SATURDAY AFTERNOON MOVIES

      By 1940 the war was getting cranked up pretty good. The U. S. wasn't in the war yet, but is was creating more jobs. This meant that some of us kids could go to see a movie on Saturday. We would stay in the movie as long as we could because in the summer it was nice and cool in the building. There were two movie houses in De Queen at the time. One was the Gem and the other was the Grand.

      The Gem was open on Friday night Saturday and Sunday. It showed the newest westerns that were out. Some of the western actors I remember was Johnny Mac Brown, Bob Steele, Tim Holt, Tom Mix and Buck Jones. Some of the later western actors were Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. I never liked them to well because they used cars in their westerns.

      It only cost ten cents to go to the movies. Popcorn was onlly a nickel a bag. You could smell the popcorn a block away. Once you smelled the popcorn you never forgot the smell.

Old pork chop used to go on Saturday. He really got into the movies. When the sheriff was chasing the outlaws he would be calling watch for the ambush. They are hiding behind them big trees. He would stay and see the show about three times and shouted this out every time.

      We had this farmer that wasn't to bright come in to town one Saturday. We all called him Pork Chop. He sold some of his farm products and got enough money to go to the movie house and watch movie. He had enough left over to buy himself a new pair of overalls and a shirt. On the way home he had to cross a creek called Hurricane Creek. Well ole Pork Chop decided that he would take a bath in the creek, put on his new clothes and surprise his wife when he got home. Well he took off his clothes that he had worn every day last year and just tossed them in the creek. He watched them as they floated out of sight. He then took his bath and went over to the wagon to get his new clothes. Well you guessed it: some one had taken them or he had lost them off his wagon. He stood there in his birthday suit trying to figure what he should do. Then he says to himself, "Well I'll just go on home and surprise my wife anyway."

     We almost always got home by 8:00 PM. By that time the crowd had thinned out as rural people went home. By midnight the town was quite and started cleaning up and preparing for next Saturday. Just a few of the people leaving the very late movie was all the action.

     Well when we got home everyone was worn-out. We always had a special treat for night meal on Saturday night. We had baloney sandwiches. To us that was a treat because it was a welcome break from beans and taters.

Minstrel Show:
      About 1931 there was what was called a minstrel Show in the De Queen Bee building on the second floor where the Sweethome Masonic Lodge is now located. The program was once each month. We used to go because they were free. They made their profit by peddling some kinds of patent medicines. The group that performed was from Shreveport La. They were white mostly dressed to represent Afro-Americians. They played like they were a car, sang and played musical instruments. The one guy with the show would go out to the sidewalk to an old Buick car that they used. He would then get it by the front bumper and lift the front wheels off the ground.      One night they had a man tie a rope to the bumper and put the rope in his mouth. He then pulled the automobile with his teeth.
TOMMY JONES