Boss Falcone gunned down at saloon

 November 2022 issue contents - Feature

'Big Jim' Falcone was early Prohibition Era Sicilian underworld king.

By Thomas Hunt

"At the time of his April 1921 murder, James “Big Jim” Falcone was known as “king” of the vice-ridden “tenderloin” district in Youngstown, Ohio. It was about a quarter to ten, Thursday evening, April 28, when Falcone (or “Falconi”) stepped to the doorway of his business at 128 East Front Street, near the intersection with Walnut Street. He looked out across the B&O Railroad yards and the Mahoning River, winding a short distance away to the south and west and defining the lower boundary of downtown Youngstown..."

Book page count: Eleven pages, including two and a half pages of notes and three images.

Magazine page count: Five and a half pages, including one and a half pages of notes and three images.

Learn more about Informer's November 2022 issue.

October 2020 Issue contents - Feature

Pellegrino Scaglia’s murder fractured Mafia

Gentile’s Pueblo connection

By Sam Carlino

"Nicola Gentile was a respected figure in the Onorata Società (Honored Society), commonly referred to as La Cosa Nostra or the Mafia. His book, Vita di Capomafia, was the first 'tell-all' written by a high-ranking member of the elusive secret society. In the volume, Gentile provided details about famous historical occurrences as well as many arcane events. He discussed the little known Pueblo Colorado Mafia. Gentile’s connection to Pueblo boss Pellegrino Scaglia effectively put Pueblo on the map of Mafia host cities. Recently discovered information about Gentile and the notorious Carlino brothers has been related in the book Colorado’s Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire..."

Preview/purchase this issue:

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• Printed & bound - MagCloud, 214 pages ($47.50 US)
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• Trade Paperback - Amazon, 382 pages ($24.95 US)
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Why Maranzano? Why now?

[UPDATE: Immediately following the release of publication, it was learned that the discovered photo labeled "Maranzano" by an Italian periodical was actually of a German murderer.]

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August 2019 issue of Informer

August 2019 issue contents
Editorial

So... why are we discussing

Salvatore Maranzano now?

Researchers have long been bothered by the lack of a photograph of Prohibition Era Mafia leader Salvatore Maranzano.

One decade ago, in the July 2009 issue of Informer, Mafia historian David Critchley discussed a widely circulated mug shot photo that had been passed off as Maranzano. Critchley noted that the image had made the rounds since initial publication in a 1990 book. It had been copied into books, magazines and websites, always captioned as Maranzano and never credited to any specific source. Critchley revealed that the same photo had been printed with an article on British vice criminal Salvatore Messina in an August 1967 London newspaper. He confirmed that the photo was of Messina, not Maranzano, by locating Messina's mug shot in a Scotland Yard resource.

There seem to be no official U.S. government mug shots of Maranzano for the simple reason that Maranzano was not arrested. He was sought by law enforcement on more than one occasion, but never photographed until after his murder. During the police investigation of the killing, two known photographs were taken of the dead Mafia leader. These did not provide much in the way of facial detail. The only other known image of Maranzano was a coroner’s sketch that roughly showed a profile of his face and pinpointed the wounds inflicted on his body.

For the July 2009 issue, Informer attempted to blend the crime scene photos and sketch into an image of the living Maranzano. But there was no method of gauging the accuracy of the result.

Then, early this past April, Informer received an email from a Canadian researcher, who believed he was on the verge of obtaining an actual image of Maranzano. [UPDATE: It has since been proven that this photo too is NOT of Salvatore Maranzano.]

Peter Kalm discovered an old magazine that contained an article and a photograph of Maranzano and told Informer of his find. We initially were skeptical that any published image of the Mafia leader had managed to escape notice for nearly eighty­ eight years. But on April 25, Kalm shared the magazine article and photograph. We noted there were obvious similarities between the image and the crime scene photos, coroner’s sketch and our own blended image of Maranzano.

As he provided the materials, Kalm wrote, “Maranzano has intrigued me since I saw the movie The Valachi Papers years ago. Sadly, it is probably too late for anyone to write a book about his life since there is no one around who remembers him and also so little information about him still exists.”

