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Miami Beach, Broadway, Double Header Article,
posted 8/27/05
Toscano's was a popular Italian restaraunt in Rapid City back in the 50's and early 60's, and pizza, an increasingly popular delicacy, was one of their main
items. One day, on a pizza pickup errand to Toscano's, I saw what looked like two bingo pinball machines, and upon a closer look I discovered a VARIETY and a MIAMI BEACH. The year was 1959, and bingo locations were casting a watchful eye for underage players {18 was the legal 3.2 beer age in SD, at the time}. No way could I resist the urge, so later on I went back to Toscano's and walked up to MIAMI BEACH, with trepidation, hoping not to be told that I couldn't play. That MB, with it's wide card, "blue" numbers, red, yellow and green lines, "Extra Lines" magic curtain and familiar selection feature, was about the coolest machine this youngster had seen yet! I didn't want to press my luck, so I played a few nickels, one at a time, and then left. I went back to Toacano's, from time to time, to play the MB with enough discretion so as not to risk getting the boot.
F-F to Long Beach, CA, 1965. Our ship pulled into drydock for repairs before heading off to WESTPAC. For us youngsters under 21, the Pike Amusement Park was about our only "action" in LB. The Pike was kind of
like a Coney Island on the West Coast, with many similar attractions, not the least of which were the amusement arcades. Man, was I surprised when I walked into one with some buddies, and re-discovered all of the bingo machines I had "grown up" with! At first I was putting nickels in until a buddy told me they took pennies! I looked around, and lo and behold, I spotted
MIAMI BEACH! I made a bee line to the attendant for a roll of pennies, and started in on the MB, with my buddies long gone. We only had a few days left in port, and I spent most of my liberty time on the MIAMI
BEACH. When we pulled out, I knew where I was coming back to once we finished our WESTPAC cruise. Our ship was stationed in San Diego, so upon return from our '65 deployment, I took a bus up to Long Beach the first chance I had to spend my liberty weekend on the Pike playing bingos. There were several arcades, and with all of the machines on pennies, I was in bingo heaven. And what better way to become acquainted with BROADWAY and NIGHT CLUB than the oppurtunity to play them on pennies! These were two machines I had never played before, and with their discovery I was totally absorbed and wasn't interested in any of the others, at least for the time being. The Pike was about the best entertainment I could have hoped for, at the time, given my facsination with the bingo machines. There were 4 main arcades where they had bingos, all 50's, with lots of "corners" games and only one magic screen, a CARNIVAL QUEEN. So I would often spend my liberty weekends on the Pike, playing
my heart out. DOUBLE HEADER was another machine on the Pike I used
to enjoy, another 50's "one of a kind", and as I understand, there's not too many of them around. I first played DOUBLE HEADER at Cashman's Cafe, in Rapid City, so it was another machine I had my chance to
become reacquainted with.
The Pike had another interesting bingo type of game that I thought I might share with my readers, called LITE A LINE. There were two LITE A LINE bingo parlors as I recall. LITE A LINE consisted of one big 5x5 bingo card with a corresponding bingo pinball type table with 50 holes/numbers and one ball. The ball and holes were about 3/4" in diameter. There were approximately 150 of these in each location, with cards of varying colors, et, red, yellow, green and white etc, spread throughout the terminals, and on
weekends the places were packed. At the start of each game, players launched the ball with a plunger onto the table, and when the ball landed in a hole the number lit up and the ball went through and returned for further play. The first player to lite up 5 in a line was the winner, which sounded an alarm and lit the tower light at the winning terminal. The prize averaged $20, if you won alone, or was otherwise split, etc. Each game was 50 cents, as near as I can recall. LITE A LINE was a fun and exciting game, and a good diversion when I got tired of playing bingo pinballs.
With BROADWAY and NIGHT CLUB, Bally really "turned the corner" into a new era and dimension with the bingo machines. My next article will feature what I consider by far the most signifant development of all the 50's bingos, et, the "corners" games of BIG SHOW thru BEACH TIME.
See you then!
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