Mike Brandolino Remembers Pinball in The 1970s Burg
Chestnut Avenue Near Elmer Street, The Burg
brando said...
In the 70s, the corner unit was tom's pinball joint. tom was
an old large, rugged guy with a long beard. he looked like
he could have been a gold prospector or hermit in the old
west. he was a good guy and let kids hang out in the place
as long as they wanted. he had the old gambling style
"bingo" pinball machines...bumpers only (no flippers).
5 cents a game! you had to get the ball in the pockets that
were randomly numbered. on the back screen there were a
series of bingo cards. you selected a card to play before
shooting the first ball. if you got "bingo" you would win
CASH!!! (about $5-10, i think) you could increase the payout
odds by adding extra nickels before starting the game.
i would get a $2 roll of nickels, which would last about
two hours or so. the bingo pinball games were at a much slower
pace than the quarter flipper machines, so my amusement money
would last longer. i never hit on the machines, but they were
fun to play anyway. gambling in a pinball joint at about
13-15 years old...ah, the old burg...
Hi Mack: I have to comment again about the two stores on the corner of Kent and Chestnut. Now you show it as a pin ball joint. I know of no other corner that had such a variety of stores, going back to when we called Chestnut Park the Deafies. It's amazing all the changes in the stores throughout the Burg that has occured since I was a kid. Best regards.
ReplyDeleteIn 1960 the place was called Pete's - I think -
ReplyDeletebut it had the same setup with the pinball machines as Mike describes it in the 1970's. Plus a penny candy counter then. Several other places in the neighborhood had the bingo machines, and several had payoffs if you got the highest score for the week. Yes, even kids played and got paid! I wonder what the place is now.
here is some info and pics of bingo pinball machines...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flippers.be/basics/101-bingo_machines.html