As a kid, I remember going to the Monroe for a Saturday mantinee and seeing 3 features, 21 cartoons and a serial or two. All of this was for 8 or 9 cents.
I also remember that when we exited the matinee we were handed a colored card that had the next week’s attractions on it. When we came to the theater the next week, one of the colored card was taped to the box office window. If the colored card you had matched the one in the window, you were admitted for free.
Did anyone attend PS 26 on Gates Avenue? I remember the school burning down while I was attending it, in the 40’s.
The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.
The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.
I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to “the City” to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.
The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.
I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to “the City” to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.
The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.
To go to the movies meant, either taking the bus to Fresh Meadows to the Meadows Theater, or to Jamaica where the prime theaters were the Loew’s Valencia or the RKO Alden.
I graduated from JHS 74 (LIE and Oceana) in 1955, and the graduation took place at the Meadows Theater.
I was born in 1941 and raised on Putnam Avenue, between Ralph and Howard.
As a kid, my favorite theater was the Monroe Theater. I used to walk there early Saturday afternoon and for 9 cents see 3 features, 21 cartoons, a few serials and a bunch of trailers. There was always a matron, dressed in a white dress to oversee us.
One of my fondest memories was either in 1949 or 1950, when my father took me to the Loew’s Gates and we saw Al Jolson, in person. He was making a personal appearance promoting the movie “Jolson Sings Again.”
I just read your posting and you mentioned a name that I hadn’t thought about in over 50 years, Cheap Charlies. As a kid I used to go there all the time and buy garbage. I remember the woven finger trap and the drawer with the secret compartment when you put in a penny and it disappeared. Do you remember the pharmacy on Ralph & Putnam? He was my father’s best friend.
That is cool. Thank you.
Seeing Al Jolson, as a kid is imbedded in my memory and when skimming here, I caught the name and dug further.
I saw the posting from Warren G. Harris of October 5, 2004.
WOW! Now I know where I was August 12, 1949. My father took me to the Loews Gates Theater to see Al Jolson.
Sure. The Bushwick Hospital was on the corner of Putnam and Howard Avenues.
In the late 40s, quadruplets were born there. The father owned the liquor store on Howard, between Putnam and Madison. He was killed in a stickup.
The theater across from the Bushwick was the Monroe Theater.
The bowling alley was knows as the Fresh Meadows Bowl and in their time was well advanced. They had semi-automatic pin setters.
As a kid, I remember going to the Monroe for a Saturday mantinee and seeing 3 features, 21 cartoons and a serial or two. All of this was for 8 or 9 cents.
I also remember that when we exited the matinee we were handed a colored card that had the next week’s attractions on it. When we came to the theater the next week, one of the colored card was taped to the box office window. If the colored card you had matched the one in the window, you were admitted for free.
Did anyone attend PS 26 on Gates Avenue? I remember the school burning down while I was attending it, in the 40’s.
I never knew it was built on a golf course.
The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.
I never knew it was built on a golf course.
The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.
I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to “the City” to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.
The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.
I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to “the City” to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.
The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.
I moved to Bayside in 1950 from Brooklyn.
To go to the movies meant, either taking the bus to Fresh Meadows to the Meadows Theater, or to Jamaica where the prime theaters were the Loew’s Valencia or the RKO Alden.
I graduated from JHS 74 (LIE and Oceana) in 1955, and the graduation took place at the Meadows Theater.
I was born in 1941 and raised on Putnam Avenue, between Ralph and Howard.
As a kid, my favorite theater was the Monroe Theater. I used to walk there early Saturday afternoon and for 9 cents see 3 features, 21 cartoons, a few serials and a bunch of trailers. There was always a matron, dressed in a white dress to oversee us.
One of my fondest memories was either in 1949 or 1950, when my father took me to the Loew’s Gates and we saw Al Jolson, in person. He was making a personal appearance promoting the movie “Jolson Sings Again.”
One of my fondest
Holy cow, Apollo,
I just read your posting and you mentioned a name that I hadn’t thought about in over 50 years, Cheap Charlies. As a kid I used to go there all the time and buy garbage. I remember the woven finger trap and the drawer with the secret compartment when you put in a penny and it disappeared. Do you remember the pharmacy on Ralph & Putnam? He was my father’s best friend.