I lived at 16 June St., across from the Park Theater from the autumn of 1949 until June of 1955. I saw movies at the Park Theater, often twice a week. The cafe attached to the theater was called the Snack Bar. My mother worked there behind the long counter with stools for the customers. She made hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and the best chocolate milkshakes with real ice cream. The Snack Bar had a big juke box and a magazine rack of magazines. Mom let me read all the comic books for free.
The walls of the theater beneath the marquee displayed posters for current and upcoming films.
Us kids used to stand along the left wall of the entrance under the marquee, until they started selling tickets. The right side of the lobby of the theater had a counter
where we bought candy (the Necco Wafers were my favorite because they lasted a long time. Sugar Daddy’s were good too). They had fresh popcorn and I can still smell it 70 years later.
After we got our candy, we would run down the aisle to get seats in the middle of the front row. The seats felt so big and comfortable to little kids.
They showed previews of coming attractions, a cartoon and a first run movie for twenty cents. I was a little shocked when they raised the ticket price to 25 cents (early 1950’s inflation ;>)
After the movie we would leave the theater via a door to the left of the screen out to the parking lot on June Street. Sometimes the “bad boys” would open the exit door as the movie began so their friends could sneak in for free.
The projection room was upstairs and had little openings for the projector and another one for the projectionist. I remember the beam of light that the projector made from the opening to the screen. Sometimes the film would jam and the heat from the projector would melt the film. For a second the melting film projected onto the big screen and looked so cool.
They say you can never really go home again, because time changes home and your relationship with it. But I remember the Park Theater as vividly as the day before yesterday.
We bought our tickets at the entrance to the lobby
I lived at 16 June St., across from the Park Theater from the autumn of 1949 until June of 1955. I saw movies at the Park Theater, often twice a week. The cafe attached to the theater was called the Snack Bar. My mother worked there behind the long counter with stools for the customers. She made hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and the best chocolate milkshakes with real ice cream. The Snack Bar had a big juke box and a magazine rack of magazines. Mom let me read all the comic books for free.
The walls of the theater beneath the marquee displayed posters for current and upcoming films.
Us kids used to stand along the left wall of the entrance under the marquee, until they started selling tickets. The right side of the lobby of the theater had a counter where we bought candy (the Necco Wafers were my favorite because they lasted a long time. Sugar Daddy’s were good too). They had fresh popcorn and I can still smell it 70 years later. After we got our candy, we would run down the aisle to get seats in the middle of the front row. The seats felt so big and comfortable to little kids.
They showed previews of coming attractions, a cartoon and a first run movie for twenty cents. I was a little shocked when they raised the ticket price to 25 cents (early 1950’s inflation ;>)
After the movie we would leave the theater via a door to the left of the screen out to the parking lot on June Street. Sometimes the “bad boys” would open the exit door as the movie began so their friends could sneak in for free.
The projection room was upstairs and had little openings for the projector and another one for the projectionist. I remember the beam of light that the projector made from the opening to the screen. Sometimes the film would jam and the heat from the projector would melt the film. For a second the melting film projected onto the big screen and looked so cool.
They say you can never really go home again, because time changes home and your relationship with it. But I remember the Park Theater as vividly as the day before yesterday.
We bought our tickets at the entrance to the lobby