# Episode 341 - Nantucket Nickel - The Miriam Cobblebottom Interview

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2016-02-15  
**Duration:** 30m 53s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-341-nantucket-nickel-the-miriam-cobblebottom-interview

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## Analysis

This episode is a creative historical fiction piece presented as a podcast interview with Miriam Cobblebottom, the widow of Eustacious Cobblebottom, founder of Nantucket Nickel pinball company. The host, Fake Nick Baldridge, conducts an in-depth biographical interview covering Miriam's early life in Franklin, Massachusetts, her meeting with Cobblebottom, their marriage and eventual separation due to his obsession with the Nantucket Nickel manufacturing venture, and the aftermath of their divorce in 1979. The episode provides fictional historical context about the largely unknown pinball manufacturer.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Eustacious Cobblebottom and Miriam Cobblebottom were officially divorced in early 1979, shortly before his death later that year — _Miriam Cobblebottom in interview, discussing finalization of divorce: 'I finally got the paper signed and finalized in early 1979. Later that year, I found out, along with everyone else in the state of Massachusetts, that he had a short and unexpected battle with cancer that was terminal.'_
- [HIGH] Nantucket Nickel manufacturing facility opened in 1947 on Nantucket Island after years of legal battles to overturn building permits — _Miriam Cobblebottom: 'By the time production started in 1947, he had dumped the majority of his profits from the Cobble Bottom real estate holdings into the new coin-op venture.'_
- [HIGH] Nantucket Nickel closed its doors in late 1950, nearly bankrupting the Cobblebottom family — _Miriam Cobblebottom: 'With Nantucket Nickel folding in 1950, how did that affect the Cobble Bottom nest egg? It damn near sent us into bankruptcy.'_
- [HIGH] Eustacious Cobblebottom was highly focused on creating ideal working conditions at the Nantucket Nickel factory, including double-pane windows, ergonomic chairs, and massage therapists — _Miriam Cobblebottom describing the factory: 'He had to outfit the factory with these huge double pane picture windows to allow workers unparalleled views of the Atlantic while at the same time maintaining ideal working temperatures. Every worker was supplied with the most ergonomic chairs of the time. And at the start, he had the break room outfitted with contracted massage therapists.'_
- [HIGH] Miriam and Eustacious Cobblebottom separated around 1952, living separately from that point forward while maintaining a public marriage for his political aspirations — _Miriam Cobblebottom: 'I officially moved out of our Plymouth home and into one of our apartments in Boston about 1952 under the public guise that I would help with managing our properties.'_
- [HIGH] Eustacious Cobblebottom ran for Massachusetts State Senate in the Republican Party and previously served on the Plymouth Board of Selectmen — _Miriam Cobblebottom: 'Yes, that was after holding court as one of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen for several years. The town doesn't have a mayor.'_
- [MEDIUM] Cobblebottom owned between a couple dozen to over one hundred separate properties according to estimates by his hotel employees — _Miriam Cobblebottom: 'Their estimates ranged from a couple dozen to over a hundred separate properties, depending upon who you spoke with.'_
- [HIGH] Miriam Cobblebottom was born in 1923 and is now 93 years old at the time of this interview in 2016 — _Host question: 'If you don't mind me asking, when were you born?' Miriam: '1923... So that would make you... 93 years old this year.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "We were over with long before he died. I thought you two celebrated many decades of anniversaries together. Oh, he needed some publicity shots to keep the public opinion up during his political campaigns of later years."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~11:00
> _Reveals the central conflict: Cobblebottom's marriage was a public facade maintained for political purposes_

> "The only exception he made to his no discussion of business policy was that damn pinball company Nantucket Nickel. Yes. He was wed to the idea of an island manufacturing plant."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~38:30
> _Establishes that Nantucket Nickel was Cobblebottom's singular obsession and passion project_

> "It was like nothing you could ever imagine, even by today's higher workplace standards. Everything was brand new... He had to outfit the factory with these huge double pane picture windows to allow workers unparalleled views of the Atlantic."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~42:15
> _Describes Cobblebottom's utopian vision for the manufacturing facility and his prioritization of worker welfare_

> "It damn near sent us into bankruptcy. We were able to hold on to a large portion of the properties and businesses, but many others had to be sold. Suddenly at a loss, simply to pay for the mountains of debt accrued by that one venture."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~68:00
> _Establishes that the Nantucket Nickel failure was financially catastrophic, requiring years to recover_

> "He was afraid if the public knew that there was trouble on the home front, then his public approval would plummet... He always had aspirations of becoming involved in government."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~58:00
> _Reveals Cobblebottom's political ambitions as the primary reason for maintaining the marriage publicly_

> "When I was 12, I tried to hop on a train and see the world... It took me until I was 14 years old to finally achieve success. Another train ride? No, my lottery ticket to Boston came in the form of a scrawny little delivery boy named Mitch."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~20:00
> _Establishes Miriam's independent spirit and determination to escape her small hometown_

> "Turns out that Stacy made some abrupt changes to his will in his final days, and I was notified that all of his assets were being willed to me... I donated practically everything to charities around the state."
