Mob History of the Wyoming Valley

In a previous posting I wrote about books covering Wyoming Valley history, the book 'Fighting for the Union Label' talks about the growth of the garment industry and the efforts to unionize the dress shops. Some of the most difficult obstacles that union organizer Min Matheson had had to deal with were related to the mafia-owned shops on Main Street in Pittston. Russel Bufalino, our fellow Kingston resident, was a common sight in those days and he and his crew were not averse to bullying the union people. Min would actually walk up to Russell and tell him off.

The mob and the unions have a tense an interconnected history and a lot of it is covered in detail in the excellent book, "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt. I read the book prior to the release of the movie called "The Irishman" by Martin Scorcese which was based on the book. The movie was slow, plodding, and disappointing compared to the book. Many of the best side stories were missing in the movie, such as the mob's involvement in the Bay of Pigs disaster and the JFK assassination. I was hoping they'd include the story of how the Teamsters helped a 29 year-old Joe Biden win his first Senate election against a highly favored career politician/incumbent. These stories were at least as compelling as the main story line about who killed Jimmy Hoffa, yet in this slow-moving 3.5 hour movie there was enough extraneous material added that would have better been spent by including more the original stories in the book. It took me 3 separate sittings to watch it all.

And you want to know more about the quiet don, I recommend the book 'The Quiet Don' by Matt Birkbeck.