While In Philadelphia-Edward “Chick” Davis

[Milkman]

You don't want to go to any pool rooms around there!

Spoken like someone who's never stepped a foot into Philadelphia, and is probably somehow proud of that fact. We've got tons of other murals like this that represent the city as it is, not just some culturally sanitized liberty bell tour. This neighborhood is fine.

Feel free to come through and find out. We'll give you the 7 ball and a spanking.

 

[Quesports]

Hello Sweet Angel.. Thank you for putting this thread together and honoring the pool contributions of our wonderful members of the brown community. There has been much negativity in America in the past and my hopes and wishes are to see things improve without going back to times that were not good for anyone.

There was a pool hall in Durham, N.C years ago that was predominantly members of the brown community called Jump Shots. I have always known and played many very good players from their community and have great respect for them as players and people. I did the same in Alsip Ill at Red Shoes were many people of all communities gather to play pool. At Jump Shots when I initially went in I was largely ignored and was the minority being white. I ignored that and kept showing up and after a while began to play with all the other guys there. Eventually I was pretty much a regular and had some memorable times there watching people both white and brown act foolish and not respectful to anyone and everyone. One of the older guys was named Gerald. He never played much but rather it was a place to hang out and enjoy pool and people. We had some wonderful times people watching and just spending time together chatting.. Sadly he is gone now and so is Jump Shots. Life goes on..

To Angel. I have seen lots of discrimination in my life and actually grew up with it right in my face. The pool hall I first played in was like that. It was 1966 and my hometown was lilly white by just about all standards. There were no brown people so even though we knew about discrimination it was not part of my life then. With one exception. The pool room I learned to play in was Nick's Pool Hall in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They had a strict rule that no girls were allowed, which to us kids in there was just the way it was. We never saw it as discrimination it was just the rule of the owner. Remember it was 1966.

Well, about 7 or 8 years ago I was back in Gloucester and ran into the owner and his wife at a lovely restaurant right on the harbor. I went over and said hello and he remembered me like a son as soon as I mentioned my name. He and his wife stayed and we chatted for over two hours.
One funny story Artie shared with me was the day he learned he was going to have to let girls into his pool room. It was the late 70's and two young girls went in and Artie went right to them and told them they could not come in it was for boys only. Artie said they looked at me and said you can't do that it's discrimination!

Not fazed at all Artie sent them off and assumed that was that. About ten minutes later they walked back in with one of the local police officers. You all have to realize Gloucester is a small town and Artie owned and entire city block of the downtown himself so he knew every cop in town. The police officer explains to Artie that he has to allow the girls in if they want to be there, you cannot say they can't come in based on their gender. Artie is laughing telling me all this and said that was the end of the boys only rule at Nick's.. I looked right at Artie and said, jeez Artie if you wanted to keep the girls out all you had to do was show them the boys room!! It was a one toilet stall that was the stinkiest, nastiest thing you can imagine, in summer it was hold your breath bad!! Artie's wife and Artie both laughed and agreed that would have done it for sure..

Moral of the story is if Artie could embrace change we all can do the same. It does not cost any money to be a nice person to everyone no matter what their race, gender or background is...

Peace & Love to all from this ol Woodstock hippie!

 

[Black-Balled]

Spoken like someone who's never stepped a foot into Philadelphia, and is probably somehow proud of that fact. We've got tons of other murals like this that represent the city as it is, not just some culturally sanitized liberty bell tour. This neighborhood is fine.

Feel free to come through and find out. We'll give you the 7 ball and a spanking.

Been thru many times.

Work a trade show there a few years in a row and the first year, they broke into the van and stole a box of retail waterfall display hangers and my display layout guide papers

Next year, I didn't leave anything in the van and they broke the window anyway.

7 is enticing. Your batter better play better than Eddie a.

 

[8cree]

So, we got action??

 

[Dead Money]

View attachment 629486

WOW!

 

[Dead Money]

Been thru many times.

Work a trade show there a few years in a row and the first year, they broke into the van and stole a box of retail waterfall display hangers and my display layout guide papers

Next year, I didn't leave anything in the van and they broke the window anyway.

7 is enticing. Your batter better play better than Eddie a.

The seven? You really need the 5 man.

 

[Black-Balled]

The seven? You really need the 5 man.

Played some last night. Got abused.
I need both.

 

[Dead Money]

Played some last night. Got abused.
I need both.

5 out maybe? Seems accurate to me !

 

[Chicagoplayer]

Hello Sweet Angel.. Thank you for putting this thread together and honoring the pool contributions of our wonderful members of the brown community. There has been much negativity in America in the past and my hopes and wishes are to see things improve without going back to times that were not good for anyone.

