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By 1969 Joe and Pauline, who had met eight years earlier, had four children. Novelle was also married. The need to supplement their income and an entrepreneurial streak dictated expansion to St. John's that year.
"We Ooe and himself) were still working at Mill Reef as masons for a dollar a day," Novelle recollected. "I remember working a whole night and getting $9 that week. I said ifI could work for Johnson for nothing, I think I can do it for myself. He recalled running the bus "night and day," carrying passengers in the day and bands and other hotel entertainers at night, and then going to work in the family's business "to keep it up."
According to Irving, the initiative to open another branch of Kennedy's Club in St. John's saw the brothers dividing up the business, so to speak. Roosie got the joint in Liberta; Blokey got the trucking side of the business; Joe, Pauline and Novelle joined forces to run the business in St. John's; and Irving went off to university.
Up to this point, Pauline had been working with the First Federation Life Insurance Company, the predecessor to State Insurance. She also helped her husband and Novelle with bus duty, picking up two shifts before and after work and on Saturdays "to make a dollar here and there," she said.
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"When we took the cash pan and counted how much we sold - not the profit - it was $22. We laugh now, but it was a day's sales."
"It was his idea to branch off to St. John's," Pauline said, pointing at her husband.
And so they set off to find a spot, which was on New Street in what is commonly called the La Chikita Building. |
Pauline used a contact she had in Miami made from a previous job where she worked as a secretary/amateur draftsman - and they acquired a pool table, a jukebox and a peepshow machine, the latter becoming a big hit for obvious reasons.
They took $500, Pauline said and stocked out the bar, which they called Kennedy's Red Light Tavern. "We opened the door on April 5, 1969. I always recall the very first day we opened our doors. We opened in the morning - I can't remember the time - and we closed about 10 p.m., and when we took the cash pan and counted how much we sold - not the profit - was $22. We laugh now, but it was a day's sales.
"It was from then, I tell you, he (Joe) has a lot of ideas up until now. I can't find the words to describe him. 'Genius' is not nice enough," Pauline said as she reached out to hold her husband's hand.
"The jukebox had pictures and all sorts of things, and people danced to the music. A lot of guys also used to come for the peepshow machine, and while they were looking they would buy a drink. Those were the good old days," Pauline said, as Joe nodded his agreement.
At this stage the Francises and their children wete far from Easy Street. It was hard work, they both recalled, trying to run a business, hold down substantive jobs to make ends meet, and raise seven children - five short of the dozen for which Joe was aiming.
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