I’m revisiting a terrific book — Addie Pray by Joe David Brown. It’s about scufflers and hustlers looking for, and finding, creative ways to separate folks from their money. While it’s not specifically about pool, it’s a fascinating glimpse into the hardscrabble life that prevailed back in the Depression-era South.
(The novel was later re-issued as Paper Moon and Pete Bogdanovich made a Tatum and Ryan O’Neal movie by the same name in 1973.)
While Addie and Long Boy Pray had a number of ways of fleecing say, recent widows — embossed Bibles and framed photographs — one ingenious scam involved a simple money shuffle.
Long Boy would go into a store and purchase a comb or a packet of gum. He’d pay with a five-dollar bill and start to put the four ones into his bulging wallet. Keeping up a friendly line of patter with the clerk, he'd say, “Hey, let me give you five ones for a five.”
He’d put the ones on the counter, and the young woman would take a five-dollar bill from the register and place it beside the ones.
Long Boy would grin and say, “May as well give me a ten,” and push the ones and the store’s five back to her.
Inevitably, he made a profit in every store in every town they visited.
But they soon went on to larger cons — like selling bales of cotton that didn’t exist.
However, the big score — which didn’t make it into the movie — involved a long-lost granddaughter, and a New Orleans fortune.
Fun read,
Sunny
(The novel was later re-issued as Paper Moon and Pete Bogdanovich made a Tatum and Ryan O’Neal movie by the same name in 1973.)
While Addie and Long Boy Pray had a number of ways of fleecing say, recent widows — embossed Bibles and framed photographs — one ingenious scam involved a simple money shuffle.
Long Boy would go into a store and purchase a comb or a packet of gum. He’d pay with a five-dollar bill and start to put the four ones into his bulging wallet. Keeping up a friendly line of patter with the clerk, he'd say, “Hey, let me give you five ones for a five.”
He’d put the ones on the counter, and the young woman would take a five-dollar bill from the register and place it beside the ones.
Long Boy would grin and say, “May as well give me a ten,” and push the ones and the store’s five back to her.
Inevitably, he made a profit in every store in every town they visited.
But they soon went on to larger cons — like selling bales of cotton that didn’t exist.
However, the big score — which didn’t make it into the movie — involved a long-lost granddaughter, and a New Orleans fortune.
Fun read,
Sunny