There was a pool hall in Durham, N.C years ago that was predominantly members of the brown community called Jump Shots. I have always known and played many very good players from their community and have great respect for them as players and people. I did the same in Alsip Ill at Red Shoes were many people of all communities gather to play pool. At Jump Shots when I initially went in I was largely ignored and was the minority being white. I ignored that and kept showing up and after a while began to play with all the other guys there. Eventually I was pretty much a regular and had some memorable times there watching people both white and brown act foolish and not respectful to anyone and everyone. One of the older guys was named Gerald. He never played much but rather it was a place to hang out and enjoy pool and people. We had some wonderful times people watching and just spending time together chatting.. Sadly he is gone now and so is Jump Shots. Life goes on..

To Angel. I have seen lots of discrimination in my life and actually grew up with it right in my face. The pool hall I first played in was like that. It was 1966 and my hometown was lilly white by just about all standards. There were no brown people so even though we knew about discrimination it was not part of my life then. With one exception. The pool room I learned to play in was Nick's Pool Hall in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They had a strict rule that no girls were allowed, which to us kids in there was just the way it was. We never saw it as discrimination it was just the rule of the owner. Remember it was 1966.

Well, about 7 or 8 years ago I was back in Gloucester and ran into the owner and his wife at a lovely restaurant right on the harbor. I went over and said hello and he remembered me like a son as soon as I mentioned my name. He and his wife stayed and we chatted for over two hours.
One funny story Artie shared with me was the day he learned he was going to have to let girls into his pool room. It was the late 70's and two young girls went in and Artie went right to them and told them they could not come in it was for boys only. Artie said they looked at me and said you can't do that it's discrimination!

Not fazed at all Artie sent them off and assumed that was that. About ten minutes later they walked back in with one of the local police officers. You all have to realize Gloucester is a small town and Artie owned and entire city block of the downtown himself so he knew every cop in town. The police officer explains to Artie that he has to allow the girls in if they want to be there, you cannot say they can't come in based on their gender. Artie is laughing telling me all this and said that was end of the boys only rule at Nick's.. I looked right at Artie and said, jeez Artie if you wanted to keep the girls out all you had to do was show them the boys room!! It was a one toilet stall that was the stinkiest, nastiest thing you can imagine, in summer it was hold your breath bad!! Artie's wife and Artie both laughed and agreed that would have done it for sure..

Moral of the story is if Artie could embrace change we all can do the same. It does not cost any money to be a nice person to everyone no matter what their race, gender or background is...

Peace & Love to all from this ol Woodstock hippie!

Hello Sweet Angel.. Thank you for putting this thread together and honoring the pool contributions of our wonderful members of the brown community. There has been much negativity in America in the past and my hopes and wishes are to see things improve without going back to times that were not good for anyone.

There was a pool hall in Durham, N.C years ago that was predominantly members of the brown community called Jump Shots. I have always known and played many very good players from their community and have great respect for them as players and people. I did the same in Alsip Ill at Red Shoes were many people of all communities gather to play pool. At Jump Shots when I initially went in I was largely ignored and was the minority being white. I ignored that and kept showing up and after a while began to play with all the other guys there. Eventually I was pretty much a regular and had some memorable times there watching people both white and brown act foolish and not respectful to anyone and everyone. One of the older guys was named Gerald. He never played much but rather it was a place to hang out and enjoy pool and people. We had some wonderful times people watching and just spending time together chatting.. Sadly he is gone now and so is Jump Shots. Life goes on..

To Angel. I have seen lots of discrimination in my life and actually grew up with it right in my face. The pool hall I first played in was like that. It was 1966 and my hometown was lilly white by just about all standards. There were no brown people so even though we knew about discrimination it was not part of my life then. With one exception. The pool room I learned to play in was Nick's Pool Hall in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They had a strict rule that no girls were allowed, which to us kids in there was just the way it was. We never saw it as discrimination it was just the rule of the owner. Remember it was 1966.

Well, about 7 or 8 years ago I was back in Gloucester and ran into the owner and his wife at a lovely restaurant right on the harbor. I went over and said hello and he remembered me like a son as soon as I mentioned my name. He and his wife stayed and we chatted for over two hours.
One funny story Artie shared with me was the day he learned he was going to have to let girls into his pool room. It was the late 70's and two young girls went in and Artie went right to them and told them they could not come in it was for boys only. Artie said they looked at me and said you can't do that it's discrimination!