> — **Miriam Cobblebottom**, ~76:00
> _Surprising final twist: Cobblebottom left his entire estate to Miriam despite their divorce, which she largely donated to charity_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Miriam Cobblebottom | person | Widow/ex-wife of Eustacious Cobblebottom; born 1923 in Franklin, Massachusetts; managed Cobblebottom's real estate properties; primary interviewee |
| Eustacious Cobblebottom | person | Founder and principal designer of Nantucket Nickel pinball company; real estate mogul; political aspirant; born approximately 1913; died 1979 from cancer; nickname 'Stacy' |
| Nantucket Nickel | company | Pinball game manufacturer founded by Eustacious Cobblebottom; operated manufacturing facility on Nantucket Island from 1947-1950; financial failure that nearly bankrupted Cobblebottom |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Fake Nick Baldridge; focuses on electromechanical and bingo pinball history |
| Fake Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only podcast; conducted interview with Miriam Cobblebottom; pursues pinball history research |
| Sterling Sphere Hotel | company | Hotel owned by Cobblebottom in Boston; where Miriam was hired as receptionist and met Cobblebottom |
| Franklin | organization | Small town in Massachusetts (population ~6,000-7,000 during Miriam's childhood); Miriam's birthplace; claims to be home of nation's first library (donated by Ben Franklin) |
| Boston | organization | Major city where Miriam relocated at age 14; location of most of Cobblebottom's real estate and business ventures |
| Nantucket Island | organization | Island location of Cobblebottom's pinball manufacturing facility; wealthy summer home community; subject to strict building codes |
| Plymouth | organization | Massachusetts town; location of Cobblebottom and Miriam's primary residence overlooking Cape Cod Bay; where Cobblebottom served on Board of Selectmen |
| Massachusetts State Senate | organization | Political body; Cobblebottom ran for Republican State Senate position |

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Detailed account of Nantucket Nickel company operations (1947-1950), manufacturing philosophy, and financial collapse attributed to Eustacious Cobblebottom's ambitions (confidence: high) — Multiple references to factory construction, worker amenities, island location challenges, and bankruptcy aftermath; timeline: production started 1947, closure end of 1950
- **[industry_signal]** Recognition that Nantucket Nickel is 'an often forgotten footnote in the coin-op industry' with limited historical documentation (confidence: high) — Host introduction: 'the little-known pin-game manufacturer's founder and principal designer' and description of 'exhaustive research' needed to locate and contact Cobblebottom's widow
- **[design_philosophy]** Cobblebottom's manufacturing philosophy prioritized worker comfort and experience with high-quality facilities, ergonomic design, and employee amenities (confidence: high) — Miriam describes factory with 'huge double pane picture windows,' 'ergonomic chairs of the time,' and 'contracted massage therapists' in break room; philosophy of creating 'pleasant and carefree' work environment
- **[business_signal]** Cobblebottom invested majority of real estate profits into Nantucket Nickel, resulting in near-bankruptcy when company folded in 1950; took decade to recover financially (confidence: high) — Miriam: 'By the time production started in 1947, he had dumped the majority of his profits from the Cobble Bottom real estate holdings into the new coin-op venture... It damn near sent us into bankruptcy.'
- **[regulatory_signal]** Nantucket Island's strict building codes and wealthy community opposition initially blocked factory construction; Cobblebottom hired legal team to overturn denied permits (confidence: high) — Miriam: 'For the next years, he devoted the majority of his time to working through the stringent island building codes and getting many denied permits overturned... all the wealthy summer homeowners couldn't stave off Stacy's team of legal masterminds.'
