Today I’m writing about my youth and what I used to get up to on Saturday morning at the pictures.
Before I begin, but it’s warm again don’t you think, the poor garden is yelling its head off for more rain. The poor plants aren’t happy at all but it is nice not to have continual rain like we’ve had in past years. That’s the weather sorted then so onto my story.
Saturday Morning at the Pictures
When I was about nine or ten, my friends used to go with me to our local cinema called the Pavilion on a Saturday morning when it was a showing for children. How I loved to go there as we didn’t have TV’s with a million channels in those days as they have today. Well that’s a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean.
Money wasn’t easily come by in those days but every Saturday morning saw my mum giving me 10 old pennies to have my morning treat, plus money for a lolly, which I only ever got there.
Off we would go, feeling very grown up, into the dark cinema with an usherette showing you the way to a seat. Her torch would light the whole aisle up as she sussed out where to put us.
The smell always got me. The usherettes, usually while the film was playing, would go round and spray a heavily perfumed scent with the old disinfectant type sprayers. I don’t know if it was because we all ponged or what, but I still remember the beautiful flowery smell that was all over the cinema.
Then the lights went completely down and off we were transported into dreamland. They were usually cowboy films, in black and white of course, there were none of your fancy coloured films that we get today, no way.
My Favourite films on Saturday Morning at the Pictures
Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger became my hero and I just loved his horse, a palomino, which I would because I was horse mad. I did keep nagging at my mum to let me keep one in our garden shed but she always said no. (Can’t think why) After all my dad could have used the manure for his roses couldn’t he!
Anyway, the cinema usually had trailers of other films to be screened, some of which were in colour, and of course Walt Disney’s cartoons were in glorious technicolour, which was a real treat. Woody Woodpecker springs to mind, when everyone would start chanting ‘it’s the Woody Woodpeckers show’.
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were all there to entertain us too, which made lots of laughter. When we did get to the main film it was hilarious as all the kids would start booing the baddies and cheering for the goodies.
Sssshhh!
To say it was noisy while you were trying to watch a film is an understatement, you couldn’t hear yourself think, so the usherettes came round telling us all to be quiet or we would be thrown out. It worked as well as we were always taught to respect our elders in those days and of course didn’t want to miss any of the film.
Then there were the intervals, where ice creams were served at the front of the cinema near to the stage. Usherettes again with a tray of choc ices, tubs and lollies would stand there ready for the stampede when the lights went up. You always knew when the film was going to stop as they appeared like ghosts in the dark, ready to sell us our treats.
Eventually, a friend of mine, who was a lot more forthcoming than me (I was a very timid little soul who hardly ever spoke) got us both onto the ‘committee’.
It was made up of about four or five children whose job it was to go round the aisles while the film was on telling the kids to be quiet if it got too noisy! The beauty of it was, we got in for free and wore badges, so we all felt as though we were really important, especially when we sat at the back, isolated from the other kids.
When I had to go round telling them all to behave it was a bit of a big ask for me, as I wouldn’t say boo to a goose back then! How things change!!
I usually tried to hide behind my friend who was a lot bigger and wider than me, until I eventually got up the courage to be bossy myself.
One thing I’ve never forgotten is the raspberry ice lollies I used to have. They were gorgeous and to this day I still love raspberry flavoured anything. The nearest I’ve ever got to the taste is Sainsbury’s raspberry sorbet and that is simply delightful so I obviously buy it.
It’s strange how a few words, a smell, taste, a snatch of music or something can transport you back into your childhood. Those were the days, although we didn’t know it at the time!
You might also be interested in:
- Easter Eggs from Long Ago
- Gas Mantles and Peggy Rugs
- Life as a Coal Miner
- Mining Museum
- Old pit communities
- Remembering Steam Trains
- Saturday Morning at the Pictures
- Streets from Long Ago
- The Games we Played in the Olden Days
- The Good Old Days – coal fires
- The Outside Toilet
- The Rag and Bone Man
- Very old picture of a mining community
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