This is “Illegal Of The Day” number 150.

Special thanks to the many contributors that made them possible. Way too many to list by name. For sure I will forget one.

I will list one name that was left out of many of the posts and contributed much for them. Thanks David Spragg.

I got this one off the BB not knowing what it was. I try to grab all the hubs I see. As it turned out, it was a good buy for me.

West End and Long Branch, NJ had a lot of upper class gambling during the “Era Of The Illegals.” Most of them were mob owned “Carpet” “joints” or clubs. I believe The Arrowhead Inn in Branch Hill Ohio was the 1st of the mob owned “Carpet” clubs. As you will see the Colony Surf Club was owned by one of the legendary “Big Six,” a mixture of bosses from different crime families. Meyer Lansky is credited with being the “Supreme Boss” of the “Big Six.” He supposedly was the glue that held it together for over 40 years during prohibition and “The Era Of The Illegals,” Major decisions such as the killing of Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel (a member of the “Big Six”) had to have his stamp of approval.

Members of the “Big Six” collaborated to create the “Open” cities such as Newport, KY, Miami, FL, Las Vegas, NV, Terra Haute, IN, Houston, TX, Cincinnati, OH, etc across the US. Lansky and Moe Dalitz (Cleveland Syndicate) teamed to make Newport the biggest race book layoff center in the US and had some of the biggest and best “Carpet” Clubs” in the US. The “Big Six” adopted Moe Dalitz’s rule of “Enough For All” and brought gambling into the 20st century, to replace the money lost by the repeal of prohibition.

Lansky and Dalitz made the decision to abandon Newport after the George Ratterman/April Flowers fiasco of 1961. The syndicate had nothing to do with the Ratterman situation. It was carried out strictly by locals.

Besides they had bigger fish to fry.

Moe had already taken control of the Desert Inn and was building the Stardust in Las Vegas. Meyer was heavily involved in Cuba. The “Era Of The Illegals had come to a screeching halt.

Enough of that:

New Jersey:

Colony Surf Club,
West End, New Jersey.
1400 white, 1000 yellow, 600 green
1935

CSC

The Colony Surf Club, a semi-private beachfront club, operated at West End, New Jersey from the 1930’s-1960’s, primarily during the Summer.

Here’s a description of the CSC from a June 1934 newspaper article:

CSC opens its summer season on June 27th 1935 (the year of the chip order)—guest star Milton Berle:

An ad from the New York Times advertising the CSC’s 4th of July activities for 1935:

Occasionally during the 1930’s shows at the CSC like the one above were broadcast over the radio.

pic from the early 1930’s:

My note: Some good pics for “Hotrod Of The Day.

pic from around 1940:

In 1974 the PR director of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, who had worked as a cabana boy at the CSC during summers in the mid 1930’s, had this to say in a newspaper interview:

Here’s a snip from a June 1950 FBI dossier on Abner “Longie” Zwillman:

Lots of info about Zwillman online. Suffice it say, Zwillman, a Newark native, was a big time figure in the underworld, a major league bootlegger during prohibition, helped put the organization into organized crime and was one of the legendary “Big Six” (which included Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, and Lucky Luciano. Zwillman was involved in a multitude of enterprises, both legitimate and illegitimate, often using fronts to hide his involvement. It’s unclear exactly when and for how long Zwillman had an interest in the CSC. The ownership of the CSC changed hands often during its lifetime. But here’s a clue that suggests a possible Zwillman connection.

In 1944 it was reported that Ben Zuckerman of Newark had purchased both the CSC and the West End Casino. Zuckerman had been an associate of Zwillman’s during prohibition and after prohibition had operated a liquor company said to have been owned by Zwillman. Zuckerman may have been fronting for Zwillman’s interest in the CSC and the West End Casino. Also, as near as I can tell, the Hotel Versailles didn’t open until May 25th 1945. At that time the Versailles advertised itself as “the Jersey Shore’s most distinguished new rendezvous for summer diversion” and offered patrons free membership in either the CSC or West End Club.

Zwillman’s Summer home in Deal was only about a mile from the CSC:

pic of Zwillman before Kefauver in 1951:

My note: Once again the Kefauver Commission raises its ugly head in the operations of the illegals. They have been featured in most of the “Illegal Of The Day posts. I guess I don’t have to tell you Kefauver was devastating to the illegals.

Postcards of the CSC:

In 1972 a high rise condo was developed on the property where the CSC was located. Current aerial view: