Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The Big Screen with Rain

Hi Everyone!
 
This week Rain's theme for TAD is "The Big Screen" My post will be much different than one would think.  The big screen is about the only thing that brought my dad and me together. Well, movies in general. We would stay up late and watch all the scary movies on TV.  Late 1950's early 1960's one of my dad's jobs was to deliver the film canisters to the 5 drive in theaters in Sacramento, CA. I am the oldest of 6 kids so he would take me along. We would go early to a building down town to pick up the first of the movies to start the deliveries. Now, for those of you who don't know, in those days the show started with 2 cartoons before the first feature. Yes, there was always 2 full length movies at the drive in with an intermission to head up to the snack bar for the best hot dogs, burgers, popcorn and a hot toddy. I will get to that in a minute. We would drive up to the pay window and would be waved through. We stopped at the projection building and I would help carry the big round canisters up the stairs. Then off to deliver the rest. There was always time in between to watch a bit of the movie that was playing. Then on the weekends all 6 kids, mom and dad would go to the show for free. It was the best of times for my family. My mom would make a huge batch of popcorn with lots of butter. She would put most of it in a grocery bag for us kids and the another bag for Them. The younger kids would fall to sleep and I would slip over the seat to sit in front with my parents. One night we went to see  "The Fly" 1958 with Vincent Price. At the end the movie it shows the fly with a human head and when that part came on my dad put his hand over my eyes. So I have a long history of movie watching and where I got my love of scary, movies. 

 

 


 

This is the poster for the movie and the scene my dad did not want me to see. Ya know a great big spider going to eat a fly with a human head. LOL
 

 

Typical film canister
 

Projection room

 


 

some of the Theaters from the old days, we actually delivered to these.

 


 


 


 

The speakers worked great every time.

 
Intermission my dad would go to the refreshment stand and come back with 8 Hot Toddies. The best coco you ever tasted. In a can that you had to use a can opener to get the sweet treat.

 

The big screen at the end of the parking lot.
 
 
Here is a trailer of the 1958 "The Fly"


 
These were the best days of my childhood and the memories are strong. My dad passed in 2008,  I hope where ever he is he knows I have these fond memories. 

Be Safe Out There And Wear A Mask.

Nicole/DVArtist 
Honor and integrity in art, in life. 
beadwright.com

17 comments:

baili said...

such a beautiful sharing dear Nichole !
i enjoyed peaking into your old memories ,such treasured memories have special place in one's heart i believe and keep strengthened our soul and keep in rich them them beauty and glory of life we had privilege to grab
thank you
blessings!

ashok said...

Interesting to see the snippets of your fond memories!

Tom said...

...drive ins have disappeared here.

Barbara said...

Drive in movie theatres were big in my teen years as well. They were known as “passion pits” so many of us were not allowed to go there on dates. Lol! I’d think they could become popular again in these days of Covid istancing.

Christine said...

Aww what a touching post Nicole. I loved going to the drive-in as a child so much fun. The best part were the getting the snacks from the concession stand.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really enjoyed this post, Nicole. Like you, I also focused on the big screen. However, I only conducted research, but never experienced it. I remember watching several old Columbo movies (they show them on several channels every day or week here) that included the projector, so in that respect, I knew what to look for in your post. It sounds like some wonderful bonding times with your father.

I never saw the old Fly, but saw the one with Goldblum. I enjoyed it, although I read it wasn't as good as the original. I saw it on TV.

This was a great, great take on the Big Screen, dear Nicole. I loved it.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

What great memories for you! Love this post!

Divers and Sundry said...

Cool! We still have a drive-in here, and business really picked up because of the plague. Those old scary movies are fun on the big screen I bet!

Magic Love Crow said...

Hey my friend! I really, really love this post!!!! Great memories! Big Hugs!!!

NatureFootstep said...

Seems you had a lot of fun with the Drive-ins. Nice memories of you father and family too. :)

My name is Erika. said...

That had to been exciting. What fun Nicole.

Lisca said...

What precious memories!
I have no memories of drive-in theaters as we didn't have those in Europe. (I've heard of them of course) It was interesting to see there was some sort of microphone for the sound. I always wondered about that.
The hot toddy made me smile. In England a hot toddy is an alcoholic drink: hot milk and whiskey (or brandy).
I really really loved this post too!
Hugs,
Lisca

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

My Grandfather ran the projector in the local movie theater. My sister and I would go with him to work and watch the movies free ... four or five times in a row because he couldn't leave until the theater closed:) My favorite was "Singing in the Rain". Those are wonderful memories you have with your family and your father. You know he has the same memories of you wherever he is. Beautiful post, Nicole :) And, I am wearing my mask ... I just wish everyone would :(

Andrea @ From the Sol

Rita said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog from Divers. Blogger currently won't let me respond via email like it has for years. Anyways, I have only had the sinuses being plugged up ad being extra tired, but I also have very bad fibro and some other health issues that can cause the same thing. No shortness of breath or cough, etc. So, I don't think it is covid, but I am keeping an eye out that nothing gets any worse. Thanks so very much for your concern. I hope your DIL is okay?

Drive-in memories from the 50s!! We saw Old Yeller and my little sister had nightmares for months. I remember watching South Pacific--my first musical--while my little brother and sister slept through it. We brought our own popcorn, too. The treat was to have Dad go get pop from the concession building. The entire adventure was a rare treat. But a way that a young family could get out for an evening to see a movie (usually two) without a babysitter. Us kids were always in our pajamas with blankets and pillows in the back seat.

Some of my teenage drive-in dating memories weren't so good, though--LOL! But the group trips were fun! Did you ever hide in a trunk?

Rain said...

Nicole, I SO enjoyed this post and that trailer! I just feel faint when I hear Vincent Price's voice, he is so amazing...I told Alex about your dad's job...Alex is more of a movie buff than I am. He asked me if you ever saw "Run Silent Run Deep" with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Apparently it was a big drive-in hit in 1958. He said that movie was re-edited because people were complaining that drive-in movies were too dark, so that was the first film that was edited to be lighter to help people see the movies better. I loved reading about your experience with your dad, so special, gave me goose bumps!!! :))))

Lowcarb team member said...

A very good post.

Hoping my comment comes through, I seem to be having a little trouble with commenting today!

All the best Jan

Cathy Kennedy said...

Nicole,

I went to the drive-in movies a few times as a kid and in my early teens. Growing up in rural West Virginia didn't allow many opportunities for us to indulge in such pleasures. I remember in the 60s and 70s going to the theater with the cartoons either opening for the feature or at intermission, maybe both. I don't know now. :) Anyway, the drive-ins was always fun. I remember going with my boyfriend and all of his siblings to see The Exorcist. That movie gave me nightmares for weeks and months. Going to the movies, indoors or outside was always fun. We haven't been since 1990. After our kids came along we started with movie rentals, then purchasing, and now for the most part we stream everything. Times have really changed. We have 50" plasma which was considered big when we got it in 2008 but whenever we buy our next big screen we'd like to go up in size and get an OLED screen. Whoo-Hoo!! Thanks for sharing your fond "Big Screen" memories. Have a good week, darlin'!