MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — Since 1931, ‘The World Famous Penny Arcade’ has been a staple in downtown Manitou Springs.
The arcade features more than 400 games, including some that still only cost a penny!
“We could possibly be the longest, continually running arcade in the nation,” said Ron Allen, a site maintenance operator at the arcade.
Allen remembers first visiting the arcade in the 1950s when he was just a boy. He said some of the games he used to play back then are still around and still located in the same area of the arcade.
“This was actually my very first job. I was out here sweeping out buildings for 25 cents a day when I was a child,” Allen said. “It’s not unusual for me to work with a young person today, who I worked with their grandfather when we were teenagers”.
The Penny Arcade has been owned and operated by the same family since it opened in 1931, Allen explained.
“There’s equipment in this building that got put in this building the year it was manufactured,” he said.
The oldest game the arcade has is from 1905. It’s a tiny red and yellow ‘mutoscope’, which was considered popular for its day. A ‘mutoscope’ is basically an ‘old school DVD player’, as Allen put it.
“Back in the day when silent movies first came out, if you couldn’t afford to go to the movies – little arcades popped up all over the country [featuring mutoscopes],” he said.
The Penny Arcade is open year-round. While it still features old games that cost a penny, nickel or a dime – it also has newer games. Though, the most popular games tend to be the classics.
“I can tell you those old skee-ball machines over there from 1962, those things are really popular! They’re just as popular today as they were when they were installed in 1962,” Allen said.
In a world full of change, the Penny Arcade is a place where life is put on pause while you play around.
To learn more about the Penny Arcade, watch Kevin Torres‘ ‘Unique 2 Colorado‘ feature about the historic arcade in Manitou Springs. Just hit play on the video above.