hey hey hey now -- i intend to order the Informer issue pretty soon -- I meant only to say that based upon the charts, it looks as though the composition of the pre-1931 families was based largely upon regional affiliations, and yet there would seem to be many exceptions --

first, the major exception of joe "the boss" Masseria

and second, the many instances where mobsters with roots in one part of Sicily joined families that were heavily rooted in another part

and so all of this points to the question of affiliation -- which factors determined how mobsters affiliated pre-1931?

-- clearly the regional factor carried a lot of weight, as palermo mobsters seem to have joined palermo families, the castellammarese gravitated to the castellammarese, etcetera

and yet it appears the regional factor was not the only factor, whether in terms of which family a mobster might join, or even in the case of an outsider (masseria from marsala in trapan) taking over a corleonesi group

so what were the other factors? personal charisma? personal affinities? growing up in a certain neighborhood?