Saturday Morning Pictures
The ABC song certainly brought back memories of my regular Saturday morning trips to the pictures in the late 1940s and early 50s. In Aldershot we were lucky that the ABC – the Ritz, and the Empire – an Odeon cinema, were situated right next to each other. We looked at each programme displayed and, depending on which film we fancied, chose the one we wanted to see. It certainly gave our mums an hour or so without having to amuse their kids at weekends!
My most vivid memories are of the huge ruched curtains which went up at the start of the show and of horrid boys who kept clambering over the seats or threw their sweet wrappers at us girls. Imagine the despair if we were too ill to attend one week and had to miss the next exciting episode of Flash Gordon or other gripping serial instalments.
Here is the kids’ Odeon song we used to sing at the beginning – as loud as we could – and the noise would be deafening!
We come along on Saturday morning
Greeting everybody with a smile,
We come along on Saturday morning,
Knowing it's well worthwhile,
As members of the Odeon club,
We all intend to be,
Good citizens when we grow up,
And champions of the free,
We come along on Saturday morning,
Greeting everybody with a smile, smile, smile,
Greeting everybody with a smile.
Diana Lawer
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RE: RE: Saturday Morning Pictures
Yes, I remember the Odeon, High Street Kensington. From 1947, at the age of 7, for a couple years I suppose, I was sent off clutching my tanner and something for an icecream, in the care of Vera, 4 years older than me, who lived four houses down the street. Where and who are you now Vera Creighton? Apart from the sing songs, cartoons and films, there was usually somebody selling something outside the cinema before the doors opened. There was always a queue, probably a couple of hundred kids - never much money so the things for sale were a penny or maybe froopince. Something that looked like a pharmaceutical capsule but with a pellet of "quick silver' in it and they were called Mexican Jumping Beans" because when you put them on a sloping surface they flipped down the slope. Nobody ever suffered from mercury poisoning in those days! Regular fights amongst the boys, " pushing in" was a punishable offence, normally a punch in the ear.
Comment from Ted Fowler on Friday, 27th April 2012.