Smoke-Stained Walls, Messy Spit Buckets, No Alcohol, and Cussing Tolerated

[Ball Banger]

JIMMY MARINO won a world championship in the 70's - if he was a short stop there must have been a lot of bad players then

pt109

I was asking a Question more than making a statement about Marino. I spend most of the 1970's working in the South Pacific mostly the Philippines as my home base. I wasn't even playing pool at that time and didn't follow it.

Jam

I am told Martin's Ferry Ohio had a Pool Hall "I THINK" named the Silver & Green. As the story or possible urban legend goes, They cut both thumbs off a Card cheater and castrated him. As the story goes this was a pool Hall with a back room poker game. It was the late 60's when I last heard the story from a friend from Martin's Ferry, It was much earlier that I first heard that story. I have heard that story from many different sources.

Billf

Now that I am in my second childhood I really enjoy remembering my First. I played a lot of pool as a kid and young adult in those old pool Rooms. But I gave it up for a long time. I am lucky that my health and eye sight has me even more competitive as I approach my 70's Birthday.

 

[gulfportdoc]

Doc

I haven't lived in Pittsburgh since 1956 and I was 15 about to turn 16 when my family moved to Florida. So I am talking 53 years ago. I did make a few visits in the 60's and found Action in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. But My sister and Brother In Law were doing grad work at Carnegie Tech and living on that side of town.

Yep the Felt tacked on the rack is one I forgot about. I have seen that in other places during that time period. As kids we rode the streetcar to Downtown every Saturday to go to the YMCA to work out and then run the streets and Pool Halls. But I had to be home by dinner at that age. Sorry I don't remember the names of those places. But they all sound familiar.

Dormont I remember two Rooms. One was in the back of a shoe repair shop near the End of the Dormont Street Car line. The other was Below street level across the street from the Big Boy EatnPark.

You've got a great memory, BB! And you had some of the exact same experiences as did I. All the places you named, I'm very familiar with.

I used to go to the downtown YMCA on Saturdays as a kid, for about 6 months. It may have been a few years after you, since I'm 65.

The two rooms in Dormont you referred to were Nick's and Kelly's. Nick's was across from the trolley stop in Dormont near McFarland Rd. Nick had a hat cleaning shop (not a shoe repair) at the end of a long hallway back from the street. I believe he had 5 tables. Maybe 6. They were in poor condition, but we didn't know any better. 8 ball and 9 ball were 10 cents a rack; rotation was 15 cents; and straight pool was 60 cents per hour.

The hat cleaning solvent was pretty rough in there, especially in the winter when the windows were closed. Nick was a little goofy, and spoke passable English with a heavy Greek accent. His father was there a lot, but didn't speak any English at all. I'm sure they'd both been affected by the hat cleaning solution over the years-- as in "Mad as a hatter". That solvent never bothered me. But you know, just the other day it finally hit me...:grin:

Kelly's was originally on Potomac about a block in from West Liberty Ave. Around 1960 he moved a couple of blocks away to the downstairs location on Illinois and West Liberty (roughly across the street from the Eat N Park, as you say). He had 8-10 decent tables and two bowling lanes. There was always a game going using the Keno board. I used to set duck pins there for 15 cents a line. It was rough work. Some of the yahoos would try to hit you before you jumped up after setting the pins!

I used to pal around with a Chinese guy named Johnny Yee, who was a good pool player. His family owned a Laundry there in Dormont, and also the Golden Dragon Restaurant on West Liberty near Rte. 51-- across from the south entrance to the Liberty Tubes. Johnny and I would take the trolley downtown to play at the room above Bonds. He could pass for 21, so he could buy us a pint of sloe gin (yechh!) at the State Store. We'd play pool, and hit the men's room to sip on that pint.

Where are you living now, BB?

Doc

 

[Ball Banger]

You've got a great memory, BB! And you had some of the exact same experiences as did I. All the places you named, I'm very familiar with.

I used to go to the downtown YMCA on Saturdays as a kid, for about 6 months. It may have been a few years after you, since I'm 65.

The two rooms in Dormont you referred to were Nick's and Kelly's. Nick's was across from the trolley stop in Dormont near McFarland Rd. Nick had a hat cleaning shop (not a shoe repair) at the end of a long hallway back from the street. I believe he had 5 tables. Maybe 6. They were in poor condition, but we didn't know any better. 8 ball and 9 ball were 10 cents a rack; rotation was 15 cents; and straight pool was 60 cents per hour.

