Movies on the Silver Screen

Our children and grandchildren don't remember the days of TV antennas; 2-3 channel availability; click tuner, etc. This is good. They have many advantages we didn't have as we did on our elders. The sad thing about today is the movies. I mean Movies. The silver screen. John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart.

Saturday morning started with cartoons, of course. This was the only time they were available. Not 24/7 like today. We enjoyed "Wiley Coyote" and "Bugs Bunny", "Heckle and Jeckle", etc. But; this was only the beginning of Saturday in the '50's and '60's as I recall.

The town square was the center of shopping in those days. There was practically nothing outside the scope of the square except residences. Everything you needed was around the courthouse, and farmers...people from miles away showed up to town on Saturday.

The "dime" stores would attract you with signs such as, "come in...it's cool inside". This was the only place you got air conditioning. It was indeed rare to find cool air in a home. The theater was cool. It had an air conditioning unit out back bigger than four outhouses; and, it worked darn well, too. It kept that big auditorium cool from eleven a.m. to eleven p.m. on Saturday.

The lobby doors were kept open so the smell of popcorn would whet your hunger. It worked, too. People who couldn't afford to go to the movies would come in and buy popcorn. Profit on this snack was pure gold.

I was fortunate, as my father was the manager of the theater; and, even though we were poor, my brother and I could enjoy an entire day at the theater. Popcorn, sodas, cartoons, "The Three Stooges" short; a couple of three reel westerns in black and white, and finally...at 7:00 at night...the major feature attraction. Be it "Rio Bravo" or "From Here to Eternity" or "To Kill a Mockingbird"...it was better than renting a movie-sorry. Plus, they showed it again at 9:00 p.m.!

That silver screen towering high into the front of the theater and the Altec sound system that roared "The Guns of Naverone" couldn't be beat to a 10-year-old kid and his little brother. As soon as we got home, we played pirates or cowboys and Indians or whatever the protagonist portrayed in the film.

I do remember those days fondly. The square is "dead" today. Malls and more malls have made lawyer offices out of buildings that were the lifeblood of the day. In our small town, we have a tradition called, "First Monday". People gather around the square and sell rocking chairs, knives, coins, etc. Even that has died down. Labor Day is the "Granddaddy" of first Mondays here, and it is still quite crowded; but, all that's left of anything else is almost a ghost town.

Now, I think I'll rewind my "Tivo" and watch that football game that was on yesterday...if I can find my remote.