THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Yep, had it on VHS and watched it a million times. I had all the action figures too. The acting and action scenes were pretty solid for what it was. It starred Beatty, Pacino, Caan, Sorvino, Forsyth, etc. It was like candy cigarettes. Introduction to my mob addiction.

Oh man, I was obsessed with Dick Tracy when it came out. My neighbor and I used to pretend we were in the movie.

Completely forgot that was 100% my intro to "gangsters". I still laugh that there was a character just called the Influence.

The Dick Tracy movie got me interested in gangsters as a kid. lol. Bugsy, Goodfellas and Godfather 3, HBO Mob Stories all came out around the same time and I was fascinated. John Gotti was still in the news. A&E began producing a lot of great mob docs throughout the 90's. I discovered Capeci's Gangland News on the internet in 2000 when it was still free. Then the American Mafia forum, Real Deal, on and on.

Great thread and enjoyed reading everyones stories.

First time I watched Goodfellas with my dad when I was 8 I was absolutely blown away. Still my favourite movie of all time. I know it sounds corny and people might roll their eyes but when Henry explained "you had to be 100% italian/sicilian to be made...." I instantly thought being italian was the coolest thing in the world. I've always been obsessed with everything about the culture. I had an my zio Vittorio live with us on and off for years when I was a kid and he really contributed to this. He was an actor (not famous type just mostly commercials and small rolls) that was obsessed with anything De Niro and Pacino so I started watching all the classics from a young age. He played small parts in movies with a few legends including Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino. So I basically always watched any movie or show on the subject and did my own little side research here and there.

As I got older I remember always following stuff in the news especially when Rizzutto first got arrested and extradited. That was big news up here. Around this time Sopranos starting showing on TLN in Toronto and I basically watched that every night before bed for 3 years. I remember when I was in high school I had a conversation with a good friends brother in law who was a cop. He started talking about the mob and for some reason I was surprised and fascinated when he told me they were top of the food chain in Toronto, Montreal and Canada basically (this was mid 2000s so its changed obviously). But thinking in retrospect for my entire life its really been in your face in Toronto, from shootings and bombings, it was constantly in the news growing up. I was on College watching Italy during the Raposo hit. Jimmy DiMarias bakery is around the corner from my house and its been blown up a few times over the years. The war in Montreal and all the murders in Toronto and Hamilton are all pretty constantly in the news up here. I didn't realize until I joined the forums that it wasn't active anymore in most american cities like it once was and was on the decline.

I only discovered GangsterBB at the beginning of covid and thought that was the coolest thing on the internet. Then I discovered BHF and have been blown away by all the information you guys have here. Now I've started ready all the good books out there on the subject. Don't have a lot to contribute besides from questions yet.

The Godfather and Goodfellas sparked an initial interest for me when I was a teenager, but the Sopranos really put it into overdrive. However, Mafia Prince was the first book I read that really made me want to learn more than just a basic surface level. I read the book and listened to the book on tape on a long road trip and was hooked.

I tell ya what’s funny is that when I first became interested in the subject, I was mostly interested in learning about modern times. I wanted to know what the 5 families were doing in the 21st century. But the more I read and learn, the more I want to learn about the earliest iterations of “the mob”. I’ve really started to enjoy learning about what the Sicilian mafia was like in 1895 and 1907 and so forth.

I started with the Godfather Trilogy, then i started watch more movies like Goodfellas and Casino, and watch documentaries like 10 commandments of Mafia and Inside the American Mob, so, I became more and more interested in the subject, I started reading books and watching more documentaries, then one day I found this forum, and here I am.

Mustangsally wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:04 pm

FriendofHenry wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:23 am When I turned 13 my Dad got invited to bring me with him to JoJo Pecora's hunting camp, Charlie's Roost, in Tionesta,PA
That's where I met Michael Genovese, I was already familiar with Charlie Murgie but spending a couple of weeks under the same roof with them

Took this last week on my way through with you in mind. Hope it brings back good memories for you

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Wow - Charlie's Roost Thanx for the memories

I always enjoyed mob movies, like the Godfather 1 & 2, and had probably read some mob books in the 70s, (The Valachi Papers for sure) but in the early 1980s I read Jimmy Fratianno's book "The Last Mafioso" and I was in.