The hat cleaning solvent was pretty rough in there, especially in the winter when the windows were closed. Nick was a little goofy, and spoke passable English with a heavy Greek accent. His father was there a lot, but didn't speak any English at all. I'm sure they'd both been affected by the hat cleaning solution over the years-- as in "Mad as a hatter". That solvent never bothered me. But you know, just the other day it finally hit me...:grin:

Kelly's was originally on Potomac about a block in from West Liberty Ave. Around 1960 he moved a couple of blocks away to the downstairs location on Illinois and West Liberty (roughly across the street from the Eat N Park, as you say). He had 8-10 decent tables and two bowling lanes. There was always a game going using the Keno board. I used to set duck pins there for 15 cents a line. It was rough work. Some of the yahoos would try to hit you before you jumped up after setting the pins!

I used to pal around with a Chinese guy named Johnny Yee, who was a good pool player. His family owned a Laundry there in Dormont, and also the Golden Dragon Restaurant on West Liberty near Rte. 51-- across from the south entrance to the Liberty Tubes. Johnny and I would take the trolley downtown to play at the room above Bonds. He could pass for 21, so he could buy us a pint of sloe gin (yechh!) at the State Store. We'd play pool, and hit the men's room to sip on that pint.

Where are you living now, BB?

Doc

Doc

I am in Cow Country among the citrus groves of inland South Fla. Basically East of Ft Myers Florida. I am an agronomist so I live in Florida's Green belt.

Yes I remember Nick now and his father. I remember an Italian Kid Named Ceasar (DeFranciso?) who hung out there and always tried to hustle me for dimes every time I went there. he was more your age and from Mt Lebanon. As for Kelly's I believe I was never there until I came back to visit right after getting drafted.

I lived just east of you in Ocean Springs, Ms one Poggie Season in about 1970. I was a fish spotter. I am telling you this because Ocean Springs was that same type of town of Norman Rockwell painting the same as the Pool Halls we are talking about. But flying some times 14 hours a day I didn't have time to play any pool. So yes it is a small world.


In Edit

I am wrong about the year I lived in Ocean Springs. It was more like 67 or 68 before Camille. I was in College and took a work break. I was in the service with a guy who set me up with the job. Along the beach from Bay St Louis to Biloxi were some of the most beautiful homes any where. The Marinas were filled with many older wooden yachts or boats from a by gone era, at that time. We might be living better because of today's Technology, But we are missing the real flavor of years gone by.

 

[gulfportdoc]

Doc

I am in Cow Country among the citrus groves of inland South Fla. Basically East of Ft Myers Florida. I am an agronomist so I live in Florida's Green belt.

Yes I remember Nick now and his father. I remember an Italian Kid Named Ceasar (DeFranciso?) who hung out there and always tried to hustle me for dimes every time I went there. he was more your age and from Mt Lebanon. As for Kelly's I believe I was never there until I came back to visit right after getting drafted.

I lived just east of you in Ocean Springs, Ms one Poggie Season in about 1970. I was a fish spotter. I am telling you this because Ocean Springs was that same type of town of Norman Rockwell painting the same as the Pool Halls we are talking about. But flying some times 14 hours a day I didn't have time to play any pool. So yes it is a small world.


In Edit

I am wrong about the year I lived in Ocean Springs. It was more like 67 or 68 before Camille. I was in College and took a work break. I was in the service with a guy who set me up with the job. Along the beach from Bay St Louis to Biloxi were some of the most beautiful homes any where. The Marinas were filled with many older wooden yachts or boats from a by gone era, at that time. We might be living better because of today's Technology, But we are missing the real flavor of years gone by.

The Fort Meyers area is lovely. My mother lives in assisted living up the road in Bradenton.

Funny-- I'm from Mt. Lebanon, but I can't get a mental picture of the Caesar guy. If he was a pretty tough guy, I may recall who you're referring to. On the other hand, he may not have been around Nick's when I got there in '59.

Ocean Springs, Miss. is a beautiful area. I can see why you liked it. Unfortunately the town has started seeing a creep of the New Age fascist types moving in: the lesbians, tree huggers and Sierra Club types. The artisans always draw them. It's still a nice community however.

95% of all the old beautiful antebellum homes along Route 90 from Biloxi to Pass Christian were devastated by Katrina in 2005. Some of them have re-built, but it's not quite the same. The storm bopped us square on the nose. New Orleans got all the press, but if it hadn't been for Lake Ponchartrain overflowing, the hurricane itself would have done very little damage to N.O.

Doc

 

[ShootingArts]

spot on

The Fort Meyers area is lovely. My mother lives in assisted living up the road in Bradenton.

Funny-- I'm from Mt. Lebanon, but I can't get a mental picture of the Caesar guy. If he was a pretty tough guy, I may recall who you're referring to. On the other hand, he may not have been around Nick's when I got there in '59.

