#joe adonis

[mafianoir]

"who do you think you are, rudolph valentino?"

olindo romeo ciocca, 'mobsters and thugs' quotes from the underworld (2000)

[organizedcrime]

June 1950: Gambler Joe Adonis leaving court. (Hank Walker, Life)

[meyerlansky]

Hi do you know what luciano and lansky's financial situation was towards the end of their lives? Like were they still living rich, moderately or poor? Also, is it true that luciano became angry at joe adonis towards the end of his life because adonis was still very wealthy and didn't offer to help out luciano who was supposedly financially struggling?

they definitely weren’t poor, but they didn’t have as much money available to them in their old age as they did while they were actively involved in their various enterprises from the 20s on—i’m unconvinced charlie resumed active involvement in any rackets after his arrest/deportation, and meyer seems like he was pretty tapped out of any big money-making things after the cuban revolution in ‘59. so meyer had 26+ more years of earning potential, and he tended to live more within his means than charlie ever did. again, they definitely weren’t flat broke or anything, but as far as i can tell charlie was essentially living off whatever “investments” he could make in italy and whatever he could get from meyer and frank while they were still active, and meyer was rumored to be worth hundreds of millions at the time of his death, but his family only received $30k [which, for what it’s worth, would be about $75k today. it’s lower than what i’ve read is average for inheritances, but honestly not by much]. the speculation there is either the rumors were WILDLY overblown—which is probably at least partially true considering i can’t find a source for that number that’s not either hank messick’s utter horseshit writing or fbn/fbi records, which imo lied about anything they had to in the interests of keeping their budget inflated—or that whatever money meyer DID have was either tied up in property [or investments, or favors, or other various non-liquid revenue streams] or swiss bank accounts only he could access and that his kids had no way of getting after his death.

as for the stuff with joe adonis, it definitely seems like his relationship with charlie cooled off after they were both in italy. the main source for this is TLT, which, it’s up to you how much you want to trust it, especially with the later shit [which i tend to have a harder time buying than the prohibition-era stuff], but it does shake out in some newspaper articles from when they were both still alive too—charlie straight up denied association with adonis once he arrived in italy, and it doesn’t seem like they had much contact before charlie’s death. there are honestly a lot of reasons i can very easily see charlie being bitter about joe: he had the option of jail time or deportation, which is obviously more choice than charlie got even after operation underworld; like meyer, joe had an extra 20+ years of earning time on charlie, so he may have had more saved up to live off of after he was deported when charlie was relying on “gifts” from rackets he hadn’t controlled since ‘36; and from what i’ve read it seems like charlie had a much rougher go of it in italy insofar as italian police monitoring him [warranted or not], but by the time joe arrived ten years later they were convinced there was nothing either of them could get up to as deportees, so he dealt way less with the stuff charlie tended to complain about before he even got there—not being able to avoid tails, being held in a jail cell with no outside contact for three days on suspicion of involvement in crimes, etc. it’s definitely the kind of thing an already-bitter guy would take to heart, and no one can say these guys weren’t petty fucks a lot of the time, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the newspaper articles i’ve read have the right picture of it.

[mafianoir]

where's the joe adonis clip 👀 hand it over

here, 0:37 onwards :)

(ik it's on gettyimages of all places this mf is hard to track down)

i should rly make a post compiling all the videos i've found of adonis- it's rare that gangsters i hyperfixate on am interested in actually have footage with audio!!

[mafianoir]

Check signed by mobster Joe Adonis (Giuseppe “Joseph” Doto), June 21st, 1937.

[organizedcrime]

September 16, 1937: Joe Adonis is arrested for “assault and robbery.” (x)

As a part of his criminal empire, Adonis owned a number of car dealerships in New Jersey, where customers were intimidated into buying ‘protection insurance’ for their vehicle.

[organizedcrime]

Joe Adonis (left) on stand, flanked by his lawyer, was a defiant witness. He was first cited for contempt when he refused to testify last December. This time he again refused to answer most questions of the committee. 

Joe Adonis: For reasons better known to me, I refuse to answer that. Rudolph Halley: Well, you are directed to answer that last question. Adonis: I decline to answer the question on the ground it might tend to incriminate me. Halley: Is not the business of that company the conveying of Ford automobiles from the Ford plant in Edgewater, NJ to various places through the east? Adonis: Are you finished? Halley: That is the question. Adonis: I decline to answer.

[organizedcrime]

Original Caption: Adonis waits patiently while his friend Paul Banadio, who is vice president of his auto haulaway firm, gets a shave. Among his associates Adonis is known as a very soft touch.