Movie’s ticket price seems kind of steep

Regarding the February 2010 issue, page 2, the cartoon reminded me of an almost identical memory in South Carolina about 1945. I was about 12 years old and cousin Jimmy was about the same age. He was visiting with us when, on a Saturday morning, Daddy said, “Boys, if you’ll load that wagon with manure, I’ll take you to the picture show (movies – cowboys) this afternoon.” He did not think we would, as he was teasing. We did, and he took us to the 12-cent movie!

We had to struggle to push that wagon into that hallway, get in a stable on each side and fork it full – a 2-horse wagon! Think of it, for a 12-cent movie! This was on a 95-acre farm of which 20 to 30 acres were cotton, all worked with two mules and mule-drawn equipment.

I am now a retired U.S. patent examiner, still farm a little bit, still have the South Carolina farm, and am president of the National Sweet Sorghum and Processors Assn., Lexington, Ky. (560 members, 44 states and three countries)! We love sorghum syrup and hot biscuits.