In case there are some who do not already know, Maranzano was a bootlegger and Mafioso in the New York area during the late 1920s. He rose to command a successful gangland rebel­lion against reigning boss of bosses Giuseppe Masseria in 1930-­31 and took for himself the boss of bosses position. His term in office was merely a few months, as he was assassinated by gunmen working for Salvatore "Charlie Lu­ciano" Lucania in September 1931.

We considered how best to publicize Kalm’s discovery and to make known his vigilance, good fortune and extreme generosity. He indicated that he was uninterested in any personal publicity but hoped the appearance of the photograph would reignite Maranzano research.

It seemed to us that the most appropriate method of bringing the image to the public was to package it in an entire Informer issue that discussed all that we know about Maranzano. While it falls somewhat short of Kalm’s wish for a Maranzano book, we hope it will serve as a foundation for future research.

This issue contains a number of articles that approach the issue from different perspectives. These articles contain some overlapping data, but each is written to address a specific question about Salvatore Maranzano:

• What can we learn from recent discoveries? (Preview.)
• Why was Maranzano important in U.S. Mafia history? (Preview.)
• What did Maranzano certainly NOT look like? (Preview.)
• What was Maranzano up to in Dutchess County, New York? (Preview.)
• Why did Maranzano select Coll to kill "Lucky"? (Preview.)
• What was revealed about Maranzano by those who knew him? (Preview.)
• Where were significant locations of Maranzano’s life and career? (Preview.)
• When did Maranzano ­related events occur? (Preview.)
• Did Maranzano become a United States citizen? (Preview.)
• How has Maranzano been depicted in motion pictures? (Preview.)
• What happened on Sept. 10, 1931? (Preview.)
• What was in the memorandum book? (Preview.)
• What do we know about Maranzano in Sicily? (Preview.)
• Was there really a post­ Maranzano purge? (Preview.)

84 pages including covers and eight and a half pages of advertisements.

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Researcher unearths Maranzano photo

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Researcher unearths Maranzano photo

from old magazine sold on auction site

Early this past spring, Peter Kalm of Ontario, Canada, whose hobbies include antiques and history, happened to notice the eBay sale of an old periodical. The item description on the auction website indicated that the magazine contained an article on murdered New York Mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano...

[UPDATE: It has since been proven that this photo is NOT of Salvatore Maranzano.]

Three pages including two images.

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What Maranzano did not look like

August 2019 issue contents
Features

What Maranzano did not look like

The Maranzano muddle

By David Critchley

[Ten years ago: Reprinted from July 2009 issue of Informer.]

An apparent photograph of “Salvatore Maranzano” has appeared in varied venues, ranging from books to the Internet. What those who print it fail to mention is that it’s not of Maranzano at all. The mistake made is a classic case of the much broader problem of inaccuracies plaguing accounts of the American Mafia, which spread myths and misunderstandings.

Two pages including five images.

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Mafia, moonshine and murder

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Mafia, moonshine and murder

Maranzano brings underworld

mayhem to Dutchess County, NY

By Lennert van`t Riet and David Critchley

A Maranzano distillery

For anyone researching the Mafia in the United States, the name Salvatore Maranzano is a household name. The one-time “boss of bosses,” who overthrew “Joe the Boss” Masseria’s leadership during the well-known Castellammarese War of 1930-31, has been one of the most prominent figures in the history of the American Mafia.

His escapades in New York City during the late 1920s and early 1930s have been widely recorded by, among others, Joseph Valachi, Nicola Gentile and Giuseppe Bonanno. Far less known are Maranzano’s activities in Dutchess County, New York, some ninety miles to the north of Maranzano’s Brooklyn base of operations. Dutchess County played an important part in his rise in Cosa Nostra, providing him financial resources and a secluded location to conduct key crime family business in private.

Thirteen pages including eight images and one and a half pages of notes.

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What acquaintances revealed about Maranzano

August 2019 issue contents
Features

What was revealed about Maranzano

by those who actually knew him?

Magaddino

Several Maranzano contemporaries wrote autobiographies that included descriptions of Maranzano and his actions. Another close associate of Maranzano discussed him at length within range of an FBI listening device, resulting in a fourth authoritative source on the Prohibition Mafia leader.

