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derside of the galvanised roof was clearly visible - there ter about half an hour before interval. Bert would carefully
was no lining or insulation. As a consequence the sound of count out the items for us ro stack. Salted peanuts, Violet
heavy rain and hail easily blotted out the movie voices. In Crumbles, Poly Waffles, (all threepence), blocks of choco-
summer. the building was like a fumace. late various sizes, (sixpence and tenpence) and boxes of
chocolate (two shillings and sixpence), leaving space for
I was told that in its earlier life, the building was used for the last minute addition of a large box of dixie ice creams
roller skating. 1 never had an opportunity to verify this from the frig. (threepence). An empty PK box contained
claim. some change and the dixie spoons. I learned to take up my
place in the dark without blocking the view of patrons.
One Saturday afternoon HatTy informed me that he had an
Saturday night in the lounge was the best spot for sales and
extra job for me to do. with a small payment. 1 was told to
tips. The commission was two shillings in the pound ( I 0%)
be ready at 4 o'clock out the front in Bridge Road. When l
and r usually sold enough to collect my two shillings - up
arrived I found Harry seated in his little red van. He had
to three on Fridays and Saturdays.
also recruited d1e lolly boys. Off we set with a U tum up
Bridge Road hill, a left turn into Punt Road and a sudden I was a success and one day Bert made overtures about me
haltjustbeforeSwan Street. Harry bundled us out. We could joining him behind the counter. This was a big decision. It
hear the roar from the crowded Punt Road Football Ground. meant giving up the role of Page Boy. I suppose he had
Harry issued each of us with sandwich boards adve11ising cleared the offer with Mr W. Anyway 1 was seduced to the
the evening program at the Cinema and allocated our strip. lure of working behind the counter. The transition was
The game concluded and 20.000 patrons descended on the smooth. It was easy to find an up-and-coming aspirant Page
Brunton Avenue- Punr Road comer heading for the trains. Boy from my mates at the Tech.
trams and buses. This was to be my first lesson in basic
marketing- stimulating new business. After the crowd dis- Working with Bert wac; fun. We stru·ted at about 6.30 by
persed it was back into Harry's van to return to the Cinema loading a large front door frig. with large bottles of
for tea. Marchants softdrinks. Be11 brought supplies of dixies with
him each night from an unknown source in large contain-
Mr W. proved to be a very popular and friendly manager. ers packed in dry ice. They went into the counter tiig mi-
Every duee or four weeks he would involve me in the pro- nus their dry ice. The confectionery locked away in cup-
gram selection for the matinee. He had lists of available boards during the day was placed on display and carefully
features and shorts. My love for comedy was developing arranged for quick dispensing. Trays for lolly boys had to
and it was through this selection process that I was able to be prepared. Dozens of glasses were placed in position also
see many of the shorts of the Keystone Cops. Chari ie Chap- for quick delivery. All of this was like preparation for bat-
lain and the clever antics of Laurel and Hardy. I also be- tle because when the doors flung open at inlerval it was a
came very interested in recordings and visited the bio box precision response from Bert's army.
each Monday night to inspect the weekly allocation of the
ten 78's for Hoyts Head Office. Mr Hanis used to return Up to six sellers operated. pouring glasses. grabbing pack-
last weeks issue and collected the replacements. This ex- ets, mentally totalling sales. collecting notes and coins d1en
perience may be the reason why I still prefer light non- dispensing change. Rarely did sellers collide: Bert's layout
vocal orchestral and instrumental music. In my collection was nigh LO pelfect. After the blitz. it was time to wash
I have many samples of the Sydney Torch, Melachrino. glasses. stow confectionery, take stock, count takings (in-
Queens Hall Lights Orchestra, Boston Promenade and Vic- cluding the reconciling of efforts of lolly boys) and pay
tor Sylvesror. akin to the time. Occasionally during inter- employees in cash.
val I was permitted to operate the two turntables and was
taught how to produce a smooth transition each three min- AU good things must come to an end. I was now in my
utes using a single fader control. Intermediate year and for the firsL time facing a future of
external exams. The workload began to tntrude and reluc-
Around this time some Hoyts suburban theatres advertised tamly I had to bid farewell to the Cinema.
special pre-show music on Friday evenings. Bing Crosby
was a favourite. Mr W. learning of my passion for the thea- Working at the Cinema probably reinforced my desire to
tre organ began a series at the Cinema, by borrowing twenty work with people. My ultimate occupation as a teacher took
minutes of recordings each week from my collection. Be- me all over the State. Every so often I would relurn to Mel-
cause I was hard at work with front-of-house program sell- bourne and on occasion pass along Bridge Road and glance
ing I rarely had the chance to hear the result, but the few m d1e skeleton of the Cinema.
times I did, the selections from my largely secondhand col-
Fifty years after my first visit to the Cinema I ventured
lection sounded great over the theatre P.A. system.
inside and mingled with customers, tents and bru·beques.
The grass is always greener over the fence. The opportu- The foyer has vanished, the balcony now contains offices
nity came for me to try my skills with a lolly tray. Mr W but is still visible. The treltis ceiling and the visible galva-
had no objection to me moonlighting at interval. provided nised roof remain. The stage area has been demolished and
that I did my sweeping duties as soon as possible after in- replaced by a new rear wall to reduce the depth of the bui !d-
terval. So it was to pass that I went through the induction ing. Memories came flooding back and I was motivated to
process with Bert. The four trays were placed on the coun- wTite this ru1icle. (A// photos CATHS-V collection)

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