The highpoint from our trip to Las Vegas last week had to be the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement (aka The Mob Museum).
Vegas is a perfect location for this place.
The museum is in the old downtown, housed in the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which was built in 1933.
Again, perfect.
If you ever get a chance to visit, allow yourself plenty of time. Deb and I spent about three hours, and we didn’t get to see everything thoroughly. Another visit is probably in order.
What we did see, though, was fascinating.
There are two major attractions in the museum.
The most macabre is the actual blood-stained wall where the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre took place in 1929. The wall was disassembled a few years ago in Chicago, the bricks numbered, and then reassembled in Vegas. Al Capone would be proud.
The second piece of historical fascination is the second floor courtroom. That very courtroom was the location of one of 14 national Kefauver Committee hearings in 1950-51 to expose organized crime. Great stuff.
While we meandered through the museum, Deb nudged me and pointed to a quotation posted in large print on one wall. “There’s a business lesson for you,” she said.
The quotation was from Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana. You might recall the story that Giancana shared a mistress with JFK. Anyway, here’s the quote…
“Give the people what they want.”
The source might be questionable, but it’s definitely a good business lesson.
You can’t go wrong giving your customers what they want.
If you do anything else — like give ’em what you think they NEED — you’re wasting your time.
