1939 Brooklyn, New York

Peg Weikal
Born in 1930 Brooklyn, New York
Interviewed on 1/27/2018
by Elyse VanderWoude

Hmm…. that’s kind of a hard one…the first movie I ever saw… My girlfriends and I loved going to the theaters- there were lots of them in New York. We used to save money and do chores to see as many as we could. They used to have these matinees that we’d go to. Gee, it couldn’t have cost more than a quarter in those days- probably less. Back to your question… I could tell you about one of the first movies that I first remember really enjoying. That was The Wizard of Oz. I think I was maybe 9 or 10 years old when I saw that one.

The movie I still remember very well. Maybe that’s because it’s still my favorite! From that first time, I remember that I just loved those ruby red slippers of Dorothy’s! All of us girls talked about them for weeks afterwards. Sometimes after school, we’d go into some dime stores and see if we could find any. Silly, now that I think about it, but so fun then. What else? Oh! I thought it was really something when everything became so colorful when Dorothy left Kansas. I really loved that. It was such a beautiful picture.

I loved the characters. I think Judy Garland was just wonderful in that movie! Her voice, her look…we all wanted to be just like her. Toto was so darling I think I begged my mother for a little dog like that for a very long time after seeing the movie. Of course Dorothy’s friends were great too; they made the adventure so fun to watch. I was really surprised about the wizard though. I didn’t expect that! One thing I remember really well was the part where the witch melted. That witch was really frightening to me as a girl!!

Like I said before, my friends and I used to go to the theater together back then. I couldn’t say for sure, but maybe 5 or 6 of us went to go see this one. I wish I could remember all of their names…I can only think of a few of them now. In Brooklyn, we walked to the theater. All of us girls lived on the same street and so we’d all leave together and walk over and then come back together.

We used to have popcorn, of course! It didn’t cost much and was always so tasty. Sometimes we’d also have some candies- I loved all of them- I didn’t really have a favorite! I’m afraid I can’t think of the name of the theater now. We also used to try different ones, so there wasn’t really a main theater that would go to. The theaters were often really beautiful, and yes there were often ushers. There was also often the red velvet curtain- you don’t see those anymore.

I think the thing I loved the most about the movie-and still love now- is the heart of it (and I’m not talking about the Tin Man!). When you went to see that movie, everyone’s eyes lit up, even though when it first came out, many folks were having a hard time. That’s why it’s still my favorite movie today.