cities were now part of a worldwide network of orga-
nized crime that engaged in drug smuggling, stock
market fraud, cyber crime, human trafficking, and
even international terrorism.
Impact Unquestionably, the efforts of law-enforce-
ment agencies to eradicate the influence of those
groups traditionally designated as “the Mafia” in
America did serious damage to well-established or-
ganizations that had conducted numerous illegal
operations for a century. Unfortunately, the rise of
other organized crime cartels both in the United
States and abroad tended to serve as a counter-
weight to the effectiveness of government initiatives
in eradicating the kinds of illicit activities for which
the Mafia had long been famous. The resiliency of
the new generation of Mafia leaders also played a sig-
nificant role in the organization’s ability to adapt to
changing conditions in the global marketplace, al-
lowing these criminal elements to join forces with
others bent on taking advantage of both disadvan-
taged groups and new industries where safeguards
had not yet been established to protect against infil-
tration by criminal groups.
Further Reading
Lunde, Paul.Organized Crime: An Inside Guide to the
World’s Most Successful Industr y. New York: Dorling
Kindersley, 2004. A lengthy chapter outlines the
history of the American Mafia. Includes numer-
ous photographs.
Raab, Selwyn.Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Re-
surgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires.
New York: Thomas Dunne, 2005. Extensive, de-
tailed accounts of the history of Mafia activity in
New York City and interactions of its groups with
others across the nation. Also describes law-
enforcement efforts to eradicate organized crime
during the 1990’s.
Reppetto, Thomas A.Bringing Down the Mob: The War
Against the American Mafia. New York: Henry Holt,
- Traces activities of federal, state, and local
agencies to wipe out organized crime in America.
Describes the changing nature of organized
crime during the 1990’s as its leaders reacted to
pressure from law enforcement and responded to
new opportunities in other parts of the world.
Ryan, Patrick J.Organized Crime: A Reference Hand-
book. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1995. Useful
summaries of the activities of Mafia groups, out-
lining the organization of groups in cities
throughout America and abroad. Contains brief
biographies of key leaders, describes efforts by
law enforcement to eliminate Mafia activities, and
provides a chronology of law-enforcement efforts
directed against organized crime groups.
Laurence W. MazzenoSee also Business and the economy in the United
States; Crime; Giuliani, Rudolph. Magic Eye pictures
Definition Computer-generated optical illusions
that hide three-dimensional images in
seemingly random patterns
Manufacturer N. E. Thing Enterprises (renamed
Magic Eye Inc. in 1996)
A fad that became a multimillion-dollar worldwide indus-
tr y in a few short years, Magic Eye pictures swept the globe
in the early 1990’s, gracing posters, newspapers, greeting
cards, advertisements, and books.
Although three-dimensional (3-D) images had been
around since the 1830’s, early incarnations required
mechanical devices, such as View-Masters or 3-D
glasses, in order to be viewed. In the late 1950’s, a
neuroscientist named Béla Julesz generated a ran-
dom dot stereogram, which used two sets of slightly
offset dots to produce a 3-D image that did not re-
quire a viewing device. Instead, the viewer could fo-
cus his or her eyes beyond the surface of the image,
tricking the mind into perceiving depth and thus re-
vealing a hidden 3-D image.
In 1990, an entrepreneur named Tom Baccei saw
an example of a random dot stereogram inStereo
World, a magazine about 3-D images. Baccei quickly
realized the endless marketing possibilities for the
technology and created a company called N. E. Thing
Enterprises in response. With the help of an artist
and a computer programmer, Baccei refined the
technique and contracted out the production of post-
ers and a calendar utilizing the hidden images. He
then began giving away samples and running adver-
tisements, hoping that the gimmick would catch on.
Before long, other entrepreneurs noticed what
Baccei was doing and decided to exploit the images
as well. A company named Nvision set up kiosks and
carts in shopping malls across the United States to
sell posters, which turned out to be the best possible546 Magic Eye pictures The Nineties in America