Today the Mob Museum in Vegas announced that it would be displaying Al Capone’s ‘Sweetheart’ Pistol as part of a new permanent exhibit.
The First Public Enemy exhibition will explore the life and criminal empire of Al Capone as one-of-a-kind artefacts go on display to give guests a glimpse into his personal and public life.
Such items include his iconic 45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, nicknamed Sweetheart along with rare home movies from 1929.
The pistol will go on display for the first time in history.
The firearm, authenticated by the Office of the Colt Historian as a Colt 1911 manufactured in 1912, was described by the family to have been referred to as “Sweetheart” by Capone for being his favorite firearm and for saving his life on multiple occasions.
Originally left to Al Capone’s wife, Mae, it was next passed to their son, Albert “Sonny” Capone. Sonny, an avid marksman and competition shooter, made modifications to the firearm.
After Sonny’s death in 2004, the pistol came into the possession of his daughters Diane and Barbara.
Capone’s pistol was later sold at a 2021 auction, marking the first time the firearm left the Capone family.
The pistol sold for $1 million and in 2024 had pre-auction bids reaching $825,000. The pistol was made available to the Museum through the considerable generosity of a private contributor who expressed a strong desire that the historic firearm be accessible to the public via the Las Vegas nonprofit institution.
Archive footage filmed in the spring of 1929 at Capone’s Miami Beach Mansion showcases candid scenes of Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano and Frank Costello on 16mm film. Two of the most prominent American mob bosses of the era.
The footage shows them spending time around Capone’s swimming pool and aboard a boat. The family had kept the footage under wraps for more than 90 years and has only been shown in public once during the Museum’s 11th anniversary.
Believed to have been filmed entirely by Capone himself, according to his granddaughters the footage perfectly accompanies the pistol.
Coinciding with America’s Prohibition Era, Al Capone’s nefarious activities included bootlegging, gambling and a host of other illicit rackets, all of which were marked by profound violence, exemplified by the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Inside the new exhibit, positioned between the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre wall and ballistics evidence and the Tax Evaders display on Capone’s prosecution, visitors will learn about Capone’s 1930 designation as Public Enemy Number One.
Capone’s legacy and the exhibition will show the darker side of things and its lasting impact on American society.
Available from 9am to 9pm the exhibition is included with Museum admission.
To find out more or to purchase tickets please visit the official website HERE.
