By Michelle Quigley
Several readers have mentioned fond memories of summertime movies in downtown (and later mall and multiplex) theaters.
A 1961 letter to the editor published in The Palm Beach Post describes a typical Wednesday morning at the Florida Theatre:
With RC bottle caps clutched tightly in their small hands as though they were nuggets of gold, they anxiously await the doors opening. Impatiently they rush into the cool comfort of this spacious arena and seek the seats of their choice.
By 1972 the price of admission to the Summer Fun Shows — still held on Wednesday mornings — had risen from six RC Cola bottle caps to 25 cents with a coupon, or 50 cents without. The 1972 movies included War Between the Planets, Black Beauty, and King Kong Escapes.
The Florida Theater Summer Fun Show sponsors over the years included The Palm Beach Post-Times, Montgomery Ward, Royal Crown Cola Bottling Co., and Fountain’s Department Store. As early as 1947 the Florida State Theatres (as it was spelled then) courted young audiences:
Seeing appropriate movies is good for children. It relaxes their active minds and bodies as they spend a couple of restful hours in another world.
The Florida Theater wasn’t the only place kids went to see movies back in the day. The Palms Theatre hosted a local group of newspaper carriers in 1963:
And these kids went to see the beach party movie How to Stuff a Wild Bikini in 1965:
We invite you to share your movie memories here on HistoricPalmBeach.com and on our Facebook page.
Tags: advertising, children, movies, theaters
Early 20th century promotional brochures for the Palm Beaches promised more than sunny beaches and palm trees. From a Mizner Development Corporation brochure promoting Addison Mizner’s Boom-era developments in Boca Raton:
I am the rendezvous of the rich
Each passing day sees a new era in my existence
I am the dream of a genius
The materialization of a magical mirage
I am the sun porch of America
I am Boca Raton in 1927
Tags: advertising, tourism
Steve Dorfman takes a cruise down memory lane, talking to local car dealers about the days when automobile manufacturers and dealers “went to extreme measures to ensure that their new product lines would stay concealed from public view until their grand unveiling in the fall.”
Sherwood Sheehan Jr., whose family has been in the business in South Florida since the mid-1960s: “We’d receive deliveries late at night and the cars would come covered in white canvas. We’d store them in a chained-off area and not let anyone near them.”
Photo courtesy of Earl Stewart, whose brother Doug (in hat) shows off a 1957 Pontiac that featured GM’s first fuel injection model.
Read more about it in The Palm Beach Post.
And click here to share your memories of the good old days.
Tags: advertising, automobiles
Today is the first day of school in Palm Beach County, and back-to-school shopping is winding down. Back-to-school sales have been around as long as most of us can remember, but they weren’t always so ubiquitous.
Only wealthy families could afford to sent their children to school in this country until the early 1900s, and school attire was priced accordingly. This history of the back-to-school sale says the 1897 Sears catalog advertised a “boy’s double-breasted suit with two pair of knee-pants and stylish hat for $2.25, proper ‘school’ shoes in white with long pointed toes at $1.28, suspenders for $2.00, nicely ruffled and pleated boy’s shirt for $1.10, and knee socks for 67 cents. One suit of clothing for a school boy cost over $7.30 plus shipping, while average incomes for year 1897 were only at about $415 per year.”
Before the child labor reform movement began in the 1830s, most children were expected to work — at home, on the farm, or in factories — but by 1918 all states had compulsory education laws requiring children to attend school.
As school attendance became universal, the back-to-school sale became affordable to the masses. A 1967 Sears ad in the Palm Beach Post advertised boys’ jeans at 2 for $5, short sleeve Perma-Prest shirts at 2 for $4, crew socks at 3 pairs for 97 cents, and Jeeper shoes for $2.97. That’s less than $9 for one suit of clothes at a time when the average income was about $8,000 per year.
Families are expected to spend 7.7 percent less on school merchandise this year compared to 2008, according to a July survey by the National Retail Federation, but families with children in grades kindergarten through 12 still will spend an average of $548.72 on clothes and school supplies, with 80s fashion ruling the halls this year.
Tags: advertising, schools, shopping
