The Saturday Matinee
The Cinema as they say in Britain, the Movies in the USA , and the Pictures or Flicks in NZ.
This was a monthly treat for the kids living at the Electrical substation and on immediately surrounding farms near the rural village of Maungatapere eight miles from the Northland city of Whangarei during the years of 1944 to 1947.
Parents colluded to set the rules hard and fast in those days when it was normal , even essential , for children to contribute toward the household chores when families were larger and when the domestic electrification and automation that we enjoy today was still in the realms of Buck Rogers and futurists minds.
Light the laundry copper, crank the Acme clothes ringer , peg out the washing, clean the bath, do the dishes , burnish the the brass, polish the silver, mow the grass , the list was never ending and those living on dairy farms had a list that went all the way to the end of a rainbow.
A reward for our contributions was that trip to the Saturday afternoon 2 pm flicks.
Transport to and from the event was shared and by various means, farmer Jim Stevens' old but reliable 1929 Plymouth six , a cavernous car with hickory spoked wheels was one means, six kids in the back seat and two in the front was to be enjoyed for the fifteen minute drive .
Then there was the substation line Ford V8 Ute driven by linesman Roy Cavanagh , again six in the well side , a couple in the front , an argument about where we sat depending on the weather, wind in the hair was great but not the cold and rain.
The ultimate journey was via Handley Cliff's magnificent 1939 straight eight Buick limo, a beautifully styled car , dark green paint, white wall tires , hand stitched rich brown leather upholstery and even little fold down tables in the back seatsy . Handley was the local rich guy, he owned a pristine farm , has inherited a cabinet making business from his father and was about to start an agricultural contracting business starting with the Country's first New Holland. Automatic hay baler . His daughter Rona was one of the gang .
One day we were travelling in the Buick and Handley asked "do you like going fast" and in reply to a chorus of 'yes' he briefly sped up to almost Ninety miles an hour on the long Manu strait . The Buick car was an icon around the town but for me to go to school on Monday and relate the story was golden.
Another parental agreement was that each child had a shilling for the outing which meant that the moment we hit the cinema foyer we had a financial decision to make , pay nine pence for a seat in the dress circle and enjoy a single scoop ice cream cone or pay six pence for a down stairs stalls seat and delight in a sixpenny double cone .
Usually the girls used to opt for upstairs 'luxury' while the lads put stomachs first but one Saturday morning while cleaning the brass I 'borrowed' thruppence from my mother's store of coins saved from a mint date that had a higher pure silver content for placing in the Christmas pudding .
This saw me having my cake and eating it too as it were , a seat in the dress circle and a double scoop!
My big sister Mary put paid to that by reporting me on arrival home.
My insistence that I had only borrowed the extra coin cut no ice and chores galore followed!
The matinee was a smorgasbord of film.
First up was Movietown news that gave us an insight to the Second World War's progress , often lots of excitement for small boys like dog fights between Spitfires and Messerschmitts or Centurion Tanks advancing across Europe and Naval Destroyers zig-zagging during their hunt for U-Boats.
Then came the Walt Disney cartoon followed by a serial thriller like Charlie Chan and a nature story such as beavers building dams before the interval and time to get those ice creams .
The maim feature was always a Western featuring Roy Rogers ,or Gene Autry or Hop-along Cassidy , goodies and baddies , quick draws and horses. What more could a ten year old boy want?
The ride home was full of chatter as we analysed every inch of film which would serve to provide all the imagination for tomorrow's play.
Bob
The Cinema as they say in Britain, the Movies in the USA , and the Pictures or Flicks in NZ.
This was a monthly treat for the kids living at the Electrical substation and on immediately surrounding farms near the rural village of Maungatapere eight miles from the Northland city of Whangarei during the years of 1944 to 1947.
Parents colluded to set the rules hard and fast in those days when it was normal , even essential , for children to contribute toward the household chores when families were larger and when the domestic electrification and automation that we enjoy today was still in the realms of Buck Rogers and futurists minds.
Light the laundry copper, crank the Acme clothes ringer , peg out the washing, clean the bath, do the dishes , burnish the the brass, polish the silver, mow the grass , the list was never ending and those living on dairy farms had a list that went all the way to the end of a rainbow.
A reward for our contributions was that trip to the Saturday afternoon 2 pm flicks.
Transport to and from the event was shared and by various means, farmer Jim Stevens' old but reliable 1929 Plymouth six , a cavernous car with hickory spoked wheels was one means, six kids in the back seat and two in the front was to be enjoyed for the fifteen minute drive .
Then there was the substation line Ford V8 Ute driven by linesman Roy Cavanagh , again six in the well side , a couple in the front , an argument about where we sat depending on the weather, wind in the hair was great but not the cold and rain.
The ultimate journey was via Handley Cliff's magnificent 1939 straight eight Buick limo, a beautifully styled car , dark green paint, white wall tires , hand stitched rich brown leather upholstery and even little fold down tables in the back seatsy . Handley was the local rich guy, he owned a pristine farm , has inherited a cabinet making business from his father and was about to start an agricultural contracting business starting with the Country's first New Holland. Automatic hay baler . His daughter Rona was one of the gang .
One day we were travelling in the Buick and Handley asked "do you like going fast" and in reply to a chorus of 'yes' he briefly sped up to almost Ninety miles an hour on the long Manu strait . The Buick car was an icon around the town but for me to go to school on Monday and relate the story was golden.
Another parental agreement was that each child had a shilling for the outing which meant that the moment we hit the cinema foyer we had a financial decision to make , pay nine pence for a seat in the dress circle and enjoy a single scoop ice cream cone or pay six pence for a down stairs stalls seat and delight in a sixpenny double cone .
Usually the girls used to opt for upstairs 'luxury' while the lads put stomachs first but one Saturday morning while cleaning the brass I 'borrowed' thruppence from my mother's store of coins saved from a mint date that had a higher pure silver content for placing in the Christmas pudding .
This saw me having my cake and eating it too as it were , a seat in the dress circle and a double scoop!
My big sister Mary put paid to that by reporting me on arrival home.
My insistence that I had only borrowed the extra coin cut no ice and chores galore followed!
The matinee was a smorgasbord of film.
First up was Movietown news that gave us an insight to the Second World War's progress , often lots of excitement for small boys like dog fights between Spitfires and Messerschmitts or Centurion Tanks advancing across Europe and Naval Destroyers zig-zagging during their hunt for U-Boats.
Then came the Walt Disney cartoon followed by a serial thriller like Charlie Chan and a nature story such as beavers building dams before the interval and time to get those ice creams .
The maim feature was always a Western featuring Roy Rogers ,or Gene Autry or Hop-along Cassidy , goodies and baddies , quick draws and horses. What more could a ten year old boy want?
The ride home was full of chatter as we analysed every inch of film which would serve to provide all the imagination for tomorrow's play.
Bob