Not fazed at all Artie sent them off and assumed that was that. About ten minutes later they walked back in with one of the local police officers. You all have to realize Gloucester is a small town and Artie owned and entire city block of the downtown himself so he knew every cop in town. The police officer explains to Artie that he has to allow the girls in if they want to be there, you cannot say they can't come in based on their gender. Artie is laughing telling me all this and said that was end of the boys only rule at Nick's.. I looked right at Artie and said, jeez Artie if you wanted to keep the girls out all you had to do was show them the boys room!! It was a one toilet stall that was the stinkiest, nastiest thing you can imagine, in summer it was hold your breath bad!! Artie's wife and Artie both laughed and agreed that would have done it for sure..

No doubt!

Moral of the story is if Artie could embrace change we all can do the same. It does not cost any money to be a nice person to everyone no matter what their race, gender or background is...

Amen!

Peace & Love to all from this ol Woodstock hippie!

Continued good health and good rolls to you!

 

[1pocket]

Hello Sweet Angel.. Thank you for putting this thread together and honoring the pool contributions of our wonderful members of the brown community. There has been much negativity in America in the past and my hopes and wishes are to see things improve without going back to times that were not good for anyone.

There was a pool hall in Durham, N.C years ago that was predominantly members of the brown community called Jump Shots. I have always known and played many very good players from their community and have great respect for them as players and people. I did the same in Alsip Ill at Red Shoes were many people of all communities gather to play pool. At Jump Shots when I initially went in I was largely ignored and was the minority being white. I ignored that and kept showing up and after a while began to play with all the other guys there. Eventually I was pretty much a regular and had some memorable times there watching people both white and brown act foolish and not respectful to anyone and everyone. One of the older guys was named Gerald. He never played much but rather it was a place to hang out and enjoy pool and people. We had some wonderful times people watching and just spending time together chatting.. Sadly he is gone now and so is Jump Shots. Life goes on..

To Angel. I have seen lots of discrimination in my life and actually grew up with it right in my face. The pool hall I first played in was like that. It was 1966 and my hometown was lilly white by just about all standards. There were no brown people so even though we knew about discrimination it was not part of my life then. With one exception. The pool room I learned to play in was Nick's Pool Hall in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They had a strict rule that no girls were allowed, which to us kids in there was just the way it was. We never saw it as discrimination it was just the rule of the owner. Remember it was 1966.

Well, about 7 or 8 years ago I was back in Gloucester and ran into the owner and his wife at a lovely restaurant right on the harbor. I went over and said hello and he remembered me like a son as soon as I mentioned my name. He and his wife stayed and we chatted for over two hours.
One funny story Artie shared with me was the day he learned he was going to have to let girls into his pool room. It was the late 70's and two young girls went in and Artie went right to them and told them they could not come in it was for boys only. Artie said they looked at me and said you can't do that it's discrimination!

Not fazed at all Artie sent them off and assumed that was that. About ten minutes later they walked back in with one of the local police officers. You all have to realize Gloucester is a small town and Artie owned and entire city block of the downtown himself so he knew every cop in town. The police officer explains to Artie that he has to allow the girls in if they want to be there, you cannot say they can't come in based on their gender. Artie is laughing telling me all this and said that was end of the boys only rule at Nick's.. I looked right at Artie and said, jeez Artie if you wanted to keep the girls out all you had to do was show them the boys room!! It was a one toilet stall that was the stinkiest, nastiest thing you can imagine, in summer it was hold your breath bad!! Artie's wife and Artie both laughed and agreed that would have done it for sure..

Moral of the story is if Artie could embrace change we all can do the same. It does not cost any money to be a nice person to everyone no matter what their race, gender or background is...

Peace & Love to all from this ol Woodstock hippie!

Great story, thank you!! And that poolroom must have been one of 'Hippie" Jimmy Reid's early haunts because that is the area he hailed from, and in the right time frame. Can you add any Hippie Jimmy stories? Or Nick Vlahos, although he was a little later, but also North Shore area I believe.

 

[Quesports]

Great story, thank you!! And that poolroom must have been one of 'Hippie" Jimmy Reid's early haunts because that is the area he hailed from, and in the right time frame. Can you add any Hippie Jimmy stories? Or Nick Vlahos, although he was a little later, but also North Shore area I believe.

There were three pool halls in Gloucester back then all on Main Street. Bills was the furthest east, Nicks was in the middle and the last one was down the West End of Gloucester and I cannot remember it's name. It was the local place for the Italian's in Gloucester and they did not particularly like anyone else there.

So I went to Nicks and Bills mostly. Nicks was the place were Jimmy and I learned to play pool. I started to play in 66 and somehow our paths never crossed. He may have been there and lost likely was but I was just a 14 year old kid and hid on the back table. You were supposed to be 16 to enter and when we would sneak in we went all the way to the back and tried to stay out of trouble. Nick Denikas was the owner, then his son Artie took over as Nick got old. Artie's son Nicky and I are about the same age and used to shoot pool together and went commercial swordfishing together around 1973.

