In the 1950s and 60s, both Vegas and Sinatra linked the conspicuous display of excess with a promise that tourists could be participants—not just onlookers—in their glamorous realm. The city and the star, however, also had something else in common: both were allegedly underwritten by the mob. This paper/talk examines how Rat Pack performances and Vegas spaces offered access to “the good life” even as innuendos of gangsterism tacitly associated that lavish lifestyle with ethnic difference.
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