- **[content_signal]** For Amusement Only podcast conducting multi-year research project to document EM pinball history, with focus on lesser-known manufacturers like Nantucket Nickel (confidence: high) — Host: 'after several years of exhaustive research and an effort to track down and subsequently contact those closest to Cobblebottom' and 'Valentine's Day edition' of ongoing Nantucket Nickel Company history series
- **[historical_signal]** Episode references gender discrimination in employment and wage gaps of the era; Miriam discusses difficulty finding work due to age and gender, wage disparity of approximately 25% less than men (confidence: high) — Miriam: 'women didn't even earn the right to vote until about a dozen years prior to my little hitchhiking escapade' and 'you likely to earn about 25 more than a woman working a full job even today... That bulls... it makes me mad'
- **[community_signal]** For Amusement Only podcast aims to fill gaps in pinball historical documentation by interviewing primary sources and archiving forgotten manufacturer stories (confidence: high) — Host: 'multitudes of poignant and previously unknown bits of information that will help us piece together the little-known pin game manufacturer's motives and timeline' and express desire to share with 'acutely invested pinball community'

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## Transcript

 Suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck-a-suck Ah, broken again. What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Salutations, my electromechanically interested listeners. As you've come to know, I'm your host, Fake Nick Baldrige. I'm taking some time out from my romantic bingo sessions with Molly Fake Baldrige to bring you another installment of the Nantucket Nickel Company history, an often forgotten footnote in the coin-op industry. In past episodes, we brought you up to speed on the little-known pin-game manufacturer's founder and principal designer, Eustacious Cobblebottom. Well, after several years of exhaustive research and an effort to track down and subsequently contact those closest to Cobblebottom, there was a timely occurrence. I am proud to bring you an interview with the person who perhaps knew this man best, his widow, Miriam Cobblebottom. I took a jaunt up to Massachusetts last weekend so that I might secure this interview for the Valentine's Day edition of For Amusement Only, and I'm excited to share this revelatory and historically significant conversation I had with Miss Cobblebottom. The Withdrawn Widow shares information previously untold, which I'm happy to share with you now. Let us join my in-progress adventure up to Massachusetts. Hello, faithful listeners. This is Fake Nick Baldrige coming to you from the car on the way up to Massachusetts. I'm very excited. I'm trying to contain myself. I am on the road to see Miriam Cobblebottom, widow of Eustachius Cobblebottom. Wish me luck. Hello, Miriam. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Okay. Thank you for agreeing to this interview. I think a lot of folks will be interested to get an inside look into your husband's life. Ex-husband. Well, yes. I'm sorry. Eustace just passed away some time ago, but... We were over with long before he died. I thought you two celebrated many decades of anniversaries together. Oh, he needed some publicity shots to keep the public opinion up during his political campaigns of later years. But we separated long before that and officially signed divorce papers shortly before his death in 1979. Okay, okay. I feel like we might need to jump back a little bit. This is new information to me. And everyone else, I'm sure. He insisted that our separation and eventual divorce be kept secret. We both grew up in a time where it was frowned upon to give up on a marriage. This was compounded by the fact that Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in all the United States. Did you know that? No. It wasn't like today where the majority of couples sign away their vows after a few years. I'm sorry to hear about this, but maybe we can start at the beginning and talk about how you met Eustatius and how your relationship progressed. All right. What did you say this was for again? It's a podcast. A what? A pinball podcast. It's like radio, but on the Internet. If you don't mind me asking, when were you born? 1923. So that would make you... 93 years old this year. And you've been a Massachusetts native since birth? That's right, born and raised in a tiny inland town called Franklin. When I was growing up, there was about 6,000 or 7,000 people there. It's just off the northeastern corner of Rhode Island. Our house was about 10 minutes away from the border. Not much to the place. In fact, even though it's officially a city, the local politicians insist on calling it the Town of Franklin. The biggest claim to fame is that it was the home of the nation's first library. Really? Yeah. Ben Franklin donated the first books. The town named itself Franklin in hopes of buttering up Ben Franklin to donate a big bell to the church. Instead, he tossed us about a hundred of his old books and went back to flying his kite. Then after a lot of fighting about who should get to read those damn books, they started a library. At least that's how the story goes. I read through every book they had before I entered high school, but that library wasn't enough to keep me there. Even as a kid, I wanted to see what was outside that little city. Town? Whatever. When I was 12, I tried to hop on a train and see the world. I was hanging on the