1940 Boston, Massachusetts

Lydia Burns

Born in 1933

Boston, Massachusetts

Interviewed on September 14, 2019

by Annie Zhou

The first movie that I ever remember seeing is… probably Pinocchio. It was a Disney movie. I was probably around seven or so. Wow, that was so, so long ago. It seems much closer to now than I suppose it was. Anyways, I was young enough that I had to go with my parents to the theatre, even though I felt like I was independent enough to go on my own. I remember saying, “Mom, don’t worry. You can just drop me off. I can go in myself.” But nope. I went with my mom and dad and older brother, Jared.

I remember that Jared — he’s one year older — he was so frightened by the movie. He didn’t like when the boys got turned into donkeys, but I think my impression of the movie was that it was a fun and entertaining story. I remember liking it and clapping at the end. As for the movie, I don’t remember much of the details. Have you seen it? It’s about a puppet, Pinocchio, whose maker — ahh, what was his name? I can’t put my finger on it. — wants him to become a real boy. A fairy comes down to grant his wish and turn Pinocchio into a boy. Except there’s a condition. When he, Pinocchio, lies, his nose gets bigger. I forget what goes on around the middle. But in the end — spoiler alert, haha — he does become a real boy. The blue fairy decides he would be a good boy, or something similar to that end. I don’t know, but I remember that I was pretty impressed with the story.

I’m sorry I don’t remember more of the movie. I do know that the blue fairy was my least favorite. I didn’t like her because — why didn’t she just make Pinocchio a real boy from the start? Hah, I know that’s such a bad reason to dislike a character. Maybe I’d like her more if I saw it again. At the time, I was just wondering why he had to pass this test no other boy had to pass. I thought that was pretty unfair. But it was a happy ending, and I liked those kinds of movies the most as a kid. The kind of movie that has an obstacle to overcome, but in the end, a happy ending. My tastes have changed a lot since, but when I was little, that’s just what I liked. Yep.

We walked to the theatre, my parents, my brother, and I. I skipped the entire way there, because I loved going to the movies. Going to the movies, it was a weekly thing for our family. The theater was called… the Kenmore Theatre, and yes, there were ushers. The theatre was this art house pretty close to our house. In retrospect, it’s not big. But when I was a kid, it was this place that towered over my head and made me feel like I was in a palace.

There was a concession. I loved Junior Mints. They had all sorts of candy, but I can’t really remember the other kinds. There was this sour one, and just thinking about it now, I can still kind of taste what it tasted like. They also sold popcorn, which my parents always got and shared with us. It was salty and buttery. They had drinks too. But once I spilled my, what was it… orange soda, maybe… and my parents never let me have another drink after that. I spilled it on this plush red carpet flooring they had, and I remembered saying that you could barely see the spill anyways! I remember the concessions so well, and yet the movies I watched there sort of blur together. Quite honestly, I’m not sure if Pinocchio is the first movie I ever watched. I probably saw others, I just don’t really remember them.

This was in Boston and it must have been the very early 1940s. Those were some great days. We had a lot of fun.