Mob Museum Las Vegas offers thrills, chills, colorful history of crime

The Mob Museum in Las Vegas offers a fascinating departure from gambling, and a treasure trove of crime lore.

MANIA FOR THE MOB: GRIT, GORE AND HANDS-ON EXHIBITS MAKE FOR FASCINATING, FUN VISIT TO SIN CITY MUSEUM

Cookie peruses one of many user-friendly exhibits.

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

"The Carpe Kiem Kids"

Las Vegas is famous for dazzling casinos, world-class entertainment, and unforgettable nightlife, but one of its most compelling attractions tells the real story behind the city's legendary past. Located in historic downtown, the The Mob Museum takes visitors on an immersive journey through the rise of organized crime, the efforts of law enforcement, and the events that helped transform Las Vegas into an international entertainment destination. Filled with authentic artifacts, multimedia exhibits, and hands-on experiences, it's a must-visit attraction for anyone wanting to discover the history behind the neon lights.

GANGSTERS, mafia bosses and their molls, booze, blood and bullets combine for a dose of criminal behavior -- and the guys and gals who went after the bad guys and girls.

The Mob Museum offers all that and more.

Get ready for a history of J. Edgar Hoover's relentless pursuit of crime bosses, wall-sized images of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and other brutal murders. The well designed, user-friendly three-story treasure trove of memorabilia is an intensely orchestrated study of the evolution of crime.

Look up your favorite criminal in a wall of wanted posters. It's a fun place for a visit.

REMEMBER THE gangster movies from the 1930s and '40s? ("You dirty rat.")  We grew up with them, and generations later, they still play well. And so does the Mob Museum.

Crime -- unfolding through the acting of Jimmy Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, even Humphrey Bogart -- has always had an audience.

Known officially as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, this fascinating place bills itself as a history museum. It is that -- a nod to the colorful history of crime. Located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, near the "Old Las Vegas" sign, it's a 15 or 20-minute drive from The Strip, a pleasant diversion from the lure of the casinos.

TODAY'S AUDIENCE needs to be engaged, and the museum does that, through dozens of large and small inter-active exhibits.  You can be part of a line-up, take your medicine in an electric chair, knock at a speakeasy door.

You'll discover more about crime than you'd ever think you wanted to know -- but it's all fascinating.  Emphasis is, of course, on the role Las Vegas has played through the years, with a nod to Bugsy Seigel and his Hollywood/Santa Monica connections.

Pretend to meet your fate, as these two giggling friends are doing, as you are strapped into the electric chair.

Pretend you're in the electric chair ready to meet your maker at the Mob Museum, Las Vegas.

KELLER HAD fun with the line-up, and I took a seat in the electric chair -- a truly creepy experience. Newsreels of actual crime busts and other police activity are interspersed with an array of weapons.  An intriguing gallery of photos makes the mobsters and their pursuers come alive.

Fashions popular in the gangster era are displayed in colorful clothing exhibits.

Videos tell various crime stories, as attractive displays await.

And homage is paid to the movies -- from "The Godfather" to earlier, vintage flicks which glamorized the criminals and are still popular today.

The museum explores the connection between Hollywood and the mob, in colorful history and star-studded posters.

Hollywood's connection to  organized crime is explored.

THE MOB Museum is fun, but also startling in its detail and scope.  Statistics reveal the millions of dollars of laundered money, the thousands of brutal murders and power the mob once had.  One map shows the mob's concentration in major U.S. cities, and another interesting display traces the European roots of mob crime in America. You'll see the mobsters and crime bosses at play, too, enjoying their families, out for a day of pleasure.  If you dare, you can join the mafia yourself, taking a blood oath and pledging loyalty to the death!

The Las Vegas Mob Museum delivers the real deal in crime fighting history and technique. Viator can take you there, and for a tour of the city as well.

Photographer Bruce Keller readies for his place in the line-up, with this "mug shot," at the Las Vegas Mob Museum.

A STAFF of nearly two dozen runs the mob museum, which reaches into the community with fund-raisers and special activities.  Summer camps for kids teach the evils and consequences of a life of crime. The museum sponsors a series of "Courtroom Conversations," moderated panel discussions exploring Las Vegas crime and law enforcement history.  And the lovely Triple George Grill down the street offers a three-course dinner fit for Don Corleone. It's $89 and includes Mob Museum admission.

Go undercover to tackle high-finance fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, murder and greed. The underworld never looked so inviting!

Go to:

• themobmuseum.org/ 

• www.viator.com

NEXT WEEK we take a spin with Viator tours, with tips on making the most of your travel time here or abroad.

Remember to explore, learn and live and check us out when we post for the weekend.

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