By Mo McCooper, April 29, 2010 — When our parents went to Atlantic City Race Track to win money for our seashore vacations, my grandmother babysat us at the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There were usually between six and a dozen of us whom she also taught to swim in the ocean between the poles which held up the boardwalk above us.
One day after a few hours Grandmom let my cousin Joey, who was probably just over eleven years old, take me to the boardwalk with a quarter’s worth of pennies for the race. We were to be back to the house our parents rented for dinner.
Joey explained to me that we were going down the ramp from the boardwalk to the pavement and then under the low swinging doors into the Globe Burlesque Theatre to crawl into a row of seats.
A comedian named Billy Hagan who was in the driver’s seat of a convertible was asked by the beautiful girl next to him in the brand new car if the odor she smelled was “mothballs.” Billy answered, “I don’t know. I’ve never been that close to a month.” A few seconds later we were grabbed by guards and thrown out the door.