ladder as the train started to move. Unfortunately, my dad saw me and managed to pull me off before the train picked up enough speed to take me anywhere. There were several attempts at freedom over the next few years, but it took me until I was 14 years old to finally achieve success. Another train ride? No, my lottery ticket to Boston came in the form of a scrawny little delivery boy named Mitch. His Adam's apple was about as big around as his neck, and he wore these knickers that showed his kneecaps, which were twice the size of his thighs. A slight breeze would have blown this guy away. How he made it as a delivery boy is beyond me. Whenever he would come to town, I'd flirt with him. Eventually, by the time I was 14, I convinced him to let me hitch a ride into Boston with him. It took a couple of hours to get there. I felt a little bit bad on the drive there, knowing I left without telling my parents. But I wired them to let them know I was all right as soon as I arrived in Boston. How was your relationship with your family? Oh, great. Parents were married for 65 years until my dad passed away. Extremely hardworking, the both of them. Dad worked from sunup to sundown on a local farm. Mom stayed at home with us kids. I was the youngest of seven. Our parents were always there for us. That wasn't why I wanted to leave Franklin. I just felt like I'd seen everything the town had to offer. So once you got to Boston, what did that look like? Did you arrive with any money? Did you have a place to stay? Did you know anyone? And what about Mitch? Mitch? Well, I was only interested in Mitch for transportation, but faked my way into his heart for that purpose In retrospect, maybe not the most ethical of practices, but there weren't a lot of options for women at the time You're pretty young, so you might not remember, but how old are you? 32. Well, women didn't even earn the right to vote until about a dozen years prior to my little hitchhiking escapade, and we still had a long way to go right now in 2016. Do you know that you likely to earn about 25 more than a woman working a full job even today That bulls Well it makes me mad What did you want to know about Oh, what was I doing with myself in Boston? Well, I managed to give Mitch the slip when we got into the city. He was busy turning in his dockets for the deliveries and I took the opportunity to find my way elsewhere. That part wasn't difficult. To answer your question about money, I saved a little from doing odd jobs around my hometown. I worked for a pittance filing books at the Franklin Library, and once in a while the farm where my dad worked needed an extra few hands. I was always willing, as I knew I'd need whatever cash I could get if I was going to make a go of it on my own. My first day in Boston, I knew I needed to find a place to stay, but I was only interested in securing living quarters with cash. I had enough for one month's rent, and that was about it. I stole a newspaper from a kid selling them on the street corner. He caught me a few steps away, but thankfully I looked a lot better at that time than I do now and had the whereabouts to know that could get me places. To make a long story short, the paper boy ended up confessing that he stole the stack from a newspaper rack by only putting in a nickel for one but taking the heap. So he agreed that one off the top wouldn't hurt his profits badly. But once that was taken care of, I looked through the classified ads and started with the cheaper places first. I settled on a glorified broom closet with just about enough room for a bed and a shower. Naturally, it was nothing desirable, but it was my broom closet for at least that following month, and it came lightly furnished. So, how did you meet Eustacious Cobblebottom? I'm getting there. I haven't even told you how I was going to make it past my first month in Boston yet. I barely had enough money for food after hemorrhaging all my money on first month's rent. Thankfully, the place was such a dump they didn't dare ask for a deposit. The same day I rented my broom closet, I was out looking for work. I swear I must have talked to several dozen businessmen and filled out just as many applications. What kind of work were you looking for? Oh, you know, entry-level, retail, clerical, it didn't matter. I talked with every legitimate business owner within a three- or four-mile radius. Most of them weren't interested in hiring someone my age, or more likely my gender. At the end of my first day, I was on my way back home and only about a block away from my new place when the sky opened up. I was absolutely soaked in a matter of seconds. I ducked into the lobby just to avoid the bath outside for a moment. When I got inside, I discovered a nicely decorated hotel lobby. There was a bellhop named Steve who asked if he could help me. I guess I was in an occupational frame of mind because all that came out of my mouth was, do you have any openings? We both exchanged brief knowing glances as I think each of us realized that wasn't my intention in entering. But he told me about a receptionist position that just opened but wouldn't post in the classifieds until tomorrow's paper hits the stands. Without prompting, he directed me to the manager, Harry, who proceeded to ask me about my qualifications, age, and experience, all of which I lied about. Lucky for me, my experience at the Franklin Library gave me plenty of clerical know-how. I was able to breeze through the mock guest check-in, and evidently I mustered enough feigned pep and maturity at the end of my long day of