This picture of Capitol Theatre was taken in the 1950s/1960s. Capitol Theatre used to be one of the cinemas we went to for a movie when we were young. Going to watch a movie then was a rare treat for my siblings and I.
To make sure we got good seats, we would troop to the cinema early to stand in line for the ticketing booth to open. At the ticketing counter, there would a big sheet showing all the seats in the cinema. Once we've chosen our seats, the ticketing lady would cross out those seats on the sheet, then scrawl our seat numbers on the paper tickets. We had to present these paper tickets to the usher at the door, who would then show us to our row, indicating our seats with a torch. In those days, the screen was covered by curtains which were drawn only when trailers and the movie began.
Cinemas then were not well maintained - there would often be rubbish on the floor or we'd find our shoes sticking to the ground from spilt drinks or chewing gum. Seats were also not that comfortable and if you were unlucky, you'd end up with a bug-infested seat! Sometimes the aircon was not very effective either, but there were fans along the wall that could be switched on to alleviate the stuffiness.
However, once the movie began, we forgot all about the discomforts and were mesmerised by the story on the big screen. The end of movie always brought with it a sense of loss as it meant a wonderful day of outing was over.
