| |
The
Movies in 1930s Marlin A
Memoir
by George Lester
Separating
parents and children in Falls County was easier than you'd think. While the Great
Depression had no cure - symptoms were lessened by ground beef and cola - taken
orally and digested in the dark. - Editor |
| Picking
Cotton
It is almost impossible for youth of today to imagine what
life was like for youngsters of the 30s. Rather than lecture on how tough we had
it, I'll simply present a slice of life in a different era.
My brother
Sam and I lived on a farm in north central Texas about 10 miles east of Marlin.
In those days most kids had chores to do. It was taken for granted. It was just
the way things were then and we didn't question it.
In the spring we
chopped miles of cotton rows, clearing the weeds between the stalks. Later, when
the cotton matured it had to be picked. We didn't have machinery to do it and
we didn't just pull bolls and all. We had to painstakingly pull the fluffy white
fibers out of the prickly bolls. After a while our fingers were sore and bleeding,
but they later became as tough as shoe leather. |
| | The
Palace Theater & Palace Café
Hamburgers at
the Café were a nickel or a dime - depending on who was eating them.
TE photo, 2003 |
Hamburgers
and R.C.
It was in the heart of the depression and although we always
had plenty to eat we had very little spending money.
Our dad gave us
each a quarter to spend on our big "Saturday-go-to-town" day. With that
quarter I got two hamburgers, an R.C. Cola and still had a dime left over. There
was a café right next to the Palace Theatre that sold hamburgers to kids for a
nickel but the grown-ups had to pay a dime for them. I have never tasted any kind
of gourmet food that could compare with the sensation of a biting into a Palace
Cafe hamburger and washing it down with a swallow of "R.C.". |
| | The
Strand Theater building today
TE photo, 2003 |
Parents
in the Palace
and Stranded Kids
Even though we had dined right
next door to the Palace Theatre, Sam and I never considered seeing a movie there.
The Palace featured those grownup romance-type films - the kind no kid would be
caught dead watching.
Instead, my brother and I ran the few blocks to
the Strand Theatre where the "Shoot 'em up" westerns were playing. I can
still feel the tingle of excitement waiting in the darkened room for the movie
to start. When that first flicker of light came across the screen the place went
wild. The western stars of those days were Buck Jones, Hopalong Cassidy,
Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, and Tom Mix among others. When
the movie was over we would meet mother and dad coming out of the Palace theatre.
On the trip back home the stark reality sank in that we were about to
face another six days of labor. But for a short time there in the darkness of
the Strand theatre we were lifted far above everyday life - enjoying Western adventure
with a tummy full of nickel hamburgers and R.C. Cola.
April
2003 © George Lester | | |
