One guy that hasn't been mentioned is Valachi, although it might just be semantics because he was made prior to the Five Families being divied up.

I've read "The Valachi Papers" three or four times, but I haven't read it in about ten years. I recall that Valachi was initially made by Maranzano either just prior to or during the famous Castellammarese war. He claimed that at the ceremony he was told that his new "goombah" was to be Joe Bonanno.

Then after Maranzano was killed, Valachi was apparently running scared so he reached out to Tommy Lucchese, who intervened and reached out to Vito Genovese. And I guess the rest is history because we all know that Valachi ended up a soldier in the Genovese family.

I know it's kind of convoluted and quite possibly not technically a change, because he was made prior to the formal Five Families being introduced, but I thought it was worth mentioning .

Yeah you're right never thought of that was it not the Reina (Lucchesse) family he was a part of?

Wasn't Nicky O part of Philly North Jersey and the Gambinos. Who was he made by?

I´m not exactly sure what you mean by "he was made prior to the Five Families being divided up". But prior to the Castellammarese war, the Five Families had already been established. The bosses were Masseria, Mineo, Reina, Schiro and Profaci. During the war, former Masseria loyalists switched sides to Maranzano´s. I guess one can argue that the New York Mafia consisted of two factions by this time (actually three because Profaci was considered neutral) but the NY Mafia was still de facto structured into five different Families.
Valachi was made into the group that supported Maranzano in late 1930 and at a time when the war was still raging. I think he was connected with the old Reina Family at the time. Although being made member of the Mafia (fully comparable to others who had been made during normal circumstances), I´m not sure that this group can be called the Maranzano Family because this group consisted of members of the Reina Family (Gagliano, Lucchese, Scillitani and others) as well as Mineo members (Mangano, Gambino, Scalise and others). They had all joined to fight Masseria but was still technically members of their old Families.
However, directly after the war, these men who had joined the "Maranzano cause" were given the choise to remain with Maranzano or go back with their original Families. Only a few stayed with Maranzano and Valachi was one them.
The Valachi switch occurred after the Maranzano killing. Gagliano and Lucchese intervened on Valachi´s behalf and saved him from being killed by Luciano and Genovese who considered Valachi as a staunch Maranzano supporter.
If memory serves me right, Valachi was given a choise to either go with Gagliano (who now led the old Reina Family) or Luciano and he chose Luciano. He was put in Genovese´s old crew, now run by Anthony Bender. This was a choise Valachi later regretted.
So from being a made member of the Maranzano forces who fought Masseria in the war, via membership in the Maranzano Family, he went to become a member of the Luciano Family.

I guess I could have worded it better, Hairy. I indeed meant that there were basically two warring factions at that point (Masseria and Maranzano). Regardless, I'm sure that I noted that Valachi's original "goombah" was Bonanno. But like I said, it's pretty convoluted and technically may not be considered a switch. I was just trying to add something to the topic.

He was most likely made by the Phillys. Correct me if I´m wrong, but Nicky O was never a Gambino member.

I understand
The New York Mafia was in great disarray at the time and the circumstances are extremely complicated. Some crime historians claim that also the Maranzano Family had split into two factions. The murder of Joseph Parrino, who was appointed boss by Masseria and most likely killed by Maranzano gunmen, seems to suggest this.

Kid Blast and Frannk Illiano and Kid Blast switched over to the ivyleague.

You are right DN, but keep in mind that Illiano and Albert Gallo wasn´t made guys when they switched to the ivyleague.

Did the mineo family not support masseria?

Originally they did. But after the Mineo murder, some Mineo members joined the Maranzano group. (Mangano, Gambino, Scalise.) Others remained loyal to Masseria. Off the top of my head the Masseria loyalists were Anastasia, Joe Biondo, Joe Traina...

Fair enough i'm quite sure i read somewhere after the Masseria murder Scalise got demoted as boss because he was a close ally to Masseria.

Actually Maranzano made Scalise boss of the old Mineo Family after the Masseria killing. After Maranzano was killed, Scalise was demoted because he had been a Maranzano ally.

Ok thanks i can see were i got mixed up. I thought Mangano was the one Maranzano madde boss after the Masseria killing. Who was boss after Mineo then?

"Ok thanks i can see were i got mixed up. I thought Mangano was the one Maranzano madde boss after the Masseria killing. Who was boss after Mineo then?"