FriendofHenry wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:23 am When I turned 13 my Dad got invited to bring me with him to JoJo Pecora's hunting camp, Charlie's Roost, in Tionesta,PA
That's where I met Michael Genovese, I was already familiar with Charlie Murgie but spending a couple of weeks under the same roof with them

Took this last week on my way through with you in mind. Hope it brings back good memories for you

ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/65d49d5e7617 ... cdb2c1.jpg

My mother grew up in Everett, MA right next to the city. That whole side of the family spent a lot of time in the North End, back then it was looked upon as an Italian ghetto. But it’s where they shopped and spent time socializing. Hanover street wasn’t the place it’s become today. There were very few restaurants, the area was mostly butcher shops, groceries, and delicacy stores. Growing up she told us stories about the people and many characters in the city. In the early 80s everybody relocated to Tampa. Some time later my uncle who was a pilot was arrested for transporting stolen goods. He spent a few years in prison and I remember when he got out. We never knew as kids what he did. So as we got older we learned it was in connection to organized crime. From that point on I was fascinated. Movies and books only cemented the interest and for a long time that’s how I learned. I didn’t research fully and seriously until the last ten years and here we are. I’ve learned a stupid amount from the members of this site. Sorry for the long story, but I love this site and the information everyone offers.

My grandfather engaged in what would now be called human trafficking. In the 50s they called it "running girls". He essentially ran a whore house out of some apartments above the Italian club on South mill Street in New castle PA. He wasn't a mob connected guy as far as anyone knows, but was an Italian who engaged in the types of crime often associated with lcn. He went to prison when my dad was a kid, and the mom was a drunk, so some wonderful people adopted My father and became his real parents/my grandparents. There were always stories when I was a kid about "that side" of the family, as they were still alive into the 90s. The term mob was used often and loosely. I guess hearing about that opened the door.

My grandfather was a Jewish bookie. That’s what he did and he lived by it.

My dad was a drug dealer that died when I was 11. Grandfather at 14.
Then I watched goodfellas and it all made sense how they were with the nicknames and the general attitude of entitlement. Etc etc

What I admired most was my g father was 80 plus when he died and he still had his close friends and gamblers and gang Jewish gangsters were all real close STILL in here old age

Also….

This forum has kept me fully involved too

Some of these guys iv known longer then my baby mama or my best friend

Iv been following pogos charts for twenty or so years
Or back in the day read the “wiseguy vs everyone” posts n hes annihilate them with big words most the time
Met few ppl in person from here
N have even come on the board for support at times!!!

HairyKnuckles wrote: ↑Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:17 am For me, my interest started when I watched the TV show "The Gangster Chronicles", aired in the early 1980s (gosh I´m old lol). The show was cancelled after one season which sucked because I thought it was great. Then it was off to the local library and the only book they had (at that time, which was back in 1983) was Vincent Teresa´s "My Life in the Mafia". I thought it was great and must have borrowed the book at least 10-12 times. For a long time, I basically remembered every story described and every name mentioned in the book for a long time. That´s how nerdy I was.

Yep before i was even born….

God damn most people here are old enough to be my father . That’s good to know.

For me, my interest started when I watched the TV show "The Gangster Chronicles", aired in the early 1980s (gosh I´m old lol). The show was cancelled after one season which sucked because I thought it was great. Then it was off to the local library and the only book they had (at that time, which was back in 1983) was Vincent Teresa´s "My Life in the Mafia". I thought it was great and must have borrowed the book at least 10-12 times. For a long time, I basically remembered every story described and every name mentioned in the book for a long time. That´s how nerdy I was.