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Fascinating Facts About the Birth of the Italian-American Mafia

Khalid Elhassan February 13, 2025 17 min

Mafia - Lucky Luciano, who midwifed the birth of the modern Italian-American Mafia — Lucky Luciano, who midwifed the birth of the modern Italian-American Mafia. The Mob Museum

14. Prohibition Turned Out to be a Godsend to the Mafia

Mafia - A New York City Prohibition era speakeasy — Patrons enjoy drinks at the Hunt Club, a New York City speakeasy with a filing system listing 23,000 eligible customers that is checked before a customer gets through the door at this venue, that is protected from police Prohibition raids. Vintage New Daily

Potential profits from the sale and distribution of illegal alcohol were astronomical. That was coupled with widespread tolerance by much of the public, as well as many cops and politicians who did not see the sale or consumption of alcohol as particularly immoral. It made bootlegging irresistible to criminal entrepreneurs across America. Prohibition thus gave a boost to organized crime in general, and to the Italian-American Mafia in particular, as Italians gangsters were particularly well positioned to take advantage of this new environment. Italian hoodlums, thanks to the Mafia in the Old Country, could draw upon a tradition of sophisticated, organized, hierarchical, and disciplined criminal organizations. They had a model, as well as experienced personnel who could readily duplicate the system in the US.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.