I bet you can relate to this South Tyneside 1965 fruit machine tale

In 1965, the big news was all about the growing trend for fruit machines spreading across the borough.

Boom time for one armed bandits

According to a new report by the chief constable, there were 95 public houses in South Shields. And of those, some 43 had at least one fruit machine.

But don’t think for one minute that this was an issue for only pubs.

The one armed bandits were becoming popular in cafes, sports stadiums and even ballrooms.

Nearly every pub in Jarrow had one

A spokesman for Jarrow Town Hall said: “They are in almost every pub in Jarrow, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Elizabeth Reid, manageress of the Bede Cafe in Jarrow, said: “It seems the thing to have a one-armed bandit today.

“I don’t think it will lower the tone of the cafe, as long as we are careful about the kind of people we let in.”

George Mordain, manager of The Fountain Inn and president of South Shields Licensed Victuallers’ Association, denied that the machines were addictive.

A top coat from Maurice’s

He said at the time: “A bandit does not attract people into the place. It represents a way of passing idle moments, with a sporting chance.

“I do not know anybody addicted to one of these five-shilling machines, and you have to be really trying to lose very much.”

Elsewhere in the news, it was all the fashion to go to Maurice’s clothes wear shop in Smithy Street, South Shields.

Dining and dancing at Club Franchi

You could get a top coat for five guineas, two piece suits from 39/11 and skirts from 12/6.

And you could wear your new coat for a night out at the nightclub Club Franchi in Jarrow where Mike and Bernie Winters were topping the bill.

It boasted a night out wining, dining, dancing and gaming.

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