A rough draft of Nicola Gentile’s memoirs may have been the first of these to reach U.S. authorities. But Gentile’s story would not be released to the public until it was published in Italy in 1963 under the title, Vita di Capomafia. In the same year, Americans were spellbound by the testimony of Mafia turncoat Joseph Valachi. At the government’s urging, Valachi composed his own autobiographical work, The Real Thing, which became source material for The Valachi Papers by Peter Maas, released in 1968. In between those Mafia memoirs, in 1965, the FBI benefited from electronic surveillance of the Niagara Falls headquarters of western New York Mafia boss Stefano Magaddino.

The public received another large dose of Maranzano information in 1983, when Joseph Bonanno’s autobiography, A Man of Honor, was published by Simon and Schuster.

Eleven pages including eight images and one page of notes.

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Locations linked with Maranzano

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Locations linked with Maranzano

By Thomas Hunt

Salvatore Maranzano did a fair amount of traveling in his lifetime. Starting out in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, he is known to have lived and worked in the cities of Palermo and Trapani. He visited Havana, Cuba, and Miami, Florida; owned a farm in Ontario, Canada; and at various times had addresses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Buffalo and Dutchess County, New York.

This article attempts to pinpoint as well as possible the locations of importance in Maranzano’s life and career and to show their significance.

Eight and a half pages including seven images and two and a half pages of notes.

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• Read more about this issue of Informer. 

Maranzano chronology

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Maranzano chronology

A look at the timing of significant events in Salvatore Maranzano's life and underworld career.

Seven and a half pages including six images and two pages of notes.

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Salvatore Maranzano in the movies

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Salvatore Maranzano in the movies

Hollywood's portrayals have influenced public perceptions

By Thomas Hunt

For better or worse (probably worse), much of what the public knows about Salvatore Maranzano has been conveyed by Hollywood productions.

Maranzano has appeared as a character in several movies - two feature films and two made-for-television Mafia dramas. Interestingly, in only one of the movies was he played by an actor with any sort of Italian background.

Much of the material presented in the movies was invented by the involved scriptwriters, directors and actors. A great deal of it was in disagreement with known historical fact. But the movies surely have affected the public image of Maranzano as a Mafia leader and as a man.

Five and a half pages including four images.

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What was in the memo book?

August 2019 issue contents
Features

What was in the memorandum book?

A book of contact information was found on the sidewalk outside the New York Central Building following the September 10, 1931, murder of Salvatore Maranzano. It was referred to in the press as a "diary," an "address book" and a "memorandum book"...

Two pages, including a table.

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What will we find out about Maranzano?

Informer's special issue on Prohibition Era boss of bosses Salvatore Maranzano will be released by Aug. 12, 2019. 

Maranzano issue taking shape

 The August 2019 issue of Informer will deal exclusively with Prohibition Era Mafia leader Salvatore Maranzano - life, career, assassination and post-assassination aftermath. Through articles, photos and maps, Informer will tackle the many questions about Maranzano, including:

• Who was Salvatore Maranzano?
• What did he look like? (And what did he certainly NOT look like?)
• What does a recent discovery tell us about him?
• What was said about him by those who knew him in life?
• Where were the locations significant to his life and career?
• When did Maranzano-related events occur?
• Why was he important in U.S. Mafia history?
• How has he been portrayed by Hollywood?
• What do we know of Maranzano's life in Sicily?
• Was there really a post-Maranzano Mafia purge?

Pages for the issue are currently being laid out. (Issue is expected to weigh in at around seventy-two pages.)

Plans call for the August Informer to be released in the usual print and electronic/PDF formats (through the MagCloud service). And, with some luck, the issue also will be available in a Kindle ebook format.

Stay tuned.

Maranzano issue deadlines approach

Articles deadline for this summer's special issue is just a couple of weeks away. Unless an extension is arranged with the editor, all articles must be received by July 8, 2019.

Advertisement deadline is about a month off. If you plan to advertise in this issue, contact us by email by July 15, 2019.

August 2019 special issue: Maranzano

An August 2019 special issue of Informer will focus on enigmatic Prohibition Era Mafia leader Salvatore Maranzano. 

Editorial deadline for the issue is July 8. 

Advertising deadline is July 15 (email for advertising rates). 

The issue will be released on or before August 12.

