President-elect Kennedy attends Orange Bowl Game, Jan. 2, 1961

A face in the crowd: President-elect Kennedy attends
Orange Bowl game, Jan. 2, 1961. Photograph by Flip Schulke.

Ad for Mayfair Theater - 1934

From the Miami Daily News, March 8, 1934.

1934 newspaper ad for the Mayfair Theater at Biscayne Blvd. and 16th Street.

Ad for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce - 1927

From the Miami Daily News, June 1, 1927.

"Miami Beach....Come Over and Come In! Enjoy your THURSDAY HOLIDAY with us---and in your Ocean!"

Promotional ad for sports coverage in the Miami News

From the Miami News, Jan. 8, 1973.

The Meyer Lansky Scrapbook (Part II)

Miami News, Feb. 10, 1978.

Click all documents to enlarge.

Meyer Lansky - FBI Number 791-783 - stood just 5 feet, 5 and a half inches tall and weighed 140 lbs.

And though he was often in poor health, FBI documents warned that he "should be considered armed and dangerous."

They watched his every move for decades, arrested him, indicted him, found him guilty of contempt of court, and sentenced him to jail. .

Along the way, the feds compiled a thick file on Lansky that consists of thousands of pages. But, much of what's in his file are newspaper clippings and other press reports.

Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant," died thirty years ago this month - on Jan. 15, 1983 - at Miami Beach, having never spent a day behind bars.

From the Miami Herald, Sunday, January 16, 1983:

The G-men tracked him so faithfully for so many years that they developed a cynical affection for the polite little man they deemed lord of the underworld.

"He was probably one of my more favorite hoodlums," recalls Ralph Hill, a hard-nosed former Miami FBI supervisor who spent much of his career in South Florida investigating Meyer Lansky . "Of all the hoodlums, he was the only one who added a touch of personal class."

When he died Saturday, Lansky robbed law enforcement officials across the country of the final proof of his criminality. He died peacefully between hospital sheets like any other old man.

"He wound up beating everybody," says Patrick Healy, executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission. "He was the grandfather of it all, almost up until the very time of his death.

"Even at 80, God help the man who crossed him."

The FBI opened its Lansky file in Miami around 1957. From then on, agents dutifully watched him.

They watched him a lot.

They sat in cars parked on Collins Avenue across from the Imperial House where Lanksy lived. They lounged in Miami Beach hotel lobbies. They listened to his telephone conversations over secret eavesdropping devices. They learned practically nothing from the bugs, because Lansky didn't talk business in closed rooms.

"He was respectful of us," Hill says, "and we were more or less respectful of him. We tried to respect his privacy."

The Meyer Lansky Scrapbook (Part I)

Eastern Airlines ad - ca. 1970s

"Things look better at Eastern. Including the way we look."

Click image to enlarge.

The Meyer Lansky Scrapbook

Meyer Lansky, gambler and mob organizer of the Havana boom, leaving Rivieria Hotel casino with girl and satchel reported to have contained $200, 000 from cashier's office.
(LIFE Magazine photo, Feb. 1958.)

Original caption: 11/7/72-MIAMI, FLA: Meyer Lansky, the reputed financial brain of the underworld's gambling empire, struggles to get into his attorney's car after being freed on bonds totaling $250,000, a little more than nine hours after landing in Miami from South America. (UPI)-ps/PKS
(Click on all images to enlarge.)

Miami News, Nov. 10, 1972: Lansky's wife leaves Israel, to join him here

Original caption: Miami - Meyer Lansky stands with attorney E. David Rosen
outside the Federal Courthouse 2/27/1973 after the second day of his trial
on charges of contempt. Lansky testified today, telling the jury he
did not answer a grand jury summons because his doctor advised
against traveling. His trial is expected to end 2/28/1973.

Original caption: Miami - Meyer Lansky stands on the steps of the Federal
Courthouse 2/28/1973, shortly before a jury convicted him of contempt.
Lansky, 70, had testified that ill health had prevented him from appearing
to testify before a grand jury.

Miami News, Mar. 1, 1973: Lansky on bail, awaits sentencing

Original caption: (MH3) Miami, Fla., July 9--SMILING LANSKY ARRIVES AT COURT--A smiling, squinting Meyer Lansky arrives at Miami's federal building this morning to stand trial on charges of income tax evasion.(AP Wirephoto)(see AP wire story)
(jab20933stf/jab)1973

Miami News, July 10, 1973: Lansky hearing on health claim set tomorrow

Meyer Lansky arriving for his trial on income tax evasion charges at
Federal Court in Miami, July 17, 1973.

Miami News, July 17, 1973: IRS man excused as Lansky juror

Miami News, July 25, 1973: Lansky faces new tax trial

Miami News, Oct. 12, 1977.

Miami News, Feb. 10, 1978.

Lansky walks his Shih Tzu, Bruzzer, on Miami Beach in the 70s.

Original caption: Jan. 16, 1983, Miami, FL: Thelma Lansky (C) weeps as
the remains of her husband Meyer Lansky are readied for burial.
Lansky, reputed underworld financier, died of cancer at the age of 80 on Jan. 15, 1983.

Miami News, Jan. 17, 1983.

The Meyer Lansky Scrapbook (Part II)

'Fly Any Day at Opa-Locka'

From the Miami Daily News, Aug. 29, 1926.

"2 for $5" ... "Cool off in the Clouds."