Page 28 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2002 #37

Protocol
Protocol

of a
of a

Theatre
Theatre

Date

Date by Noel Kerr

aking a young lady out to
the theatre in Melbourne
Tduring the 1950s-60s
required a bit of protocol, which is
mostly absent in today's society.
Most chaps of my age in this
period never had a car to pick up their
date so it was a bonus to be attracted

to a girl who lived near them. I was
never that lucky. However, I managed
a compromise. As most parents didn't
like or allow their daughters to travel
late at night on their own, I would
meet them early in the evening in the
city and take them home afterwards on
late night public transport or by cab. I
then returned to the city by cab to
catch a late night tram to Carnegie. If I
just missed one I would have to wait
an hour leaning on the metal tram
barrier in Swanston Street. As wages
were not grand in those days this was
preferable to taking a cab all the way
home. If it was to be a long wait I
sometimes wandered down to the
Pieteria in Flinders Street or the food
wagon opposite Flinders Street Station.
Ticket booking services were not
as developed in those days. There
were the theatres themselves and Save
Time Service, which still operates

28 2002 CINEMARECORD