A formidable forerunner to Las Vegas, Kansas City boasted gambling revenues of around $100 million per year during this period; in addition, roughly $1 million worth of illicit drugs was sold annually; figure in prostitution and alcohol, and the total impact of the underground economy on the so-called Pendergast prosperity was enormous. As the effects of the Depression ravaged the music communities of other cities in the region, more and more players gravitated to Kansas City to share in the good times. By the middle of the 1930s, Kansas City had emerged as a potential rival to New York and
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