on topic again I always wondered what kind of influence the Colombos had "back then" as well. Since their inception they've been the youngest and smallest family, arguably the weakest. I know at one point Joe Colombo was close with Joe Bonnano - helping Magliocco (sp?) hide out Bonnano's son during the Banana's War. He was also apparently close with the Gambino's - in DiLeonardo's testimony during the history portion he said that Joe Colombo was a regular at his grandfather's house on Sundays.

My guess is that until the general time frame of the deaths of Lucchese and Gambino, and when Carmine Persico took over, the Colombos were probably under influence/control by Lucchese and Gambino. They've basically been in termoil since their inception - as a unit I don't see how powerful they could have been with rival factions fighting, the changing of bosses every couple years, etc... that history has plagued them to this day.

I wonder what would have happened down the road if Persico just gave Orena control . I bet they wouldn't be in the position they are in today, for sure.