The Penny Arcade

When I would go to the Minnesota State Fair years ago I used to love spending time in the Penny Arcade.  Of course very few things cost a penny like in the "olden" days, but I could get a lot of play out of a few quarters.

In the days of high-tech video games the arcade attractions of my days, and the days of generations before me, have all but disappeared completely.  The arcade is still there (except for the half that was replaced by the butterfly house ~ much to my dismay), but the nostalgia is disappearing. 

When Husby and I were at the fair I decided to walk through the much smaller arcade to see if there were any scraps of the old arcade left.  Here's what I found...

There are a few of the old photo booths left.  Husby and I get our pictures taken in one of these booths every year.  This year's photos were especially cute!  (Sorry, they won't be posted here, but will be added to the collection on the refrigerator.)

There is also a penny press.  It reminds me of those fun machines where you would spell out a message and it would be embossed on a souvenir coin, just like in the movie Harold and Maude.

And no arcade would be complete without the fortune teller.  I didn't get my fortune from her, but I wish I had.  Maybe next time.

Where would we be without this gizmo to test our sex appeal?  You just drop in your money, squeeze the lever, and the love meter will let you know just how appealing you are.

I was really happy to see there are still pinball machines at the arcade.  Oh, they're a little fancier than the ones I used to play, but you still pull the knob and flip the flippers and the bells ring and clang as the points add up, just like the old days.

Kids today don't even know what "Tilt" means.  No matter, time waits for no one.  Some day they'll be reminiscing about their games too.  Long live the penny arcade.