I really don´t know. There is a possibility that Scalise was made boss by Maranzano already right after Mineo was killed, perhaps on acting basis only. But considering the Family had split into two factions, Scalise must have been practically powerless at that time.
Another possibility is that the Family simply didn´t had a boss (right after the Mineo killing) and that a power vaccum occurred. I don´t think the two sides were able to name a boss. Who would have wanted the job at that time, considering the shooting came from all kinds of angles?

Yeah good point Maranzanos faction probably just absorbed the Mineos and Scalise just became one of his closest allies.

Sorry for the constant questions lol but was Mangano not also an ally of Maranzano if so then why would Luciano (or whoever) name Mangano boss rather than just keeping Scalise in place?

No problem. Yes, Mangano was also a Maranzano ally. But Maranzano settled on Scalise to run the old Mineo Family. According to Valachi (and I think also Nicola Gentile mentioned this), Mangano´s name was put on a "death list" with Luciano´s, Genovese´s, Costello´s, Capone´s and Dutch Schultz´s by Maranzano. So by September 1931, Mangano had clearly fallen out of favor with Maranzano who gave the murder assaignment to Scalise. But Scalise balked and informed Mangano of the murder plot instead. At the same time, Lucchese (another Maranzano ally) informed Luciano of the "death list" and from then on Maranzano was history.
It´s hard to tell why Scalise was demoted after the Maranzano murder. Joe Bonanno referred to the incident (in his book) only as "Scalise´s star fell. Scalise had been too close a supporter of Maranzano. With Lucky´s rise to power, Scalise became a liability to his Family, which didn´t want to antagonize the powerful Luciano and his cohorts."

Did any Chicago made guys ever switch crews? Which would be like switching families, sort of.

speaking of old Joseph Valachi, stumbled on this today, his birthday--

http://hilobrow.com/2012/09/22/joseph-valachi

Be interesting to see some of the manuscript Valachi actually wrote and was then suppressed by the Justice Department though I don't think it's ever leaked or if anyone besides Peter Maas had a copy.

Valachi´s manuscipt (I think) is called "The Real Thing" and is available in only a few copies. In very few instances, "The Real Deal" has been used as basis for some of the stories on Valachi. But they are far between. Also there is the transcript from the Valachi Senate Hearings which I have a copy of. I mention this because I want to point out that Maas´s book is a simplified version of Valachi´s life, in the same way Pileggi and Scorsese simplified the book "Wiseguy" and the movie "GoodFellas" (which are both extremely good pieces of art, don´t get me wrong), but they were made for the masses. Simplifying avoids confusion among the readers and viewers, shutting out the complexity of a story portraying a lifetime.

In Maas´s book for example, the purge, or the night of the Sicilian Vespers, is mentioned as info coming from Valachi himself. But in reality, Valachi only spoke of three murders in connection with the Maranzano killing, and not the large amount of 50, 60 or whatever slain mustache petes all over the country. Of course, Maas had to mention the purge when he wrote his book because it helped sell it, even if there was no evidence supporting the purge at all.

Agreed on all counts, HK... The published "Valachi Papers" is even somewhat underwhelming today, though you can still see its importance and its appeal. I'm sure "The Real Thing" is a mess given Valachi's education level and literacy but that burning NEED to express himself and reveal what he knew (from his singular vantage point) would be fascinating to see in its raw state.

The story of Peter Maas' trouble with the Dept. of Justice over Valachi is very interesting itself; I imagine Joe Colombo was lurking behind some of the pressure put on LBJ who then put it on AG Katzenbach.

"Wiseguy" is a good adaptation, though I wish Scorsese had spared us the anachronistic Stones/Cream stuff when they're in the late '70s, early '80s... although that's another discussion.

'Sicilian Vespers' is a pet peeve of mine too, btw; crazy how often it's still repeated!

Was joe gallos brother albert made when he left the colombos for the genovese family

Nick licatas son went from l.a to detroit didn't he and frattiano said in his book that roselli was part of the l.a family and was there when he got made im pretty sure

I thought lips started off in detroit I know he worked in l.a but started in detroit

I may be wrong but i think i read somewhere he wasn't and unless i've got the situation completely backward Larry was the senior Gallo if you like.