"Faxed each other?" Hell, go back to the time when "organized crime" didn't exist. Until 1957, the FBI pretended urban "organized crime" didn't exist. It took more than a decade for the agency to begin making a dent in La Cosa Nostra. The truth of the matter is that " stone killers" like Kuklinski made their livings as hit-man operatives. They were often not "made men" because they weren't pure-blood Italian but that made them more effective than the "gomba" hitters because they weren't directly recognizable as mob associates. I like the idea of various metal eras but I don't think you can designate them without recognizing that organized crime families in 25 cities around the country are a very clear and discernible part of any "true crime" history.