ride-hitching, apartment-searching, and job-hunting that they never asked for verification of my age. They hired me on the spot, and I started work the following evening. After the hire, I finished my dark and drizzly walk to the next block where I collapsed into bed that night and slept until afternoon the next day. So where in this do you meet Eustachius? That's the problem with young people today. None of you have any patience. You come into my house unannounced and then you start telling me what to talk about. If you would wait another minute, you would have your answer and I'd like you a whole lot better. So I go into work my first day. Harry, the manager, is there to greet me for the late shift from 4 to midnight. As he's reviewing the procedures we went over the previous night, in walks the hotel owner to chat with Harry. Harry excuses himself and I assure him that I'll take care of things, which wasn't a lie. But it was a weekday, so it was slow, making things even easier. During the first day lull, I managed a few peeks into Harry's office where he and the owner were going over the intricacies of the hotel. I didn't know much about the man that walked in, but liked how he carried himself. He was polite when he entered, greeted me, and made me feel like someone who mattered, even though I scarcely had anything to do with his property yet. He was well-dressed, and his hair was perfect, even when he took off his hat. Was that Eustachius? Well, it wasn't Clark Gable, although he wasn't far removed at the time. Regardless, I fancied him straight away. Little did I know he took notice of me, which of course made me even more curious about him. I also didn't realize he was somewhat of a city mogul, buying properties on the cheap and either turning them around into profitable businesses like the Sterling Sphere Hotel, where I was just hired, or selling them to roll the revenue into additional real estate ventures. Needless to say, he had a keen business sense at the time and was playing all his cards right. Stacy's meeting with Harry eventually wrapped. As he left, he gave me a polite tip of the hat and called me by name after our first brief encounter. So, just to clarify, Stacy is... Eustacious. He never did tell me where his parents got that awful name. Nobody called him that. Pretty much everyone called him Mr. Cobblebottom. Family and a few people who got close to him called him Stacy. Okay, so you and Mr. Cobblebottom After several months of seeing one another in the lobby began seeing one another outside the lobby But you were only 14 at the time? Close to 15 by the time we were dating but you're looking at this relationship through a modern lens The average age for a girl to marry at the time was 21 so I only had half a dozen years to figure out who I'd like to be with I wasn't the type to let someone else figure it out for me. How old was Mr. Cobblebottom when you started dating? Twenty-eight. I'll spare you the sordid details of our courtship, but he was a charming devil and disarmingly humble. He never mentioned his business unless I asked directly. I initially found out about them only through co-workers. Their estimates ranged from a couple dozen to over a hundred separate properties, depending upon who you spoke with. He never discussed intricacies of his company with me but none of them knew even half of what he owned The only exception he made to his no discussion of business Ryan Policky was that damn pinball company Nantucket Nickel Yes. He was wed to the idea of an island manufacturing plant. I heard about it through our courtship. At the time, I could tell it was the venture that most excited him, so by extension, I was excited along with him. It was also nice to have him open up to me about one of his ventures and of obvious passion. When we wed in 1941, I even remember hearing about it on our honeymoon. He couldn't get it out of his mind. I think that's when it really dawned on me that this could be a problem. How so? For our relationship as a couple, for his financial standing, for his public persona. For the next years, he devoted the majority of his time to working through the stringent island building codes and getting many denied permits overturned. He had enough money to hire the best lawyers and ordered them to find loopholes in the ordinances to ensure the factory got built. So there was opposition to building the factory? On an island filled with extravagant summer homes and only 300 square miles on which to build? You bet there was opposition. but all the wealthy summer homeowners couldn't stave off Stacy's team of legal masterminds. How was this affecting you as a couple in those years following your marriage? Those years after our marriage were certainly trying, but even in the midst of his infatuation with his unconventional business venture, he had his endearing moments. He was so steadfast about creating a factory environment as pleasant and carefree as the game he wanted to build. You should have seen those facilities. It was like nothing you could ever imagine, even by today's higher workplace standards. Everything was brand new, of course, because there weren't any pre-existing factories on Nantucket Island. But everything was of the highest quality. He couldn't just buy multi-paned windows. He had to outfit the factory with these huge double pane picture windows to allow workers unparalleled views of the Atlantic while at the same time maintaining ideal working temperatures. Every worker was supplied with the most ergonomic chairs of the time. And at the start, he had the break room outfitted