A WHILE AGO, I reÂsponded to a post on my FaceÂbook thread about going the movies these days, inÂcluding the price of tickets and conÂcesÂsions, exÂcesÂsive sound sysÂtems, rude viewers, etc. I am now a seÂnior, so the price of tickets seem too high, and I havenât shelled out a cent for obÂscenely overÂpriced candy, popÂcorn, and soft-drinks in decades! But I reÂmember âback then,â when I was a kid and things were a lot different.
I reÂmember going to theÂaters in PennÂsylÂvania when I was kid; they were old venues, built back in the â30s. They had class (sorely lacking in the giant cinaplexes) and the seats were more comÂfortÂable. Our faÂvorites were the Forty Fort TheÂater in Forty Fort and the RooÂsevelt in Swoyersville.
We ocÂcaÂsionÂally hit the places in Luzerne and Wyoming but Mom conÂsidÂered Pittston or to the Hart and Shawnee theÂaters in Wilkes-Barre to be too long a drive to leave her kids. 1
Mommy would give us a quarter each and drop us off at the movies at 10:30 AM and not have to worry about us until dinner time seven hours later!
My mother used to drop me and my brother Charlie and our best friend Donnie Flynn off at one of many of these old theÂaters at 11:00 AM every SatÂurday morning.
She gave us each a quarter (thatâs all folks, a mere 25¢) and then she went back home, knowing she had the rest of the day to herself.
Back in the early â60s, those theÂaters charged 15¢ for adÂmisÂsion to their SatÂurday matiÂnees. What could we posÂsibly do with the reÂmaining 10¢? Boxes of candyâand they were relÂaÂtively BIG boxesâsuch as Black Crows, Milk Duds, JuÂnior Mints, JuÂjubes, Dots, and the filling-remover, Bonomo Turkish Taffy were 5¢ each.
The 15¢ adÂmisÂsion was a reÂflecÂtion of better times and quickly jumped up to 25¢, alÂthough the cost of candy reÂmained reaÂsonÂably stable until 1968 or so. This still meant that Mom had to fork over a couple of extra dimes each week!
The movies we watched back then
These matiÂnees usuÂally inÂcluded two feature-length films: the main feaÂtures played first and third, sandÂwiching the second-billed movie. The main feaÂture might have been an âoldâ Jerry Lewis or Elvis movie, while the B-movie could have been just about anything.
ImÂmensely popÂular was double-bills of old sciÂence ficÂtion movies (alÂmost all from the â50s beÂcause they reÂally didnât make to many sf movies in the â30s and â40s), and monÂster movies. With the latter, it was not posÂsible to show classic tiÂtles from the Golden Age of MonÂster Movies, the 1930s. We watched Boris Karloff and Bela LuÂgosi and Lon ChÂeney over and over.
The Hammer horror movies that came out of EngÂland in the â50s were also big, as they were more âreÂalÂistic.â So it was that we got to know ChristoÂpher Lee and Peter Cushing. In the States, Roger Corman and AmerÂican InÂterÂnaÂtional PicÂtures made VinÂcent Price a houseÂhold nameâat least to we kids
FeÂmale acÂtresses had very little to do with these genres: in monÂster and horror movies they were alÂmost alÂways the victim of the monster/ In sciÂence ficÂtion, they were eiÂther the victim or the girlÂfriend of the hero who saves Earth from the alien things.
The extras we watched back then
Each double-feature opened and closed with carÂtoons, mostly classic Warner Brothers shorts by such great diÂrecÂtors as Fred âTexâ Avery, Bob ClamÂpett, Fritz FreÂleng, and Chuck Jones.
There were also tons of trailers for movies that would be apÂpearing in the fuÂture. They would come on the screen in the order in which they would be coming to the theÂater, from âComing soonâ (next week?) to simply âComingâ (next month? this year?).
To fill in the timeâand most of us kids stayed until dinner time, which was often 6:00 PM, so there was seven hours of screen timeâmany of these theÂaters showed old seÂrials (noÂtably Buck Rogers with Buster Crabbe) and even old MoviÂetone News newsÂreels (I donât know how many times I watched GerÂmany inÂvade Poland).
