I was a regular at Coy's theater. My girl friend, Frances Cardin, was an usherette. She wore a cute outfit with bellbottom pants and a snug jacket. She was a tiny person and one of the two tiny people who held that job. I wanted to be an usherette. I loved the idea of having people follow me down the carpeted aisle as I carried a small flashlight carefully pointed downward at a spot near the heel of my shoe. Then stopping at a row with vacant seats, I would ask people to stand to allow the late arrivals to take the seats. Never did get that job.

Frances also picked up the empty popcorn bags and had a little broom and dust pan available so she could keep the place tidy. I think two usherettes; the ticket taker and maybe a popcorn/refreshment person were the only people working there. I can smell the popcorn even now. Mr. Coy was the ticket taker, usually. I'm not sure but I think he had an apartment upstairs in that building. I kind of remember Mrs. Coy. At least I think it was Mrs. Coy. Could have been the accountant.

Coy printed a weekly list of the movies. We had it pasted on our calendar.

We hated it when he'd keep movies more than four days because it meant that we'd have to see the same movie over and over. We went to the movies on movie nights no matter what was being shown.

Coy almost always served double features. Between the two features would be a film about the current news (The News Marches On) and there was usually a cartoon. "That's all folks." You could enter the movie any time and when you could say, "This is where I came in," you'd leave. Well, not always, you could stay as long as you wanted and I must say that I sat through a couple of movies more than once.

The theater's ladies bathroom was near the balcony and my 14 year old buddies and I would spy on the couples who had sought privacy there. Sometimes the balcony was more exciting than the movies.

I saw a lot of Westerns, many B-minus films and as many musicals that my mom wanted to see. When I went with my mom my friends and I didn't sit with her. We usually sat closer to the front. About the seventh middle row. A few dumb classmates of ours would sit in the very front row and have to lean backwards to see the screen. Truth is, the front row was really too close to the screen. Mr. Coy would kind of cruise the theater and warn people to be quiet and I saw him throw out a couple of rowdy teenage boys more than once.

I may have missed some, but I think the only swear word I heard at those movies was in Rhett Butler's line, "Frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn."

Movie sex was pretty subtle in those days. Of course, I suspect that a lot of dialogue went over my head. I see some of those old films now and think, "so that's what they meant."

I once met a cute sailor at the theater. He walked me home and we took longer than my dad thought we should so he drove around until he found us.

My Dad notified him that I was jailbait and that romance was over.

Margie Elliott, Rosalyn Judkins and I often walked from our home to the movies. Our homes were located in an area between 106th and Roxbury. It was a nice walk and none of us feared leaving the theater and walking home. We felt pretty safe. If the weather was bad, one of our dads would pick us up.

Coy's was really a family place and it wasn't unusual for neighbors to join each other at least one night during the weekend.

Lots of memories. Before TV, computers or cell phones.

Jeanne Sweeney

North Highline