Full Transcript: Frank Zacharias on "Bookie Joints"
Frank: Like that one across the street used to be a candy store. [Laughs]
Marge: Alright, tell them the story.
Frank: He called it a candy store but it was a bookie joint. [Laughs] Years ago, before the casinos all this legalized gambling came in, they used to have these, lot of stores or lot of businesses would have, would take numbers. And you’d pay a penny, two cents, you know. You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t win a lot but you’d call up to say I want so and so number, they’d take the number and then the paper would be from some type of treasures, treasury number that came out in the paper somehow and that was the number they would, you’d hit on. If you had that number, oh you had to have, have the money in by a certain time. So that number came up, if you won it you won the money. And then, then the— during football season, they used to have these parlay cards— you ever see those? Card about this big and there's all different teams on there. Even, odd, even, game would be even, plus two, minus two, the, the spread. Well then you circle which ones you want, then you turn it into— you turn in the stub to the guy with your name and if you won, then he’d pay you. So little parlay cards and lot of people, lot of kids in high school, like the 11th, 12th grade, they used to do it in school. They used to pass it around to their friends. For 50 cents, you could play the parlay card. It was fun, you know. It wasn’t big money but you know, guy was making a living. Lot of them were doing that, you know, because you can’t work making much money running a little grocery store, you know? You only had, what, couple cans of Campbell soup and something like that or candy for penny— well penny candy, those days are gone but no, it was, it was nice. Everybody— I guess they all had a gimmick or something where, where people would come in, you know? And a lot of times you’d put your, you’d put your purchase on the carte, carte. Where’s my carte? Where’s my— it was a card you get. Sarah owes me two dollars. “Okay, bye bye.” You come in again, “Okay Sarah you owe me…” So end of the week, the guy will say, “Okay Sarah, you owe me that much money.” “Okay.” This is— they trusted you, you know? Lotta times the parents would send their kids to the corner— we had one around the corner here, say “Go see”— we used to call him Shishnevski— “Go see Shishnevski and tell him you want a pound of bologna. Okay. And put it on the card.” So you go run into the alley, go get it, come home, have lunch, go back to school. Then, then, end of the, end of the week my ma would go there and pay the thing because she didn’t get— we didn’t have that much money floating around the house till payday so that’s how things were. There was no credit cards, no debit cards. [Laughs] Because you know, you’d come back, you know? I mean that’s the way it was. And they, and they know that you have a family— where you gonna go? You know, you gotta eat, so where you gonna go? And if you don’t give em— if you don’t let em put it on the card, they’ll go someplace else.
Marge: Alright, tell them the story.
Frank: He called it a candy store but it was a bookie joint. [Laughs] Years ago, before the casinos all this legalized gambling came in, they used to have these, lot of stores or lot of businesses would have, would take numbers. And you’d pay a penny, two cents, you know. You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t win a lot but you’d call up to say I want so and so number, they’d take the number and then the paper would be from some type of treasures, treasury number that came out in the paper somehow and that was the number they would, you’d hit on. If you had that number, oh you had to have, have the money in by a certain time. So that number came up, if you won it you won the money. And then, then the— during football season, they used to have these parlay cards— you ever see those? Card about this big and there's all different teams on there. Even, odd, even, game would be even, plus two, minus two, the, the spread. Well then you circle which ones you want, then you turn it into— you turn in the stub to the guy with your name and if you won, then he’d pay you. So little parlay cards and lot of people, lot of kids in high school, like the 11th, 12th grade, they used to do it in school. They used to pass it around to their friends. For 50 cents, you could play the parlay card. It was fun, you know. It wasn’t big money but you know, guy was making a living. Lot of them were doing that, you know, because you can’t work making much money running a little grocery store, you know? You only had, what, couple cans of Campbell soup and something like that or candy for penny— well penny candy, those days are gone but no, it was, it was nice. Everybody— I guess they all had a gimmick or something where, where people would come in, you know? And a lot of times you’d put your, you’d put your purchase on the carte, carte. Where’s my carte? Where’s my— it was a card you get. Sarah owes me two dollars. “Okay, bye bye.” You come in again, “Okay Sarah you owe me…” So end of the week, the guy will say, “Okay Sarah, you owe me that much money.” “Okay.” This is— they trusted you, you know? Lotta times the parents would send their kids to the corner— we had one around the corner here, say “Go see”— we used to call him Shishnevski— “Go see Shishnevski and tell him you want a pound of bologna. Okay. And put it on the card.” So you go run into the alley, go get it, come home, have lunch, go back to school. Then, then, end of the, end of the week my ma would go there and pay the thing because she didn’t get— we didn’t have that much money floating around the house till payday so that’s how things were. There was no credit cards, no debit cards. [Laughs] Because you know, you’d come back, you know? I mean that’s the way it was. And they, and they know that you have a family— where you gonna go? You know, you gotta eat, so where you gonna go? And if you don’t give em— if you don’t let em put it on the card, they’ll go someplace else.