Going to the movies today
With other things going, so is my hearing. But I still find myÂself the toÂdayâs movie soundÂtracks and the theÂater sound sysÂtems to be unÂnecÂesÂsarily loud! Who has not been to a cinaplex and heard movies so loud that they bleed through the walls from the theÂater next door?
As for ticket prices: some people make the arÂguÂment that they havenât gone up when adÂjusted for real-life inÂflaÂtion. Agreed, but that does not take into acÂcount the fact that wages for real-life workers have not folÂlowed that line of inÂflaÂtion. That is, workers may be paid more now than they were then, but due to inÂflaÂtion, it buys them less now than it did then.
In the early â70s, I could take a girl to the movies, stop at a bar for a couple of drinks, and tip the barÂtender for less than $10!
In the early â70s, I could take a girl on a date that inÂcluded going to the movies and having popÂcorn, stopÂping at a bar afÂterÂwards for a couple of drinks (thatâs two well drinks for each of us), and tip the barÂtender all for less than $10! That was five hours of work at minÂimum wage minus taxes.
Such a date today would cost apÂproxÂiÂmately $60-80 (prices vary from state to state and reÂgion to reÂgion), or the equivÂaÂlent of at least ten hours of work at minÂimum wage minus taxes. Like alÂmost everyÂthing else that afÂfects our daily livesâexcept comÂputers, of courseâalmost everyÂthing has inÂflated at a much greater rate then what most of us are paid for our jobs. 2
Going to a matinee today
ForÂtuÂnately, there are still matinee movies availÂable throughout the United States. AcÂcording to the Regal CinÂemas webÂsite, ticket prices for matiÂnees are:
ChilÂdren: $10.00-13.00
Adults: $11.50-13.00
SeÂniors: $10.00-13.00
You want to do the math on the inÂflaÂtion? Using the 25¢ adÂmisÂsion that we paid during most of the â60s and the minÂimum $10 price today, that would be a 4,000% inÂcrease over five decades.
And you donât get the carÂtoons or Buster Crabbe or Hitler sending EuÂrope reeling into war . . .
FEATURED IMAGE: The photo at the top of this page is of the lobby of the ParaÂmount TheÂater beÂfore the SusqueÂhanna River added fourÂteen feet of water to downÂtown Wilkes-Barre in June 1972. This was what it was like to walk into many of the bigger, better movie houses in the day. It might be 100 feet from the huge glass doors to the conÂcesÂsion stand.
As you walked into the theÂater and through the lobby, the walls on both sides usuÂally had one-sheet posters of preÂvious hit movies or upÂcoming tiÂtles. Palaces such as this often had a downÂstairs where the reÂstrooms were loÂcated, and there were chairs to sit an enjoy a cigÂaÂrette during intermission.
FOOTNOTES:
1 While most off these buildÂings surÂvived the Great Flood of Ought-72 and are still standing, Iâm not cerÂtain if any of them are movie houses anyÂmore. Our beloved Forty Forth TheÂater is now home to sevÂeral offices.
2 My friend Brian volÂunÂteered this obÂserÂvaÂtion that reÂinÂforces my basic arÂguÂment reÂgarding inÂflaÂtion and ticket prices:
âIn 1965, my neighbor bought a new Corvette conÂvertÂible right off the showÂroom floor. He was in his early thirÂties, single, making about $10,000 a year as a public school teacher, and preparing to start his caÂreer at the about-to-open Bellevue ComÂmuÂnity ColÂlege. The car cost $3,200, or 32% of his yearly salary.
In 2013, the cheapest new 2014 Corvette conÂvertÂible you can buy right off the showÂroom floor starts at $56,000âand thatâs beÂfore any opÂtions are added. So to make the equaÂtion simÂilar, an early-career teacher (less than ten years on the job) would have to be making more than $175,000 a year for the same ratio to apply.
Iâll save you the suspenseâno public school teacher anyÂwhere is making that kind of salary no matter how long theyâve been on the job.â