Friday, May 21, 2010

GETTING MY DOLLAR'S WORTH











When we were little, my mother had a cool way of getting us out of the way on Saturday; she'd give us each a dollar. We lived about a block from Broadway, the main drag in Lorain, and, if you were a kid, there was so much you could do with a buck.


There was Scott's 5&10Cent Store, with all kinds of candy, and toys, and a soda fountain.

Lanza's Candy Store sold the same, and comic books, as did Eliott's Drugs, all this within one block. Of course, the best part was yet to come, and all we needed was a quarter apiece....


About a half block north of the 20th Street intersection was the Dreamland Theater, my favorite place to spend time. They always had a double feature, cartoons, and you could "sit through" the feature if you came late. With my dollar, I could buy two or three ten cent comics, maybe a toy for a dime, a pop, and still have enough to go to the show, and have popcorn.


The features started at one, and ran until the theater closed, around ten. While my brothers and I sat through the movies, my ma would do her shopping, some cleaning, and get dinner started, without us underfoot. Then, she'd call the Dreamland, and ask the manager to send us home, where supper would be waiting. By then, we would've seen both movies twice( or at least 1.5 times), enjoyed the cartoons, the trailers, and be starving, despite all the candy, popcorn, and such we'd eaten.


The Dreamland, Scotts, Eliott's, Lanza's, and my ma are long gone, as is my childhood...today, no parent would send three children out to the movies alone....more's the pity.

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