Going to the movies

To avoid being late, the two of us boys had gone directly from our saturday job to the new movie house in town. It was February 1948 and cold as hell. We lined up in the bitter cold and were the first ones in. We selected prime seats in the center of the theatre.

Mord Millard, the owner of the drugstore, justice of the peace, and multiple property owner in town must also have been a visionary in entertainment. His new movie house was an instant hit with the townspeople and surrounding farm families whose previous mechanical entertainment had consisted of the radio and a crank-up gramophone. Tickets were .15 cents for the movie, news reel, cartoon and previews. On Saturday the same price got you TWO full features. Usually, a cowboy and a musical. For another .10 cents you could splurge and get BOTH popcorn and a soda pop! While the total price of .25 cents equaled an hour's work at our Saturday job, we felt the 41/2 hour's entertainment was a good buy.

We settled into our seats, munching popcorn and soaking up the welcome heat in the movie house, oblivious to all the movement of people away from us. Finally, we noticed that despite the empty seats around us, a lot of people were standing at the back of the theatre. About that time, Mord himself came down the aisle and up our row of seats. He told us in no uncertain terms that we had to leave his theatre NOW.

Our job that Saturday had been cleaning the pig stye for a local farmer. While we had become accustomed to the head clearing odour clinging to our boots and clothes,(it was like a combination of ammonia and mustard gas) even seasoned farmers, some pig farmers themselves, were complaining as the heat brought out ever stronger smell.

While we never saw the movie, Mord did give us back our money and allowed us to keep what was left of our popcorn and pop.

Next---The Rented House

You cannot make a silk
purse out of a sow's ear

Irish proverb