I did not get to go to the matinee every Saturday but when I did it was a treat. There were two indoor theaters in town. The ticket price for kids was 15 cents. The theaters were owned by the Yergensen brothers and one brother lived in our ward and had a daughter my age. Her name was Julie, she had blond hair and I always thought she was the prettiest girl in our class. I always thought it would be great to own a movie theater.
In the summer, especially, the theater would have contests. I remember one was to collect Meadow Gold Milk cartons or bottle caps. Some of the prizes that were offered were bikes, and the one I thought was the best was this huge Sugar Daddy candy bar. It was the biggest piece of candy I had ever seen. My treat of choice at the movies was a box of popcorn and a sugar daddy. Sometimes I would get atomic balls, or sugar babys. But Always pop corn. The matinee usually consisted of the previews of coming attractions, a serial and a cartoon then the feature. Some of my favorite serials were Captain Video, Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry. I liked Gene Autry better than Roy Rogers, I thought he sang better. But Roy Rogers did sing with a group called the Sons of the Pioneers. I loved their cowboy songs. For years I thought they were the Sons of the Utah Pioneers and I thought that was real neat they were from Utah. I was a kid, what can I say.
I would go to the matinees with my cousins or my older brother Douglas. We would usually walk downtown and after the movie go to my Dad’s office and get a ride home. Sometimes after the movie we would stop at the store right next to the theater called the Candy Kitchen. They sold home made candy and drinks and I think they made sandwiches, hamburgers and such. It was kind of a hang out for the older kids. They made very good candy. Some of my favorites were sea foam, English toffee, fudge and divinity. They also sold ice cream cones and sundaes. Then one day the man who owned the store closed and moved to Page, Arizona, a new town that was created when the Glen Canyon Dam was being built. The closing of the Candy Kitchen was a great blow, I really missed it. Nothing ever really replaced it.
A few years later my Dad took us to see Glen Canyon Dam and we stoped in Page and visited the new Candy Kitchen man’s store. It was good to see him again but I was still mad at him. I realize now that it was amaizing how my Dad was able to keep up with so many people. He knew everyone.
Barb, you really have me racing down memory lane with this blog. I remember when Dad and Mom would take us for rides in the car and stop at the candy kitchen and buy ice cream cones for us. Once Kathy and I begged to go in and get the ice cream cones while Dad and Mom stayed in the car with you younger kids. When we got inside we waited and waited while the girl behind the counter helped everyone else that went in and never even looked at us. Finally Dad got tired of waiting in the car and came in to see what was taking so long. As soon as he walked up to us at the counter the girl rushed right over to wait on hiim. He scolded her a little about ignoring us and then let us give her the order and help us while he went back to the car! No wonder he was my hero! When I was in high school my friends used to go to the candy kitchen for lunch and I always loved going with them except that I never had money to buy lunch and I was too embarrassed to eat my sack lunch while they ordered food so I didn’t go with them very often.