with contracted massage therapists. Some people accused him of trying to create his own personal utopia. but I still feel to this day that his primary interest was in the workers and ultimately in the games he wanted to produce. By the time production started in 1947, he had dumped the majority of his profits from the Cobble Bottom real estate holdings into the new coin-op venture. And where were you during all this? Were you living on Nantucket with him? No. My family was on the mainland, so that's where I wanted to stay. I didn't live with them, but I wanted to be within driving distance. Something about having to rely on a ferry that operated only once or twice a day made me claustrophobic. When we were courting, he agreed our primary residence would be on the mainland. We had a place in Plymouth overlooking Cape Cod Bay. It was a halfway point between Nantucket Island and Boston. Most of his businesses were located in Boston, so it made sense at the time. To start with, he'd make a week-long stop in Plymouth every few days. It was pretty ideal, but shortly after our marriage, he began spending more and more time on the island. Once he got the idea of a manufacturing plant in his head, there was no stopping him. His home visits became shorter and shorter and less and less frequent. Eventually, his Boston businesses began to suffer because of all his time spent on the island. It wasn't noticeable at first, at least not to me. But in retrospect, that was the turning point. Because of his absence, I started visiting my family more and more. They knew there were problems between Stacy and me, but thankfully they never asked. I'm not sure I could have dared to tell them at the time. I felt so isolated. I even started wondering if it was my fault. So how long was it before the two of you separated? It's hard to pinpoint it. I guess I officially moved out of our Plymouth home and into one of our apartments in Boston about 1952 under the public guise that I would help with managing our properties. Behind the scenes, it was not much of a partnership. I was committed to making it work throughout the first decade of our marriage. I didn't want to rebuild my life. If I'm honest with myself, our separation probably happened before that. He was hardly around during the Nancucket nickel days. That was primarily in the late 40s. But like I said, even after our marriage in 41, he was showing absentee tendencies. I guess it was sort of a gradual process. But by the time his obsessions really became prominent, I was already committed. So, for all intents, you and Mr. Cobblebottom were separated in 1952? Yeah, I suppose that'd be as accurate as anything Did you see one another after that? Not much I really was managing a number of our properties So occasionally we'd need to discuss a new direction for a business Or one of our real estate holdings But it was strictly business from then on out Did you ever want a divorce? Oh, sure Why didn't that happen? I was bullied out of it. Stacy was the primary stakeholder in all his property. I naively signed a prenup before marrying him. I didn't even know what it was at the time. If we got a divorce, I would have been left with nothing. He made sure I knew that. Why did he want to remain in the relationship? Politics. He was Massachusetts' golden boy. He did a lot of great things for a lot of people. By turning those decrepit properties around, he created a lot of jobs and had a heavy hand in turning Boston into what it is today. People loved him. He was afraid if the public knew that there was trouble on the home front, then his public approval would plummet. Why did that matter? He always had aspirations of becoming involved in government. He had strong opinions on public Ryan Policky, especially seeing how it affected the growth of business and wanted a hand in making a change. That's right. If I recall correctly, he ran for Massachusetts State Senate position in the Republican Party? Yes, that was after holding court as one of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen for several years. The town doesn't have a mayor. All right, so Nantucket Nickel closes its doors in late 1950. What are you doing for the next two years? Well, it was really a little over a year, end of 50 to the start of 52, but it felt like a lot longer. I was really just in a holding pattern trying to figure out what I was going to do with myself. Sort of in shock, I guess. I felt like such a failure. I always had it in my mind that no matter what happened my husband and I would work things out But there wasn much left of our marriage we were just in such a dismal place and I was ready to walk In what little time we spent together Stacy and I finally agreed on this business arrangement where I would look after his properties and participate in an occasional public appearance In exchange, I was given a generous salary. I continued to live in the comfort and amenities I'd grown accustomed to, and most importantly to Stacy, I would not file for divorce. From that point onward, we were ostensibly business partners, a power couple in the public eye, but in truth, two ships that passed one another on rare and infrequent nights. With Nantucket Nickel folding in 1950, how did that affect the Cobble Bottom nest egg? It damn near sent us into bankruptcy. We were able to hold on to a large portion of the properties and businesses, but many others had to be sold. Suddenly at a loss, simply to pay for the mountains of debt accrued by that one venture. That wasn't apparent to many people, was it? If you read between the lines, it