Letter to the Editor: Memories of the movies

Dear Editor,

I just wanted Dave Allston to know how much I enjoyed his article on west end theatres. I spent my very early years at the Victoria. My Mom loved the movies and went twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday. Because there weren’t “baby sitters” in those days, I was taken with my parents. I was 3-years-old when the Vic opened and went every week ‘til I was old enough to go by myself with friends. We went on Saturday afternoon for 12 cents and during the war years, they often let you in free if you could bring a ball of aluminum foil.  This was obtained from cigarette packages and as nearly everybody smoked those days, was easy to obtain.

I started working at a young age as I took the commercial course at Nepean High School and got a job as a secretary at the Nepean City Hall (now the Churchill Seniors Centre). My girlfriend and I started walking out (we lived in Ottawa west) every week to the Westboro Theatre as they were giving a free dish away with your admission, we collected the whole set (to put in our Hope chest as part of our trousseau). So when I got married in 1953, I had the full set of Rose Marie dishes. I used them for many years and still have one bowl left. Thought you might get a kick out of this little story.

Betty Campbell,
Westboro

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