| The Golden Mile in the Early 1980s |
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Left: The Golden Mile in 1981 still retained some of the original buildings with the ground floor extensions. Few arcades had a second floor.
Right: 1977 (yes I know - just before the 1980s!) saw a short-lived exhibition of BBC drama costumes open on the Golden Mile. |
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Probably the only exception at that time was the "Golden Mile Centre", shortly to become "Mr B's". When first opened a dodgem car ride was housed upstairs, then for a couple of years it housed an exhibition of puppets from Gerry Anderson TV productions such as Thunderbirds.
Cinema USA was a large format domed cinema projected above head height of the standing audience which made
the sensation of motion very exciting! |
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Left: the Golden Nugget was on the site of the worst of the freak shows and "living statue" (i.e. nude) shows of the 1950s and 1960s.
Right: say a fond farewell to the Penny Booth. For generations pleasure seekers had been able to play one-armed bandits for one penny, but inflation meant that this was increasingly rare! |
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The following year, 1982, had a warm summer that attracted crowds into Blackpool and onto the beach.
Over the winter the Penny Booth, as seen above, has changed its name to Funland thus escaping the new advertising standards laws.
Right: Coral Island, August 1982. A wire walker was engaged to perform outside the
arcade to attract visitors. |
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