In 1959, my brother was the Assistant Manager at the Mesa. I was 12-years-old at the time and he used to have me help him set the marquee. When I turned 15, I was hired to set the marquee and I did that for 4 years (until I was 19) at which time, I got married and bought a house in Van Nuys. I then set the marquee at the Victory Drive-in.
The Mesa Theater had a row of dressing rooms, in the basement under the stage. One of the rooms was set up with all of the ~15" square plastic letters, arranged in alphabetical order, for setting up the movie manes and the name of the star player was in smaller letters (maybe 9" square). We had a ~10' x 4' platform on wheels that was about 10' high and it was on wheels. I rolled it around in front of the Marqueee every Wednesday evening @ 9:PM. I got $24 for 3 hours work. That was a ton of $ at that time. I have lots of fond memories of that place and the people that I worked with.
I used to set the marquee at the Victory drive-in in 1969. I was 19-years old and I had just bought my 1st home on Atoll Ave (about 3-blocks away) for $19,000. My house payments were $94 a month and my 3 hour a week job of setting that marquee more than made my house payments. When I was 15-17 yrs old, I set the marquee at the Mesa Theater on Crenshaw and Slauson in South Los Angeles. My older brother was the Asst Manager at that theater.
In 1959, my brother was the Assistant Manager at the Mesa. I was 12-years-old at the time and he used to have me help him set the marquee. When I turned 15, I was hired to set the marquee and I did that for 4 years (until I was 19) at which time, I got married and bought a house in Van Nuys. I then set the marquee at the Victory Drive-in.
The Mesa Theater had a row of dressing rooms, in the basement under the stage. One of the rooms was set up with all of the ~15" square plastic letters, arranged in alphabetical order, for setting up the movie manes and the name of the star player was in smaller letters (maybe 9" square). We had a ~10' x 4' platform on wheels that was about 10' high and it was on wheels. I rolled it around in front of the Marqueee every Wednesday evening @ 9:PM. I got $24 for 3 hours work. That was a ton of $ at that time. I have lots of fond memories of that place and the people that I worked with.
I used to set the marquee at the Victory drive-in in 1969. I was 19-years old and I had just bought my 1st home on Atoll Ave (about 3-blocks away) for $19,000. My house payments were $94 a month and my 3 hour a week job of setting that marquee more than made my house payments. When I was 15-17 yrs old, I set the marquee at the Mesa Theater on Crenshaw and Slauson in South Los Angeles. My older brother was the Asst Manager at that theater.