Ocean Springs, Miss. is a beautiful area. I can see why you liked it. Unfortunately the town has started seeing a creep of the New Age fascist types moving in: the lesbians, tree huggers and Sierra Club types. The artisans always draw them. It's still a nice community however.

95% of all the old beautiful antebellum homes along Route 90 from Biloxi to Pass Christian were devastated by Katrina in 2005. Some of them have re-built, but it's not quite the same. The storm bopped us square on the nose. New Orleans got all the press, but if it hadn't been for Lake Ponchartrain overflowing, the hurricane itself would have done very little damage to N.O.

Doc

Doc,

I used to make the gulf coast run pretty often just for the views. I loved the boats, the beaches, the homes, the thongs, oops! It's still a very pleasant ride but remembering riding through there in the sixties and seventies and looking at it now, there is a terrible lot lost. A damned casino barge in the middle of one of the finest old mansions is one of my least favorite memories of post Katrina.

Something many won't realize has happened too. Many of the small places were owned by working class people who had owned them for many decades, even generations. After they are badly damaged or destroyed new restrictions or codes make it impossible for these people to rebuild. The rich folks are coming in and the poor folks will never see that waterfront property again! Happened on Pensacola Beach and I read it was happening up and down the coast between here and there, don't know if it is true since I have only made a few trips through there since Katrina.

Hu

 

[Ball Banger]

The Fort Meyers area is lovely. My mother lives in assisted living up the road in Bradenton.

Funny-- I'm from Mt. Lebanon, but I can't get a mental picture of the Caesar guy. If he was a pretty tough guy, I may recall who you're referring to. On the other hand, he may not have been around Nick's when I got there in '59.

Ocean Springs, Miss. is a beautiful area. I can see why you liked it. Unfortunately the town has started seeing a creep of the New Age fascist types moving in: the lesbians, tree huggers and Sierra Club types. The artisans always draw them. It's still a nice community however.

95% of all the old beautiful antebellum homes along Route 90 from Biloxi to Pass Christian were devastated by Katrina in 2005. Some of them have re-built, but it's not quite the same. The storm bopped us square on the nose. New Orleans got all the press, but if it hadn't been for Lake Ponchartrain overflowing, the hurricane itself would have done very little damage to N.O.

Doc

Doc

Might be the same guy. Caesar was a Greaser, typical of the 1950's. Long Greasy hair, Pegged pants and with a pack of Luck's tucked in rolled up sleeves. Went right along with Poodle dresses of that time. Eric Perilman was another "want a be" greaser from Mt Lebanon and should be about your same age, being just a little younger than Caesar. I lived in Bethel (the better side of Bethel near Upper St Clair) and being too young to have a Drivers License I had to ride the street car to the car barn and transfer to get to Nicks. It was easier and faster to go Downtown. I only got to run the streets my last year or so in Pgh before moving to Florida. It was the summer or part of a summer that I visited my Two old Maid Aunts in Wheeling that I became a real teenager and started exploring the world on my own. I made a couple of visits back to Pgh and had a car to get around.

Livingston Pool Hall in Bradenton Fla. was at one time the action Hall. I haven't been there in years because it is now more of a kids hang out. But Bradenton is a nice area and has both the advantage of the Tampa Bay area and Sarasota. Sarasota has the second highest disposable income in the state after Marco Isles, so it is very upscale. Tampa has the action.

While I loved the Ms Gulf Coast I wouldn't want to revisit it now. Hurricane Charlie wiped me out and I will have to work the rest of my life. Crop insurance isn't really affordable and 10 years of hard work or 7 figures was Gone With The Wind. FEMA screwed us before they screwed you. About the only thing FEMA gave me was a few bags of Ice. There are still houses with Blue Tarps on the roof today. I am sure your area has worse.

Ocean Springs Sounds like the Hippies of the Sixties are now the Yippees of today. Ocean Springs had a lot of Save The Wale people even back WHEN. Fertilizer run off and water quality are a big target for the Tree Huggers and directly effect the Green Industry. U of F scientist are now condemning Fertilizer Ordinances passed by Tree Huggers as having a negative effect on the environment. But Tree Huggers are a sore subject with me.

I assume you are an MD. My daughter is a resident in Cardiology.

 

[deadstroke7]

Blast from the past.

 

[chefjeff]

Blast from the past.

We might add another tidbit the article didn't mention and that is that Osceloa is pronounced O-Ceola, not os-Ceola.

O, as in snow. The one in Florida is pronounced Os-ceola.

fwiw,

Jeff Livingston

PS Newton had one just like that. It was on a street know as skid row....lol, one block long, right off the square. I, too, being young had to use the back tables.