This was "Our Hangout", before the addition.
Pinball, Pennies, and Pauline's Canteen.
I’m about to take you back in time to a place most of us would hang out at noon hour, after school and on the weekends, at least a lot of us would if we lived close enough. I don’t think this place needs an introduction because by now you know I’m talking about Pauline’s Canteen. I’m not sure it was officially called that, but that’s the handle we gave it, and every school kid from grade one to twelve was a customer of some sort at one time or another. I think Pauline knew more about us than the teachers did. It was mostly popular with the teenagers rather than the younger ones and of course the burgers and coke gave us a good reason to be there. There were other reasons and benefits to be there as well. A juke box, with our favorite songs at a modest price and of course no hang out would be complete without another source of entertainment, a Bally Pinball Machine. This machine was temptation for the brave and those who could afford to spend a few nickels with the hope of winning a little extra pocket money.
Now you know and understand kids will be kids and more so, boys will be boys. If there is a way to make things better, faster, cheaper, boys being the creatures they are will find a way. Enter, Jimmy Cogswell, a fine young man with an ingenious mind, good looks, and wavy hair, a typical teenager at the time, with a hankering to beat the odds on the old Bally that stood defiantly, by the door and next to a large window. Jim wore a necklace as many of his friends did and it didn’t take long for Jim to figure out that the diameter of his necklace and a penny equaled the diameter of a nickel. I guess you know by now where this is going. When the chain was lowered into the coin slot, a penny would be dropped whilst pulling out the chain. Result, a new game would register and one could play for an hour without spending nickels that would later be used for a burger, or find their way to the jukebox. Of course with a group of teens gathered around cheering the player on, no one else in the room could see what was going on anyway. It lessened the chances of getting caught and was good entertainment for the on lookers. Pauline would come to wonder how all the pennies were getting into this machine, but what was even harder for her to figure out was why the nickel counter would be counting the pennies. We were taught in school that “for every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. Oh how true that statement is. Pauline was loosing nickels to pennies, and Jim was gaining nickels for pennies. This didn’t last very long because Pauline threatened to pull the old Bally out of operation, and maybe after loosing many nickels, she did put an end to our fun, I really can’t recall.
I was about 14 or 15 at the time, but this has remained a part of my memory for over 45 years. Hats off to you Jimmy Cogswell for the entertainment provided, and for the youthful memories only young, fearless friends can make.
Thanks, Geo (George) Donovan
