I don’t know why this popped into my skull recently:
I seem to remember a TV show, probably Happy Days, where a character, Chachi, I think, attempts to stack as many coins as he can on his elbow and catch them all by quicly bringing his hand down. I remember some dramatic scenes; counting and stacking the coins, a drum roll, gasps…
I definitely remember my friends and I trying to elbow-flip coins for weeks after.
Was it Happy Days? Was it Chachi? Why was he doing this? Guiness Book of Records? Can anyone else fill in with more details?
I just tried it, and I can do at least 4 quarters. I’ll change some cash into coins and try with more after lunch. I’ll keep you all posted.
It was Happy Days. My probably-wrong recollection is that it was Richie trying to set the record. Some sort of showdown between him and a rival maybe? I also recall scattering coins across the living room floor for days afterward until I figured out the trick. Bend your knees slightly as you bring your forearm foreward
It was a one-shot clumsy cousin of Fonzie names Angie who tripped/broke/dropped everything and had low self esteem because of it. One day Angie catches a fly out of the air. With the World Record committee coming to Arnold’s to hold “try-outs”, the gang talks Ang into trying the coin-on-the-elbow thing. I think he catches 40 for the world’s record. He then has so much self esteem that he’s never seen on the show again.
Yeah I watched Happy Days once or twice, what of it?
Do you ever watch reruns of Happy Days and think, “Was this show really made on planet Earth?” … I watched it when it was popular, so this isn’t a generational thing … something about the show just seems almost unreal now.
"#77- The Book of Records (1/18/77)
A clumsy cousin of Fonzie comes to Milwaukee and works at Arnold’s.
Everyone is dancing at Arnold’s and Fonzie talks to his cousin Angie on the telephone and tells him that he is staying at the Cunningham’s house. Al wants his name in the Magilla Book of Records and wants Fonzie to jump over 15 barrels. Al agrees to give Angie a job as a busboy. Fonzie says that anyone that breaks a record gets $100. Angie works overtime to pay for some of the dishes he broke on his first day on the job. Potsie tries the jumping jack record. The guys can’t think of any records to break. Angie is very clumsy and breaks three more glasses. Al says Angie broke 38 plates and 14 glasses and dropped the cook’s hat in a meat grinder. Angie eats dinner and goes upstairs to watch his favorite tv show: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Richie comes inside with a girl on his shoulders. The record for holding a person on someone’s shoulders is six and a half hours. Fonzie asks Howard how he should tell Angie that he is fired. Howard agrees to give him a job at Cunningham Hardware. Howard’s delivery truck is missing after Angie is fired. Elizabeth (the girl on Richie’s shoulders) spots the truck in front of Krepnic’s (a delicatessen). Richie tries to swat a fly with a magazine and Angie comes downstairs and grabs the fly with his hand. Richie suggests Angie catch quarters off his elbow, because he has very fast hands. A handstander (Bag) and the piggybackers (Richie and Elizabeth) are eliminated. Ralph blows a bubble gum bubble. Angie practices in Fonzie’s office. Potsie tries the longest B flat note while jumping on a pogo stick. Al’s nose is measured (but Mr. Durante still holds the record). Al tries flipping pancakes for a record. Angie comes out of the office and he does 12 quarters, but the record is 39 by a man in Topeka, Kansas. Angie does 20 and then 30. Angie is able to set a new record with 40 coins. Fonzie talks to Angie on the phone. Howard tries to do the quarter trick and fails, but Marion is able to do it.
Directed by: Jerry Paris
Written by: Yvette Weinberger & Michael Weinberger
Guest stars: Al Molinaro as Alfred, Peter Hobbs as Mr. Dugan, Neil J. Schwartz as Bag, Charles Galioto as Angie and Heather Warren as Elizabeth.
Note:
Angie is from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Fonzie fixes Angie up on a date with Kitty Lebeau.
Bag makes an appearance after several seasons and does handstands to try and break a record.
I think the drummer girl is also the same one as in the Fearless Fonzarelli episodes."
This sparked a fad in my grade-school class after it aired. I could be misremembering, but I think I held the record of the most coins by the time interest faded.
I, too, remember the episode; I was about eight when I saw it, and while I don’t think the fad caught on among my friends, I remember trying to do the coin-catch with my mom after I mentioned it to her. We were spraying pennies all over the kitchen and laughing like fools.
While standing, lift your right arm, elbow bent, so that your hand is near your right ear and your open palm is facing upward/slightly back of you. The lower portion of your arm shoud be level/exactly parallel to the floor.
Place a stack of coins on your right arm near the elbow, and then suddenly snap your arm downward and REACH for them with your right hand. The downward motion of your arm will (hopefully) be so fast that your right hand will grab every coin before they fall more than an inch or so.
I am a very clumsy man with poor hand-eye coordination.
That said, snatching coins off your elbow isn’t that hard. The limit for me is what fits in my hand and how much I can keep balanced on the flat part of my elbow.
I never knew there was a “trick” to it. I guess I was just specially gifted by God with this one worthless talent.
I remember when that episode of “Happy Days” was on. My brother and I (I was about 10, my brother was 13) each ended up snatching more than 40 nickels.