As a kid growing up in Brooklyn me & my friends would spend many a Saturdays & summer days at "the dumps". It's not what you think they were movie theaters in my neighborhood not the best cared for establishments, but they kept us entertained from about noon to 6pm in the evening. for 25 cents you watched 3 "b" movies, a chapter (serial), 10 - 20 cartoons, coming attractions, and occasionally a news reel. One was the Grand & the other was the Graham, that was their real names. It was our rainy day place to hang out for 25 cents to get in & another 25 cents for snacks it's memories of fun & friendship. I'm sure a lot of you have similar experiences.
As a kid growing up upstate, we also spent many a day at the dump. Actual dump, shooting rats and bottles. We would ride our bikes across the border into Pennsylvania because you only had to be 12 to buy .22's , In NY the age was 16. My grandpa had a cow die so he dragged it out to the farm dump. It was pretty bloated when we were by. I got a brother .Not the brightest bulb on the porch, damn sure made life entertaining though. He walked up to that drumhead tight 1400 lbs of rotted flesh, pulled out his knife and plunged it deep, releasing the bile of hell. Dang I love that boy, Bless his heart!
For me, going to the actual City Dump, on a hot, summer day, is a religious experience: I like to gaze over the huge amount of trash, old furniture, construction waste, etc, take in the odd, although now familiar, scents of the scene, and meditate on the Time of Man, and the triumphs and falls that have occurred in his reign over the Earth. I wonder what the next Alpha species will think of us, long after we've departed.....
"Mount Trashmore" city park in Virginia Beach, VA. A former dump/landfill that has been turned into a quite nice park. I enjoyed a stroll there on my last visit.
Regarding the new topic: I recall our father loading stuff up into the station wagon and climbing up the mounds of trash as though it were a 4 wheel drive monster truck. We would dodge the big equipment as we unloaded our stuff and then made our way back down. These were the days before OSHA and--apparently--common sense. They changed things at some point so there is now a transfer station you dump your stuff off at...all nice & neat. Then it gets taken elsewhere to be buried. I was able to enjoy a few "old school" trips as an adult before someone ruined the fun. Actually, the value of real estate drove the landfill further out, and businesses were built on our garbage (there's an apt metaphor in there.) Regarding the original topic: I went to the local theater by myself as a 9 year old kid in the early 60s. I have no idea how much the movie cost, but it was not an all-day affair as in Tony's childhood. I have vivid memories of "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and "Santa Clause Conquers The Martians," where I formed a crush on Pia Zadora. I laughed. I cried. I stuck to the floor.
I find the names and look of the old Theaters of Yesteryear fascinating and entertaining in themselves! The Coronet Theatre, formerly the Elephant & Castle (London) ....what a sorry looking replacement!
Our neighborhood movie theater was definitely a dump. I don't think the floor had been mopped since the Roosevelt administration (Teddy, not Franklin) and the seats harbored...….things...… My mother made us wear long pants and long sleeved-shirts when we went there, no matter how hot it was. She was sure we'd come home with "ringworm", if not bubonic plague. It was cheap, we'd see our friends, the candy was stale but probably not poisonous. What more could a kid ask?
Sandpoint is a small town, but we had a beautiful old movie theater called the Panida (panhandle of Idaho), and they always had great westerns or other kid-friendly movie matinees on Saturday afternoons, and it was 35 cents for the movie, and the other 15 cents for snacks, so 50 cents for a while afternoon of fun. On Halloween, there was always a free evening movie (some kind of horror film, like vampires or Godzilla )that was helping to keep the kids off of the streets after going out trick or treating. Besides movies, this is where the annual talent show was held, because there was a beautiful stage for this, as well as the balcony seating besides the general seats. All in all, this was a great memory from childhood. the theater is still there, but only used on special occasions now, and there is a more modern theater where regular movies are shown.
Yvonne, Yes they showed a lot of westerns, & Sci-Fi. The architecture in some of those old theaters was beautiful. I can't forget they also showed a lot of Tarzan.