If you ever had the chance to visit Jimmys website which is gone unless someone saved a copy was called, www.freepoollessons.com... Jimmy wrote a wonderful story of his early life in Gloucester and his bio was there. He was a genius literally, he aced the SAT tests when he took them and was offered scholarships to every university you can name. When he and I grew up Gloucester was one of the hardest, dirtiest toughest towns you can imagine. It had such a reputation that other high school athletic teams had no desire to visit Gloucester for a game. Gloucester kids did not want to win in a game they just wanted a chance to beat up someone new instead of each other. That was the mindset of that town and it's people. Drugs and alcohol abuse was at the core of Gloucester then and in large part still are today... Most of my childhhood friends died from one or the other or a combination of both. I left in 79 and never returned, except for funerals.

Anyway, Jimmy decided to play pool because he loved it and was damned good at it.. I never knew Nick Vlahos so he could not have been from Gloucester. One of the things that I found so profoundly sad about Jimmy was when he passed there was no mention of him or an obituary of his life in the Gloucester Daily Times. I was stunned given all he had accomplished in pool.. Best decision I ever made was to leave that place. Honestly it was like growing up in a third world country, it was that bad....

 

[boogieman]

There were three pool halls in Gloucester back then all on Main Street. Bills was the furthest east, Nicks was in the middle and the last one was down the West End of Gloucester and I cannot remember it's name. It was the local place for the Italian's in Gloucester and they did not particularly like anyone else there.

So I went to Nicks and Bills mostly. Nicks was the place were Jimmy and I learned to play pool. I started to play in 66 and somehow our paths never crossed. He may have been there and lost likely was but I was just a 14 year old kid and hid on the back table. You were supposed to be 16 to enter and when we would sneak in we went all the way to the back and tried to stay out of trouble. Nick Denikas was the owner, then his son Artie took over as Nick got old. Artie's son Nicky and I are about the same age and used to shoot pool together and went commercial swordfishing together around 1973.

If you ever had the chance to visit Jimmys website which is gone unless someone saved a copy was called, www.freepoollessons.com... Jimmy wrote a wonderful story of his early life in Gloucester and his bio was there. He was a genius literally, he aced the SAT tests when he took them and was offered scholarships to every university you can name. When he and I grew up Gloucester was one of the hardest, dirtiest toughest towns you can imagine. It had such a reputation that other high school athletic teams had no desire to visit Gloucester for a game. Gloucester kids did not want to win in a game they just wanted a chance to beat up someone new instead of each other. That was the mindset of that town and it's people. Drugs and alcohol abuse was at the core of Gloucester then and in large part still are today... Most of my childhhood friends died from one or the other or a combination of both. I left in 79 and never returned, except for funerals.

Anyway, Jimmy decided to play pool because he loved it and was damned good at it.. I never knew Nick Vlahos so he could not have been from Gloucester. One of the things that I found so profoundly sad about Jimmy was when he passed there was no mention of him or an obituary of his life in the Gloucester Daily Times. I was stunned given all he had accomplished in pool.. Best decision I ever made was to leave that place. Honestly it was like growing up in a third world country, it was that bad....

https://web.archive.org/web/20080708195935/http://www.freepoollessons.com/stories/stories8.html

 

[1pocket]

https://web.archive.org/web/20080708195935/http://www.freepoollessons.com/stories/stories8.html

Thank you -- great story in Jimmy's own words!!

