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Lining up for the movie matinee in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight

23 Kids who could afford to buy a ticket looked forward to Saturday afternoon
at the movies. Admission to the Saturday matinee cost ten cents. That

seemed like a lot of money during the Great Depression, but it bought a lot
of entertainment.

24 For one thin dime a kid could see a double feature (two full-length
movies), an animated cartoon, a short newsreel dealing with current events,

a humorous short subject, and the latest episode of a serial—a continuing
adventure story told one chapter a week. Along with all that, some theaters
offered a bonus: a free ice cream or a frozen chocolate-covered banana.

25 The serial especially packed them in every Saturday. Each episode had a
cliffhanger ending: The hero seemed hopelessly cornered by evildoers or
trapped by an avalanche, a stampede, a tidal wave, or some other
catastrophe. Suspense built up all during the week as every movie fan tried
to guess how the hero could possibly escape.

26 Favorite serial heroes included Tarzan of the Apes, Flash Gordon of the
distant planet Mongo, and Wild West figures such as the Lone Ranger, who
also appeared in many full-length features. These films were so involving
that some kids brought cap guns to the theater and fired noisily at the

outlaws and cattle rustlers on the silver screen. Theater owners began to
insist that young gunslingers check their pistols at the movie-house door.

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