1956 Waterbury, Connecticut

Frank Zillo
Born in 1950
Waterbury, Connecticut
Interviewed on January 22, 2019
by Cristofer Zillo

The first movies I remember seeing were cartoons, like the Road Runner and Daffy Duck. I was about six or seven years old.

They were preludes to starting school. They would have a fun little day where you would go there. It would be a couple hours of watching cartoons, and you would get a free pencil box to start school with. There were pencil boxes for boys and girls. It was a cardboard box. It had cartoon figures on the box from the same movies. I think my first one had Daffy Duck on it. There were pencils in it. I think there were erasers and a sharpener, too.

A lot of people went. It was a big thing to do. You had to get there early because there were lines.

The characters were interesting, because when you’re not used to going to the movies it was fascinating to see the big screen as opposed to the little TV. It was a big difference.

I went with one of my aunts the first time. We would walk to the downtown area, where all the movie theaters were. We went to the State Theater.

There were concessions stands. I would order popcorn and a soda. The ushers would help seat people.

I think my first actual movie was about Daniel Boone. It wasn’t a cartoon. Whichever actor that played Daniel Boone was my favorite at that point in time. I can’t remember who it was.