheapfares.com