INTRO - James Franklin Reid Jr., August 23, 1946 - 8lb. 13oz.. Jimmy Reid, alias - Hippy Jimmy. 1959... Winter in Gloucester Massachusetts, snowing, 12 years old, in the 7th. grade. Taking the school bus from my hometown of Magnolia to St. Ann's Grammar School in Gloucester. Don't want to go to school today, wanna play hooky and go to Nick's Pool Room and Shoe Shine Parlor. Can't wait to go back and shoot some pool, a lot of pool... After getting off the school bus I snuck away from the other kids and school. It was cold and I had a couple of hours to kill until Nick opened. With a pretty good walk from St. Ann's Grammar School to Nicks, I soon discovered three warm stops to kill time, the post office, city hall and library. All nice warm buildings with public rest rooms...Later on I had to change this routine, people at the post office, city hall and library started asking questions...Nick didn't ask questions... Made some money shoveling snow yesterday when we had a schools out, buses ain't running, snow day. Later in the afternoon the sun came out, they salted the roads and I hitched a ride to town where I ran into a friend of mine from school by the name of Johnny Bischao, neither of us had ever been in a pool hall or had ever played pool before, but we both wanted to go into Nick's and see what the cool big guys were doing and and how they played pool...Nick's Pool and Shoe Shine Parlor is (or was) located in the center of Main Street, downtown Gloucester. There were glass windows all across the front of Nick's and they provided for a beautiful bright shoe shine parlor. Nice to get a shine in or just sit in those shine chairs and see and be seen by Main St. passersby. There were 8 beautiful antique wrought iron and leather shine chairs, 4 on the right and 4 on the left in the entry room, all built atop a very high shoeshine stand, this was my favorite shoe shine stand of all time, I even enjoyed working it...Johnny and I walked in through the shoe shine parlor to where the double door entry into the pool room was. The contrast caused temporary blindness, we found some seats and started watching some guys playing pool on a few tables and 3 cushion billiards on another. There were 10 tables total, 9 regulation pool and 1 - 5X10 billiard table.We watched for quite a while, read the rules on the wall and went to the last table in the back where the balls were racked and ready to break. We decided to play 8 ball for a quarter and after about 30 minutes I won... It was posted on the wall that Nick only charged a nickel a cue per game. After I paid Nick his 10 cents, he explained to us that we weren't very good yet, that we played too slow and if we wanted to play more he would have to put us on time @ 60 cents an hour...Man did I wish I had time right then to stay and play some more, I'd show Nick how I had just gotten the hang of it when I made that last shot. But it was getting late and I had to catch the last bus to Magnolia at 5:15 pm.. Johnny had to get home too and had a long cold walk ahead of him. So we quit... On the bus home I was thinking......What a nerve, telling me I wasn't very good, I was always better at everything than all my friends and he didn't see that last shot I made... It's a good thing he said yet! I was in love...Next day, hooky...TWO YEARS LATER 1961... Freshman at Gloucester High, the largest R.O.T.C. high school in the United States, the following summer Mr. End, the Dean of boys, called my parents to congratulate them and yours truly for having won a $500 college scholarship bond for the highest S.A.T. score in America. My mother (Mary) answered the phone and told Mr. End (as he later repeated for me), "You tell the little son of a bitch if you find him, I haven't seen him in weeks." Don't blame my mother though, she had pulled me out of Nicks by the ear a couple of years earlier. She just didn't understand true love...1962... Beating everyone in Gloucester playing straight pool, 9 ball, lucky 8, and 3 cushion billiards. Rented a very big house and living on my own. Sure there were a lot of losses but nobody played more pool than I had the last 3 years... One Friday afternoon and night I won $1,400!!! Winning some of it in a 5 handed lucky 8 game and the rest of it playing straight pool with a road player from Peabody Massachusetts by the name of Jerry Houla... The next night Louie Ryan (my best friend) and I go to the Mines Pool Hall in downtown Boston next to the Olympia Theater, we win a few hundred there and I Want to fly to N Y City but Louie has to go home, so he gives me his I.D. (25) and leaves. Earlier, I had already secured a ride to the airport for $5 from a friend of Boston Shorty. Logan Airport in Boston to Idlewilde (or whatever I forget the spelling) in NY was about an hour flight by converted WWII 4 prop paratrooper / cargo plane. Larry ( Boston Shorty) Johnson mentioned a couple of pool rooms that I might check out in New York, Guys n Dolls and Ames... Wow Ames, the same pool room I had recently seen a new movie called "The Hustler" wild horses couldn't keep me away. Between the taxicabs and subways I finally got to Ames Billiards, I think it was on 8th Avenue and 46th street but I'm not sure. Finding a seat near the front door I decided to scope the place out. Ames was relatively slow with only a couple of tables going. Seedier than depicted in the movie the atmosphere was none the less electric. It was breathtaking, I could smell the action that must have gone on here in the past but not tonight. Somehow I managed to pick a mark and make a few more dollars before whoever was running the place carded me, laughed and asked me to leave. You see I was only 15 and didn't shave yet. Louie (my I.D.)was 25... There were flights from The City (NY) to Boston every hour or two so I cabbed it to the airport and flew back to Boston the same night, then I hopped a cargo train home, and I do mean hopped, hobo-hopped! Some weekend!During school the next Monday, I grabbed the principal's mic and invited the whole school to Schraft's Drugstore for milkshakes. Imagine going to school at 15 with over a thousand dollars, lunch was just 22 cents, 3 cents more for an extra milk! Suffice it to say, I'VE BEEN RUINED EVER SINCE !We will continue from 15 years old later... Jimmy