The Palermos

Last updated

The Palermos
Type Figurines
Inventor(s) David Gonzales
CompanyHomieShop LLC
CountryUnited States
Availability2004–present
Materialsplastic
Slogan"The Family Pizzeria ... Flavor you cannot refuse" [1]
Official website

The Palermos are a series of two-inch plastic collectible figurines created by David Gonzales. Representing an Italian American family and their associates, the Palermos debuted in 2004 as a spin-off of Gonzales' Homies figures.

Contents

Description

In their fictional world, the Palermo family was once one of New York's most powerful Mafia groups. Trying to "go straight," [2] they have established a family-run pizza restaurant. [3] Whisper, one of the Homies, is related to the Palermos family. [4]

Characters

The Palermos characters' biographies can be read at their website, which is part of the Homies family of sites.

See also

Related Research Articles

Tommaso Buscetta Sicilian Mafia boss to become government informant

Tommaso Buscetta was an Italian mobster, a member of the Sicilian Mafia, who became one of the first of its members to turn informant (pentito) and explain the inner workings of the organization.

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Sicilian writer and prince

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, Il Gattopardo, which is set in his native Sicily during the Risorgimento. A taciturn and solitary man, he spent a great deal of his time reading and meditating, and used to say of himself, "I was a boy who liked solitude, who preferred the company of things to that of people."

Dominos Pizza American pizza restaurant chain

Domino's Pizza, Inc., branded as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960. The corporation is headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and incorporated in Delaware. In February 2018, the chain became the largest pizza seller worldwide in terms of sales.

Gaetano Badalamenti Italian criminal

Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s. In 1987, he was sentenced in the United States to 45 years in federal prison for being one of the leaders in the so-called "Pizza Connection", a $1.65 billion drug-trafficking ring that used pizzerias as fronts to distribute heroin from 1975 to 1984. He was also in Italy sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002, for the 1978 murder of Peppino Impastato.

Homies (toy)

Homies are a series of two-inch plastic collectible figurines representing various Chicano Mexican American characters. The line of toys was created by David Gonzales and based on a comic strip that Gonzales created featuring a cast of characters from his youth. Introduced in the year 1998, Homies were initially sold in grocery store vending machines and have become a highly collectible item, and have spawned many imitation toys.

Godfathers Pizza American restaurant chain

Godfather's Pizza is a privately owned restaurant chain headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, that operates fast casual Italian franchises. In addition to their fast casual franchise locations, they also operate many Pizza Express Bars.

David Gonzales is a Mexican-American cartoonist, apparel designer, and toy designer. He is the creator of the Homies line of toys.

Giuseppe Morello American mobster

Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello, also known as "The Old Fox", was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. He was known as Piddu and his rivals the Castellammarese knew him as Peter Morello. He was famous for having a one-fingered deformed right hand that resembled a claw.

<i>Running Scared</i> (1986 film) 1986 film by Peter Hyams

Running Scared is a 1986 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Peter Hyams, written by Gary Devore and Jimmy Huston, and starring Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, with Steven Bauer, Jimmy Smits and Dan Hedaya in supporting roles. Hines and Crystal play Chicago police officers who, after nearly being killed on the job, decide to retire and open a bar in Key West, Florida, only to get caught up in making one last arrest before they go.

<i>The Godfather</i> 1972 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel of the same name. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy. It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the father and son of a fictional New York crime family. The story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando), focusing on the transformation of the son Michael Corleone (Pacino), raised to have a life outside of crime, from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.

Pizza Connection Trial Criminal trial against Mafia members

The Pizza Connection Trial was a criminal trial against the Sicilian and American Mafias that took place in New York City, New York. The trial centered on a number of independently owned pizza parlors used as fronts for narcotics sales and collections that had imported $1.65 billion of heroin from Southwest Asia to the U.S. between 1975 and 1984. The trial lasted from September 30, 1985, to March 2, 1987, ending with 17 convictions, with sentences handed down on June 22, 1987. Lasting almost two years, it was the longest in the judicial history of the United States.

Bada Bing! fictional strip club

Bada Bing! is a fictional strip club from the HBO drama television series The Sopranos. It was a key location for events in the series, named for the catchphrase "bada bing", a phrase popularized by James Caan's character Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. The popularization of the fictional club benefited the real-life go-go bar where scenes were filmed. The Bada Bing is loosely based on Wiggles, a strip club owned by New Jersey mobster Vincent Palermo before it was shut down.

<i>Lowrider</i> (magazine) American automotive magazine

Lowrider is an American automobile magazine, focusing almost exclusively on the style known as a lowrider. It first appeared in 1977, produced out of San Jose, California, by a trio of San Jose State students. As of 2007, it is published out of Anaheim, California, and part of the Motor Trend Group.

Mijos are a series of plastic collectible figurines created by David Gonzales. Representing various Chicano Mexican American youth characters, Mijos debuted in 2004 as a spin-off of Gonzales' Homies figures. The Mijos line are specifically targeted at Hispanics — in this case, Hispanic children.

Joseph Petrosino Italian-American police officer

Joseph Petrosino was a New York City police officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. Crime fighting techniques that Petrosino pioneered are still practiced by law enforcement agencies.

Operation Old Bridge is the code name for the February 7, 2008 arrests in Italy and the United States that targeted the Gambino crime family. Among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses Jackie D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo and Joseph Corozzo of the Gambino crime family. The indictments included: murder, drug trafficking, robbery and extortion.

Pino Puglisi Italian beatified priest

Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio. He openly challenged the Mafia who controlled the neighbourhood, and was killed by them on his 56th birthday. His life story has been retold in a book, Pino Puglisi, il prete che fece tremare la mafia con un sorriso (2013), and portrayed in a film, Come Into the Light (2005). He was the first Blessed to die before the Mafia.

Salvatore Riina Sicilian mafia boss

Salvatore Riina, called Totò 'u Curtu, was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s with the assassinations of Antimafia Commission prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, resulting in widespread public outcry and a major crackdown by the authorities. He was also known by the nicknames la belva and il capo dei capi.

Palermos Pizza

Palermo's Pizza is a brand of frozen pizza manufactured by Palermo Villa Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Palermo's frozen pizzas are available in grocery stores and big box retailers in almost every state, and online through the company's web site. The company operates a research and development team including a food scientist — and manufactures private label or house brand pizzas for other companies.

References

  1. The Palermos page on the Homies official website. Accessed December 29, 2014.
  2. Sullivan, James. "Homies go from figurines to branding phenomenon: Richmond native has runaway success," San Francisco Chronicle (June 10, 2003).
  3. Napolitano, Jo. "Two-Inch Latino Role Models, for Good or Ill," New York Times (May 1, 2003).
  4. "Whisper," Homies official website. Accessed December 29, 2014.