Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931 and the gambling at that time was done in downtown Las Vegas, where the customers were mostly the men who were working on the Hoover Dam. There was no “Strip” as we know it today. In 1937 the East Coast mob sent Bugsy Seigel (a Jewish mobster) to Los Angeles to try to develop Syndicate gambling rackets. Seigel recruited Mickey Cohen, who incidentally was a childhood friend of Jerry’s mom. In his travels back and forth between L.A. and Chicago, Bugsy got the idea of building a casino and resort in an area outside of Las Vegas that he called “The Strip.” The Mob financed Bugsy’s venture, which was called “The Flamingo.” It was a costly and unsuccessful endeavor and ultimately was the cause of his death in a Los Angeles mobster shooting in 1947. Eventually “The Strip” developed exactly the way Bugsy envisioned it, under the control of the Chicago “Mob.” In the early days there was a fairly large group of Jewish mobsters, and early on, the entire Flamingo Casino would be shut down on the High Holidays and services held in the Ballroom.
Since gambling in California had been made illegal, many of Ed’s gambling contacts moved up to Las Vegas and became pit bosses, floor managers and the like. Whenever Ed or any of his family would go to Las Vegas, arrangements would be made by his friends to “comp” them. Jerry remembers once going with Carole to Vegas and finding themselves sitting in the front-row left at one of Frank Sinatra’s shows when he was at the height of his career.
One day Jerry and Carole were in Los Angeles in front of the Biltmore Hotel and they saw Ed walking toward them. He had just come from the horse races, and he handed Carol a crisp $100 bill and told them to have fun. That was in the time when $100 was BIG BUCKS, when a pack of cigarettes or a loaf of bread cost less than 25 cents and gasoline was less than 75 cents a gallon.
Ed was a real character. The family remembers him telling a story about in his youth being romantically involved with a married woman. He was at her house one time frolicking in bed when her husband unexpectedly came in the front door. Ed jumped out of bed, grabbed his pants and flew out the window, running as fast as he could, naked, down the street to avoid getting caught.
He also said he began smoking Chesterfield cigarettes – the old, unfiltered, really strong kind – when he was eight years old and he smoked every day of his life. He is proof that if you have the right genes and good luck, you will not get lung cancer from smoking. Nevertheless, he cautioned people not to get involved with tobacco in the first place.
He and Sylvia belonged to the Jewish Temple in Riverside but they were not religiously observant Jews. They had a large group that they socialized with, all members of the Temple. On weekend get-togethers, the women would all play bridge, while the men played gin rummy. Ed was an excellent gin player and occasionally Jerry would sit in as Ed’s partner.
Ed’s lung condition was greatly improved by the mellow California climate, though of course smoking wasn’t helping it any. Sometime around 1953 or 1954, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was put in the Riverside Community Hospital. He was there for a month or so before a bed became available at the City of Hope in Duarte. Ed spent a year there recovering. Since Sylvia didn’t drive, every Sunday morning she took a bus from Riverside to the Pomona bus station. Carole, who was then living in Pomona, would pick her up and they would drive in to the City of Hope to visit with Ed. Sylvia and Carole would come back to Pomona and have dinner, sometimes with Jerry’s mom and dad, and then Carole would put her back on the bus to Riverside. At the end of the year, Ed was released as recovered, and he went back to Riverside and to work.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Since gambling in California had been made illegal, many of Ed’s gambling contacts moved up to Las Vegas and became pit bosses, floor managers and the like. Whenever Ed or any of his family would go to Las Vegas, arrangements would be made by his friends to “comp” them. Jerry remembers once going with Carole to Vegas and finding themselves sitting in the front-row left at one of Frank Sinatra’s shows when he was at the height of his career.
One day Jerry and Carole were in Los Angeles in front of the Biltmore Hotel and they saw Ed walking toward them. He had just come from the horse races, and he handed Carol a crisp $100 bill and told them to have fun. That was in the time when $100 was BIG BUCKS, when a pack of cigarettes or a loaf of bread cost less than 25 cents and gasoline was less than 75 cents a gallon.
Ed was a real character. The family remembers him telling a story about in his youth being romantically involved with a married woman. He was at her house one time frolicking in bed when her husband unexpectedly came in the front door. Ed jumped out of bed, grabbed his pants and flew out the window, running as fast as he could, naked, down the street to avoid getting caught.
He also said he began smoking Chesterfield cigarettes – the old, unfiltered, really strong kind – when he was eight years old and he smoked every day of his life. He is proof that if you have the right genes and good luck, you will not get lung cancer from smoking. Nevertheless, he cautioned people not to get involved with tobacco in the first place.
He and Sylvia belonged to the Jewish Temple in Riverside but they were not religiously observant Jews. They had a large group that they socialized with, all members of the Temple. On weekend get-togethers, the women would all play bridge, while the men played gin rummy. Ed was an excellent gin player and occasionally Jerry would sit in as Ed’s partner.
Ed’s lung condition was greatly improved by the mellow California climate, though of course smoking wasn’t helping it any. Sometime around 1953 or 1954, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was put in the Riverside Community Hospital. He was there for a month or so before a bed became available at the City of Hope in Duarte. Ed spent a year there recovering. Since Sylvia didn’t drive, every Sunday morning she took a bus from Riverside to the Pomona bus station. Carole, who was then living in Pomona, would pick her up and they would drive in to the City of Hope to visit with Ed. Sylvia and Carole would come back to Pomona and have dinner, sometimes with Jerry’s mom and dad, and then Carole would put her back on the bus to Riverside. At the end of the year, Ed was released as recovered, and he went back to Riverside and to work.
TO BE CONTINUED.
1 comment:
He really had an interesting life. :o)
Post a Comment