Trip to the cinema was a glass act . . .

GoInG to the cinema today, with its plush seating, air conditioning and wide selection of food and drink, my mind goes back to the time when my late gran would take me to the local cinema, the Clifton picture house. This was 1947 when I was seven. at that time, before we all had Tvs, the cinema was the main attraction. This brought about lots of queuing, and people at the back of the queues were frequently disappointed and turned away. But my gran always got us in before 5pm for the earlier, cheaper evening showing of an a film and a B film. She would fall asleep and snore away quietly while I was engrossed by the action on the silver screen. The house lights would dim, then the light from the projectionist’s box would illuminate the screen and transport me to another place. It taught me more about geography and the world than any class in school. a man would come around with a large, brass spray gun, squirting what we presumed was ddT, used for killing fleas and lice. I really rated the new addition to the cinema: refreshments. at the interval, a lady would stand at the front, behind a wooden table, on which was a large glass jug of water, oranges, an ornate glass grater and a half-pint glass. when a patron approached for refreshment, she would slice an orange in half and grate it to extract the juice, pouring it into the half-pint glass. Then she would top up the glass with water from the jug and hand the glass to the patron for the princely sum of one half-penny. I must admit I was partial to the orange juice refreshment as my gran slept on. looking back now, I could not remember the half-pint glass ever getting washed. Still, never mind. Health and safety was still years away!

James M. Barrett, Wolverhampton, W. Mids.