We used to see films including Flynn’s by bringing 7-UP bottle caps to matinee shows. It was wild. Hundreds of screaming kids tossing wet lifesavers at the movie screen and spilling popcorn and drinks onto the seats below the balcony. There was always an MC. And he was responsible for introing the show and giving away a door prize. Poor bastard always bathed in sweat …
What great memories, David! Thank you! Going to the movies was so much fun in those wondrous and so-very-different days of our childhoods. I remember well collecting bottle caps with friends, which was nearly as much as fun as throwing popcorn and shooting water pistols during the cliffhanger serials, and cheering kids who were able to sneak in the stage-side exits past the poor ushers.
Here is a fascinating list of 11 things that have changed for movie-goers through the years. I certainly remember seeing some dishes, but not the ones recalled in this article:
P.S. I went to the movies today to see Florence Foster Jenkins. Great movie, with both Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant giving tremendous performances. Unfortunately, they didn’t accept bottle caps.
Oh, yes, I remember the side door! Later, used to sneak into drive in movies in the trunk of somebody’s car if the painful need of buying tickets could not be met. Speakers were hung on rolled up windows. Homemade buttered popcorn was in greasy bottomed bags but you wouldn’t miss a hot dog and ice cold coke from the concession stand. Two features and a cartoon. Lawn chairs sometimes on the back of a truck or car hopping to chase girls. What fun it all was …
Isn’t it amazing how we were all the same from coast to coast!
The balcony gang, the side doors, the MC,bottle caps, paper airplanes, popcorn, soda pop, water pistols, gum on the floor and seats, Saturday matinee with free stuff like yo yo’s bicycles all via contests. If we cleaned up after the shows we got free passes and maybe spare change. It was the same at the Century theater in Philly for me as a kid in the 50’s. Wow! wadda trip it was! Great memories.of an era gone by in a galaxy far away……..
During World War Two, Japan invaded the Malay peninsula and cutoff America’s main rubber supply. Although we had some rubber coming from Liberia, the American rubber industry invented synthetic rubber! A byproduct of this research was a failure that became a favorite toy for millions of youngsters like myself ‘Silly Putty’ Ralph Schiller
I remember all the stories of the depression and WWII from my grandfather and my mother as they would collect stuff and take it downtown for the war effort . In the 50’s they were still at it and I would go to the salvage with my grand father pulling a wagon full of papers, aluminum, tin cans, soda bottles, rubber and rags anything that was worth $$$. I got my share and bought soft ice cream or a squgee water ice! Can’t remember the spelling.As they say”Those were the days”
“We thought they’d never end”………
David DeWitt
August 14, 2016 at 9:04 pm
We used to see films including Flynn’s by bringing 7-UP bottle caps to matinee shows. It was wild. Hundreds of screaming kids tossing wet lifesavers at the movie screen and spilling popcorn and drinks onto the seats below the balcony. There was always an MC. And he was responsible for introing the show and giving away a door prize. Poor bastard always bathed in sweat …
Gentleman Tim
August 14, 2016 at 10:52 pm
What great memories, David! Thank you! Going to the movies was so much fun in those wondrous and so-very-different days of our childhoods. I remember well collecting bottle caps with friends, which was nearly as much as fun as throwing popcorn and shooting water pistols during the cliffhanger serials, and cheering kids who were able to sneak in the stage-side exits past the poor ushers.
Here is a fascinating list of 11 things that have changed for movie-goers through the years. I certainly remember seeing some dishes, but not the ones recalled in this article:
m.mentalfloss.com…
[img]https://cmgpbphistoricalpalmbeach.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/rcmovies.jpg?w=450&h=356[/img]
P.S. I went to the movies today to see Florence Foster Jenkins. Great movie, with both Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant giving tremendous performances. Unfortunately, they didn’t accept bottle caps.
David DeWitt
August 15, 2016 at 12:54 am
Oh, yes, I remember the side door! Later, used to sneak into drive in movies in the trunk of somebody’s car if the painful need of buying tickets could not be met. Speakers were hung on rolled up windows. Homemade buttered popcorn was in greasy bottomed bags but you wouldn’t miss a hot dog and ice cold coke from the concession stand. Two features and a cartoon. Lawn chairs sometimes on the back of a truck or car hopping to chase girls. What fun it all was …
timerider
August 18, 2016 at 3:42 pm
Isn’t it amazing how we were all the same from coast to coast!
The balcony gang, the side doors, the MC,bottle caps, paper airplanes, popcorn, soda pop, water pistols, gum on the floor and seats, Saturday matinee with free stuff like yo yo’s bicycles all via contests. If we cleaned up after the shows we got free passes and maybe spare change. It was the same at the Century theater in Philly for me as a kid in the 50’s. Wow! wadda trip it was! Great memories.of an era gone by in a galaxy far away……..
rswilltell
August 15, 2016 at 3:23 pm
During World War Two, Japan invaded the Malay peninsula and cutoff America’s main rubber supply. Although we had some rubber coming from Liberia, the American rubber industry invented synthetic rubber! A byproduct of this research was a failure that became a favorite toy for millions of youngsters like myself ‘Silly Putty’ Ralph Schiller
timerider
August 18, 2016 at 3:49 pm
I remember all the stories of the depression and WWII from my grandfather and my mother as they would collect stuff and take it downtown for the war effort . In the 50’s they were still at it and I would go to the salvage with my grand father pulling a wagon full of papers, aluminum, tin cans, soda bottles, rubber and rags anything that was worth $$$. I got my share and bought soft ice cream or a squgee water ice! Can’t remember the spelling.As they say”Those were the days”
“We thought they’d never end”………