was there. In the years following the close of Nantucket Nickel, there was a lot of action in our assets. The press releases we wrote always spun it in a ridiculously positive light, talking about how these sales were gearing up for something big, or in the case of less profitable sales, it was talked about as a gift to the city or some charitable organization. I couldn't believe how well the general populace bought into it, or maybe our so-called news sounded so whitewashed and bland that nobody cared. Whatever the case, it bought him some time to rebuild himself and his wealth by doing the same thing he was doing before he and I met. It worked, too. He was able to pay off all of his debts over the course of the following decade, and by that time he had almost an equal amount of profitable businesses bringing in money as we did prior to the Nantucket nickel debacle. During these decades of separation, was Mr. Cobblebottom faithful to you? No You to him? No. It was understood that our marriage was finished in all but a signature Can you tell us about the finalization of your divorce? It took me a long time to open up to the idea that I could be loved again I would have occasional suitors over the years, but I never took any of them seriously I might have been able to if I wasn't so damaged from the marriage I was in. But after a lot of therapy, I finally came to the conclusion that life wasn't over, and it didn't have to continue in this way either. How did Mr. Cobblebottom react? In typical fashion, when something like this would get brought up with eerily calm threats, he'd remind me that I couldn't have the life I wanted without him. He'd stonewall any recommendations or erase my employment history or anything he could think of to force me to stay, but I'd regained enough confidence in myself to know that wasn't the case. I had plenty of public interaction where I had a name for myself as well. Stigma against divorce was beginning to ease and all his threats held a little less clout than they did before. I finally got the paper signed and finalized in early 1979. Later that year, I found out, along with everyone else in the state of Massachusetts, that he had a short and unexpected battle with cancer that was terminal. By the time they found it, there was nothing that could be done. How did your life change after the divorce? Not drastically. I downgraded my living accommodations and took a position at a job for a fraction of what I was making before, but my quality of life improved significantly. It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Then a strange thing happened in early 1980. I got a notice in the mail. Turns out that Stacy made some abrupt changes to his will in his final days, and I was notified that all of his assets were being willed to me. Were you expecting that? Not in the least. For years he talked about transferring his assets to one trusted business partner or another, but it certainly wasn't me. remember I even signed a prenup at the start of our marriage so I figured I was on my own which was fine by me it's been that way in one form or another my whole life so why why do I live in a place like this I donated practically everything to charities around the state and so on to my hometown I kept a healthy portion of for myself in case I run into any unexpected medical expenses these final few years. But if I go peacefully, the rest will get distributed to those same charities. Did you ever meet anyone after Mr. Cobblebottom? There was one man who swept me off my feet for a second time late in life. We never married. Neither of us felt the need. But it was more of a marriage than I've ever had. Unfortunately, I managed to outlive him too. I'm sorry. It happens. If you're lucky, you'll live long enough for it to happen to you, too. I think I'm out of things to ask you about, Mrs. Cobblebottom. I really appreciate you taking your time to answer all these questions. Sure. Maybe someone will find some interest in it. Take care. You, too. Good morrow again, faithful listeners and pinball history aficionados. I am back in the Baldrige mobile, toodling down the highway en route to the fake Baldrige Manor, absolutely beaming about this groundbreaking interview. Despite some sad discoveries in the life of Miriam and our oft-forgotten intrepid pinball designer, there were multitudes of poignant and previously unknown bits of information that will help us piece together the little-known pin game manufacturer's motives and timeline. I am ecstatic to arrive home, edit, and share this newfound data with a more acutely invested pinball community. I guess this is as good a time as any to let you know we are once again coming to the end of our time together. I hope you're all enjoying a romantic day. Whether your enchanting escapades involve pin games of the flipper or anti-flipper variety, make sure you include pinball as part of your amorous rituals. My name again is Fake Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. that's 724 bingos1 that's 724 e-l-d-e-r-l-y you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocketcast via RSS on Facebook or on Twitter at bingo podcast you can follow us on insta-deguerreotype at bingo podcast find me on Pinside at bingo podcast discover my tastefully executed graffiti tagged judiciously around the Richmond area all of which mention bingo podcast or you can listen to me on my website for amusement only dot libsyn dot com Until next time, visit your local drive-in.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: 5a510989-5fba-4722-868c-19387e54e772*