Frank Zito and the Springfield Mafia

August 2017 contents
Features

Frank Zito

and the little-known

Mafia of Springfield

By Lennert Van`t Riet and David Critchley

"Little attention has been paid to the smaller Mafia families of the United States. Collectively, these overlooked organizations helped to give Cosa Nostra its national range and eventually justified the use of U.S. federal law enforcement power to combat organized crime. The crime family of Springfield, Illinois, is one such entity. Its criminal enterprises were typical of Mafia families, springing from prohibitions against such 'victimless' crimes as bootlegging and gambling and including episodes of violence..."

Thirty-nine pages, nineteen images, endnotes.

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June 2015 Issue of Informer

June 2015 Issue Contents
Editorial

Often neglected in discussions of United States Mafia history, Calabrian-American organized criminals take center stage in this issue of Informer. Our feature article is a biography of Albert Anastasia, researched and written by Lennert van`t Riet, David Critchley and Steve Turner. The bloody early years of Calabria-born Anastasia’s underworld career and his supervision of the activities of the Murder Incorporated enforcement arm are the focuses of the piece. (Preview)

In a much lengthier-than-usual column at the back of the issue, Thomas Hunt considers the possibility that the Calabresi themselves formed an extensive criminal network in the U.S. and Canada before they were absorbed into the American Mafia’s Sicilian dominated crime families in the early years of the Prohibition Era. (Preview)

Also in this issue:

• Edmond Valin clears up the questions of how, when and why the American Mafia became known as “La Cosa Nostra,” and he shows that Mafiosi themselves were strongly influenced by the official nomenclature of J. Edgar Hoover’s Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Preview)
• Richard N. Warner examines the ironic role played by America’s white racism (and Hoover’s FBI) in the founding and growth of African American street gangs. (Preview)
• Warner also reviews Gary Krist’s most recent work, Empire of Sin. (Preview)

We expect that our regular readers already have noticed our change in format — a return to the full magazine size we formerly used from September 2008 through June 2012. While there were benefits to the more compact “digest” size we used from October 2012 through November 2014, the move back to a full magazine format was made due to the same irresistible force that lies behind all changes in the publishing world: the publisher likes it better.

Seventy-six pages, including covers and six pages of advertisements.

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July 2013 Issue of Informer

July 2013 Contents
Editorial

“Diamond Joe" Esposito entered the United States at a time when there was no easily discernible difference between organized crime and organized politics. Each had the same objectives and made use of the same tactics. Frequently, they had the same membership rolls.

After settling for a time in Brooklyn, Esposito migrated to Chicago, effec-tively blazing a trail that later would be followed by such gangland figures as Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. In the Windy City, Esposito performed apparently conflicting functions while inhabiting the twilight area between underworld and overworld, between the unprincipled street toughs and the respectable citizens.
That he used his influence to assist the poor immigrant families in his district is well established. However, it cannot be denied that he also aided those who preyed upon and terrorized the same families.

The story of Esposito’s life, provided by Lennert van`t Riet and David Critchley, is a window into a tumultuous period from the close of the Gilded Age through the early years of the Prohibition Era. (Preview)

Also in this issue of Informer:

- Bill Feather provides an early Buffalo Crime Family membership chart (Preview).

- Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona relate how a successful raid by Prohibition agents led to the distribution of poisonous alcohol in the United States and Canada (Preview).

- Longtime Bonanno Crime Family member Frank Bonomo is the subject of a gangland profile by J. Dugard (Preview).

- Oscar Goodman, former mob defense lawyer and mayor of Las Vegas, sits down for an interview with Richard N. Warner (Preview).

- Thomas Hunt ponders the re-release of The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano (Preview).

Eighty-eight pages including cover.

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Bootleg Poison

July 2013 Contents
Feature Article

A raid by Prohibition agents set in motion

events that led to deaths, blindings

Poison

By Thomas Hunt and 

Michael A. Tona

"One of Prohibition’s more severe unintended con-sequences was a wave of deaths and blindings among residents in western New York and nearby Canada that lasted through the early summer of 1926. Reports of the casualties followed closely behind a successful law enforcement raid of an alcohol redistilling operation in mid-spring..."

Fourteen pages, including two pages of notes and ten images.

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