Southern Porches

As a little girl, I lived for Saturdays. That was the day Mother and I would go to town. Right after breakfast, we would dress up for our trip. People used to dress to go to town. It was an event. We would climb on the bus and ride the few miles to the heart of our small town, where all the shops were located. This was before malls and strip shopping centers, so all that things you needed or wanted were in one location. Downtown was an exciting place. People bustling around on the sidewalk, going in and out of the shops. There were several large department stores, some very nice specialty shops, three variety stores, or dime stores, as they were called then, restaurants, a newsstand, and four movie theatres. All these were in one convenient location and open to all who could pay the tariff. The shops and the people who worked there were so nice. You were greeted when you entered and assisted promptly and courteously. The clerks always looked so nice. The men wore suits and ties and the women all wore dresses and heels. They looked and acted important, and made you feel important too. It’s strange, I don’t remember Mother buying that much, the thing I recall, is the excitement of the hunt.

Mother and I would have lunch at Sweetland’s. I always had a chicken salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato, toasted, and a fountain coke. My order never changed and if I could go back there today, I would just have the usual. After lunch, with all our errands completed, our day climaxed at my favorite place, the movies. Our theatre of choice was the Webb. It was the fanciest and the smell of popcorn and the plush carpet welcomed you in.

Before the show started, we would go upstairs to use the facilities. The bathroom had small black and white tiles that gleamed as if they were hand polished. I was intrigued with the larger than life framed pictures that adorned the upstairs lobby. Gable, Turner, Borgart, and Cagney gazed down from the wall. This is where my life long love affair with the movies started. Movies took me to other worlds and other times and opened mental doors. I still feel that tingle of anticipation when I go to the movies now. I hope I never lose that excited felling as I look forward to a new journey.

After the movie, Mom and I would go to Eagles, Kress, or Woolworth, where I would pick out a book of paper dolls. Next was the newsstand where Mother would take home the New York Times and the Daily Mirror. I would pour over the funnies on Sunday after church. Going home on the bus, I would think about the story that had unfolded on the screen. Those special days as a small girl still play like a movie in my mind.