Boardwalk Empire – A real life connection
I have never watched the series Boardwalk Empire but will now have to after finding out about my wife’s family history over the weekend. The HBO series is loosely based around the first front for illegal gambling in Atlantic City NJ long before Casinos came about. The place was called The 500 Club, which was a Supper Club where now famous performers got their start. Paul “Skinny” D’Amato owned and ran the 500 and it turns out that my wife’s uncle was best friends with Skinny.
Uncle Dom was a Beautician who owned his own Salon and Wig Shop near the club so many stars had their hair done in his shop. He also opened The Academy of Beauty Culture also in AC which at the time became quite popular.
My Mother in Law is moving from her house into a small retirement apartment and has been throwing anything and everything out before the move. She came across a leather pouch that contained a bunch of pictures of Uncle Dom and his shop. She had asked my wife’s sister if she was interested and got a no, so without asking my wife, she threw the pouch away. Luckily she mentioned it before trash day and my wife insisted she get it out of the trash and gives it to us.
When we opened the pouch and went thru the pictures, our jaws were on the floor. What we have are many pictures of Uncle Dom doing the hair of very famous people, and many have personal notes and autographs. We also have several pictures of the Back Room of the 500 Club with Uncle Dom sitting next to Skinny and other sketchy guys. We even have a picture of Uncle Dom’s Wedding where Skinny was his Best Man and standing right there at the altar.
Along with all that, we have a copy of one of the famous pictures of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra on stage at the 500. Oh, and with pristine full autographs from both guys. We have 6 candid pics in the salon of Jayne Mansfield getting her hair done or just goofing off. All of them with a personal message and autographs. We have pics of Diana Dors, Denise Dorcet, Perle Mesta all with autographs. Some of the pics of Jayne Mansfield also have her husband, Body Builder and actor Mickey Hargitay.
One of the best and best kept photos does not have any signatures, but it is Uncle Dom doing the hair of Frank Sinatra’s Mother with his Brother in the pic also.
We are now working to figure out both a Historical and Personal value as well as how to best preserve what we have now. We are waiting for calls back from the AC Historical Society as well as Antique and Famous autograph experts in the area.
We have always wanted a good reason to go to the Antiques Road Show and now we have some of the real deal. Problem is, they are not coming anywhere near Philly in 2015 so we will have to wait until they do for that fun. This is really exciting for my wife and I so I thought I would share something Real and True about the beginnings of AC and the Fiction of The Boardwalk Empire series.
Cheers!
I have never watched the series Boardwalk Empire but will now have to after finding out about my wife’s family history over the weekend. The HBO series is loosely based around the first front for illegal gambling in Atlantic City NJ long before Casinos came about. The place was called The 500 Club, which was a Supper Club where now famous performers got their start. Paul “Skinny” D’Amato owned and ran the 500 and it turns out that my wife’s uncle was best friends with Skinny.
Uncle Dom was a Beautician who owned his own Salon and Wig Shop near the club so many stars had their hair done in his shop. He also opened The Academy of Beauty Culture also in AC which at the time became quite popular.
My Mother in Law is moving from her house into a small retirement apartment and has been throwing anything and everything out before the move. She came across a leather pouch that contained a bunch of pictures of Uncle Dom and his shop. She had asked my wife’s sister if she was interested and got a no, so without asking my wife, she threw the pouch away. Luckily she mentioned it before trash day and my wife insisted she get it out of the trash and gives it to us.
When we opened the pouch and went thru the pictures, our jaws were on the floor. What we have are many pictures of Uncle Dom doing the hair of very famous people, and many have personal notes and autographs. We also have several pictures of the Back Room of the 500 Club with Uncle Dom sitting next to Skinny and other sketchy guys. We even have a picture of Uncle Dom’s Wedding where Skinny was his Best Man and standing right there at the altar.
Along with all that, we have a copy of one of the famous pictures of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra on stage at the 500. Oh, and with pristine full autographs from both guys. We have 6 candid pics in the salon of Jayne Mansfield getting her hair done or just goofing off. All of them with a personal message and autographs. We have pics of Diana Dors, Denise Dorcet, Perle Mesta all with autographs. Some of the pics of Jayne Mansfield also have her husband, Body Builder and actor Mickey Hargitay.
One of the best and best kept photos does not have any signatures, but it is Uncle Dom doing the hair of Frank Sinatra’s Mother with his Brother in the pic also.
We are now working to figure out both a Historical and Personal value as well as how to best preserve what we have now. We are waiting for calls back from the AC Historical Society as well as Antique and Famous autograph experts in the area.
We have always wanted a good reason to go to the Antiques Road Show and now we have some of the real deal. Problem is, they are not coming anywhere near Philly in 2015 so we will have to wait until they do for that fun. This is really exciting for my wife and I so I thought I would share something Real and True about the beginnings of AC and the Fiction of The Boardwalk Empire series.
Cheers!
