Old gin bottle’s discovery a fitting find for mayor’s museum

Take it as a sign.

Gin-drinking Mayor Oscar Goodman wants a mob museum on the site of the old federal courthouse at 300 Stewart Ave., and what did workers find when they opened a wall?

A bottle of gin.

A partial label reads, "Boord's Gin." There's still a drop or two left in the bottom, City Architectural Project Manager Sam Tolman tells me.

Not for long if they leave it near the thirsty Goodman, I'll wager.

It's possible the bottle has been there since the wall was finished in 1931, officials say.

On the cap, there's a picture of a cat and the words "Old Tom."

According to Weimex.com, "Old Tom" was a category of sweetened gin used mainly for fizzes and "was relatively unpopular. The legend of the name 'Old Tom' comes from a wooden plaque in the shape of an old tomcat being situated outside a gin palace in England. The thirsty passers-by would drop a coin into the cat's mouth and wait for the bartender to pour a shot of gin through a tube to the customer. I'd prefer a glass, thank you."

Me, too, now that you mention it.

MUSEUM II: The official name of the Mob Museum is the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. Organized crime always gets top billing over law enforcement in this town.

Goodman on Thursday rolled out mock-ups of three of the exhibits you'll see when the Mob Museum opens to the public in mid-2011. They were impressive, but so far the museum's best feature is the excellent judgment it's showing in gathering some of the best minds in the business to ensure the place is a winner from Day One.

Although Goodman has said the museum will draw conservatively 250,000 people annually, a city survey estimates the number could be three times that high.

I just hope the survey wasn't taken by the same folks who thought the Fremont Street Experience would draw millions.

On Thursday, Goodman introduced museum creator Dennis Barrie to reporters. Barrie is one of the creative minds behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland and the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. He was the Smithsonian's Midwest director of Archives of American Art and also was the director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center.

"This museum is about the history of Las Vegas, but it's even greater than that," Barrie said. "It's about the history of America. Because organized crime, and the fight against organized crime, has been with us since we began as a nation."

CASA SALUTE: It might be the only time they'll be acknowledged publicly, but five new court-appointed special advocates were sworn in recently by Family Court Judge Cynthia Dianne Steel. They include Ken Mann, Maria Sigler, Pat Devlin, Lisa Hamrick and Marcy Curran. CASAs represent children's interests in court.

SURE SHOT: It's not every day you can play a competitive game of paintball and raise money for a worthy charity. Starting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Combat Zone at 13011 Las Vegas Blvd. South, paintball gunslingers will converge for the first Shot for a Cure fundraiser. It will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Las Vegas.

ON THE BOULEVARD: It's one happy family down at the Clark County Business License Department, where Dan Hoffman recently obtained a temporary restraining order against former employee Juan Rivera. Meanwhile, former employee Nathan Taylor saw his attempt to get a TRO rejected.

BOULEVARD II: It's Reading Week at local schools, and Goodman did his part at two venues. One was Wasden Elementary, where the mayor said the kids like "scary stories." I assume he refrained from telling tales of how some of his former mob clients ended up.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.