Diamond-Hosed Dynamite

A digital recreation of an article published in “Tonight” magazine  Vol4 No2 – 1965

The charmer in the fancy hose is Laura Melton, who works for a transit company in Chicago, as a "coin checker". When the drivers turn in the day’s receipts, along with their own tally slip, Laura verifies the count. She then puts the various denomination coins into paper rolls and bundles the paper money. It isn’t quite as hard as it sounds, for the coins are sorted automatically by a machine, then rolled.

Laura works in a heavily fortified room with armed guards on duty constantly, and likes the responsible job she holds. But when the neon lights come on in "The Loop", and the bands begin to beat out rhythms, Laura comes into her own. She’s crazy about dancing – all kinds, from the samba to the swim. And she never lacks for partners, For she’s an expert and skilful dancer who only "sits one out" in order to catch her breath for more.

Laura’s main hobby beside dancing is coin-collecting, although she doesn’t have the time at her work to carefully go over each coin, she sometimes uses her coffee-break time and part of her lunch hour to seek out coins she needs to fill out her collection. Laura was born in Rome, Georgia, but came to Chicago as a small child. She still lives at home and her dad drives a bus for the same company she works for. Since her mom died, Laura is the chief cook and homemaker for a family of six, for she’s the only girl. Laura is a sports-lover and seldom misses a football game if the Chicago Bears are playing at the home field.