Laserfiche WebLink
Metadata
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015 Laserfiche. All rights reserved.
In May 2007, the Museum staff took extensive notes during an interview of John Madonna and <br />his wife, Lula Belle, about the Bug Dust Pool Hall in connection with their donation of the pool <br />hall's cash register to the Louisville Historical Museum and to learn more about the history of <br />the Bug Dust Pool Hall business. The following photo shows the two in about that year: <br />Madonna stated that he built the building for his business in 1948. He named it the Bug Dust <br />because that was his nickname. He was first given this nickname when he started working in <br />the local coal mines at age 17, which was in about 1935. A fellow miner who worked with John <br />said, referring to him, "That kid ain't as big as a piece of bug dust." The term "bug dust" means <br />the tiny pieces of coal that would fly out from the cutting machines used in the mines to cut <br />into the walls of coal. <br />It was common for Louisville pool halls to have completely different clienteles at different times <br />of the day, and the Bug Dust also followed this practice. Madonna said that starting at 9:00 <br />a.m., he sold soft drinks, candy bars, and ice cream to local residents, some of whom would sit <br />at the tables. Alcohol was not served in the business. The Bug Dust's business sign, seen in <br />photos from the time, read "Bug Dust / Soft Drinks." Madonna pointed out that at that time, it <br />was the only recreational option of that kind in Louisville. Other older residents who were <br />teenagers at the time have also stated that it was the only place, or one of the only places, in <br />Louisville that provided this type of service. <br />In the evenings, gamblers congregated at the business. Not surprisingly, they would sometimes <br />stay very late into the night and Madonna said that he occasionally would have to sleep on the <br />premises so as to be ready to open the next morning for his local, nongambling customers. <br />The Bug Dust primarily attracted businessmen from Denver who would come to Louisville to <br />gamble. According to Madonna, the Bug Dust's customers commonly played poker, pinochle, <br />and barboot or barbuit, which was a dice game. <br />According to a 2007 interview with Louisville resident David Ferguson, the big games took place <br />downstairs in the cellar and he said that no outsider was allowed to watch them. He stated that <br />6 <br />