Membership
Moderator: Capos
Membership
my question is: at what period did families start inducting new members only as replacements for deceased members? and when the Christmas rule +2 came into being? Valachi said that before 1931, the books were closed, but we know that this is not the case, and during Prohibition, the most members were inducted (probably the most in the history of the mafia in the United States). then there were many ceremonies after the Castellammarese War (probably due to the fact that Maranzano inducted a lot without an appropriate protocol, as with Valachi, who was assigned to Lucchese). then the books were closed (I don’t know, before the murder of Maranzano or after) in 1931. In the mid-1940s, the books were open, but mostly Jersey boys were accepted, right? then the books were closed until 1950. And were closed from 1957 to 1976. So back to my question: When did they start accepting new members as replacements for the dead, and where did the +2 Christmas rule come from?
Re: Membership
This doesn't necessarily answer the question posed but some of the info may pertain to any discussion in this thread.
Capeci article (2005)
To become a made member of LCN, an individual must be male and Italian.
New members can be “made” only as replacements for mobsters who have died, although each family is allowed to add two new members at Christmastime.
Names of proposed members, and the deceased members they replace, must be circulated to the other families, who have two weeks to lodge an objection—for example, the candidate is an informer or the candidate is an associate of another family.
Families may not replace a defector who cooperates with the government, until he dies.
Families may never replace a member the family has killed.
Esposito detention memo (2018)
Both parents of an inductee must be of Italian heritage, a change in previous policy requiring that only the father’s lineage be Italian.
Originally, LCN families could initiate new members only to replace a deceased member, which ensured that the families maintained their relative sizes and did not dilute their talent pools in an effort to become larger. Later, these rules were adjusted to allow each family to add a small number of additional members each year even absent the death of an existing member.
Once a new member is proposed, the member’s name is circulated to all five families for review and approval. After the new member is approved, the family holds a secret, ritualistic induction ceremony, after which the newly-inducted member is introduced to other members of the family.
Capeci article (2005)
To become a made member of LCN, an individual must be male and Italian.
New members can be “made” only as replacements for mobsters who have died, although each family is allowed to add two new members at Christmastime.
Names of proposed members, and the deceased members they replace, must be circulated to the other families, who have two weeks to lodge an objection—for example, the candidate is an informer or the candidate is an associate of another family.
Families may not replace a defector who cooperates with the government, until he dies.
Families may never replace a member the family has killed.
Esposito detention memo (2018)
Both parents of an inductee must be of Italian heritage, a change in previous policy requiring that only the father’s lineage be Italian.
Originally, LCN families could initiate new members only to replace a deceased member, which ensured that the families maintained their relative sizes and did not dilute their talent pools in an effort to become larger. Later, these rules were adjusted to allow each family to add a small number of additional members each year even absent the death of an existing member.
Once a new member is proposed, the member’s name is circulated to all five families for review and approval. After the new member is approved, the family holds a secret, ritualistic induction ceremony, after which the newly-inducted member is introduced to other members of the family.
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Pogo The Clown
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Re: Membership
The 2 at Christmas thing came about in the mid-1990s to make up for all the members who were in prison.
If my memory is correct the Caps (only replacing members who died) came about after the Castellemarese War to prevent Bosses getting too powerful with mass recruitments and triggering another war.
Pogo
If my memory is correct the Caps (only replacing members who died) came about after the Castellemarese War to prevent Bosses getting too powerful with mass recruitments and triggering another war.
Pogo
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