Jim Fucci

Jim Fucci of The Other Place (aka the Penny Bar if you’re cool) served Moses his first drink. Okay, fine—maybe not, but he has been bartending 50+ years, so chances are he did serve your mom her first drink (Ha! A “your mom” joke! Oh, clever.). Meadville bartending icon Fucci spills on Sagan, pennies, cement mixers, and the word you just. don't. say.

1) How did you get your start in bartending?
That was fifty years ago. I don’t remember. I just needed an extra job and I just started bartending. And I ended up right here.

2) So you’ve been bartending from this same spot?
No, I bartended at the Hourglass (which became Sanadlini’s, which then became Chovy’s). That was about 1961 or 62…somewhere in there. And then I was tending bar at the ICC. And then I moved into this place (212 W Steers St) 37 years ago.

3) You’ve got a really impressive penny collection (FPIM NOTE: Seriously. He has the New York subway map, a clock, the Lincoln Memorial, and other neato creations decorating the place. ALL MADE WITH PENNIES.) Could you tell us how you came up with those?
Well…the astronomer Carl Sagan, from Cornell University was doing “The Cosmos” in the sixties. I watched that TV series and he talked about billions in numbers. And I got very smart watching him. I knew what those big numbers were, but other people didn’t. So I thought, “I’m gonna show other people a million of something. What can I save to show them? Pennies!”

Well, after trying to save a million pennies, I found out that I didn’t even know what a million looked like. But as I gained more and more pennies, I wondered what I could do with all these pennies. So I looked out across the bar and at the tables and thought, “Maybe I could put them on top of those.” I took a table home, fixed it, and like a snowball rolling down a hill, you see the results.

4) That’s very impressive. It took you at least a couple of years to get all these pennies, didn’t it?
Yes, it did. It took me longer than more than a couple of years. And then I had to have some help from my patrons by charging them 15 pennies for a draft beer back in the seventies.

Yeah, I remember my mom had told me about that.
(shrugs and smiles)

5) (Points at the many pictures of Allegheny students, most of them are from sororities and fraternities) You’re really popular with Allegheny and Edinboro students.
(chuckle) They like to bring in their pictures to stick on the wall. So I do it for them.

So, what do you think makes this place and you so popular with them?
Good question. I can’t answer that. Maybe it’s just that my prices are a little bit lower; I don’t know if that’s it or not. You’d have to ask the Allegheny students that one. Not me!

6) What’s the silliest drink order you can think of that anyone’s ordered in here?
The cement mixer!

7) Okay, what exactly would be in a cement mixer?
Bailey’s and sour mix, I believe. I won’t serve it. Because what happens is when you drink it, it curls up in your mouth like…uh…(makes a “bitter beer face”) … (A customer suggests, “Cottage cheese!”) Yeah, cottage cheese (laughs)! And to me, it was just a waste of money. I won’t serve them.

8) What would you like first-time visitors to the Other Place to know about in order to have a good time here?
That they have to abide by the rules if they’re gonna be here for long.

9) Obviously, the “f-bomb” rule is a big one…
That is my ultimate rule. If you use that word, I’m gonna come down on you. There are so many other nouns, verbs, and adjectives you can use instead. Or adverbs. You don’t need to use that word. Just come in here, show respect to women—and everybody—and have a good time. That’s all.

The Other Place/Penny Bar is open to those 21+ Monday-Saturday from 4pm-2am. Spend your pennies and other currencies there on drinks, $.75 pool, pickled eggs, and t-shirts. And tip your bartender, kplzthx.