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The Lolly Boys
In an article recalling ushers and usherettes of
a bygone era, I’d be slipping badly if I did not
give the lolly boys a plug or three. We had four
little trimmers of a Friday and Saturday night
at The Cinema.

Lolly boys at all theatres came in all shapes and
sizes and ages - we even had a really old bloke
of 40 or so at The Cinema and they all carried
a large tray suspended around their neck by a
leather strap.

Before the movie started and at interval they'd
stroll quietly around the theatre, gently calling
"Ice, Dixie ice, Columbines and Maxmints,
PKs, chewing gum or chocolates." That's
exactly what they called out - it never deviated,
never. Any old lolly boy will tell you I'm spot
on! The "Ice" was a round Dixie cup full of ice
cream which came with a flat wooden spoon
that was in a little paper bag and guaranteed
free from splinters.

In the numerous city theatres, the lolly boys had The main foyer - Hoyts The Cinema, Richmond, Vic. Image CATHS Archive.
the various "intervals" down to split- seconds.
They would dash from the Regent and Plaza other personal chit chats. On the night I speak when the last patron had gone and we were
to the State, and other would work the Capitol of, I'd arrange to see a lass when I'd finished, locking up, reminds me vividly that The
to the Lyceum and somehow fit the Tivoli into and we'd pop along to a party. Unfortunately, Cinema in the early 20s had been a roller-
their schedule. Why, to get a hard-working job another young lady also turned up at the same skating rink. It actually was as large in areas as
as a lolly boy, a young cove would have grown time, and it was simply one of those "it's the Glaciarium over Princes Bridge, adjacent
his hair long if the boss said that was the way moments like these". to the Snowdon Gardens where your Arts
he wanted it. Centre now resides with the hideous art(?)
You need to be a smart convincing talker, but work outside the entrance.
The lolly boy was extremely helpful to all the the best I could rustle up was to ask them both
old gents and their darling wives who'd sit to join me for a coffee at my East Melbourne Recently, when I looked at Casino at the
inside through the interval reading their Film flat, while I played a few Guy Lombardo and Russell Street Complex, I watched a delightful
News, which sold in the lounge for four pence. Alice Faye records to smooth over the situation. young lady usher show an elderly couple to
In the city of a Saturday night the mercurial After an hour or so, when you could cut the air their seats, and the torch stayed on until they
lolly boys carried 2/6 and 3/6 boxes of Hillier’s, with a knife, I took the ladies to a rank to get were safely seated. So, I'm the first to admit it
MacRobertson's and Romance milk chocolates, them a separate cab, and that is when the is so rewarding to see courtesy has not left our
which some lucky girl would get from her Turkey Lolly hit the fan. movie houses, and I'm certain there will always
sweetheart. But, then again, she may have had be delightful usherettes around us as we get
to settle for an OK Peanut Bar or bar of When the fight erupted between the young older and are not as agile as a mountain goat.
Hoadley's Milk and Nut for threepence and four ladies, and the Richmond gendarmes
pence. We are still in the good old days, Digger: intervened, I was the only one put in "the But, I can tell you two certainties you can put
the Grand Prix and Jenny haven't arrived as yet. bird-cage", locked up for the night and, later in money on: you are not going to see any of those
the week, fined two pounds. bright and breezy lolly boys flitting from theatre
Yep, the lolly boy was an indispensable to theatre and selling you plutocrats a box of
segment to us in those years, make no error Yes, sir, it sure was a tough job being a theatre Romance chocolates and a Dixie ice cream for
about it and, to all those still about, best of usher. your lady friend or your darling wife. And, it is
health to you. London to a brick you will not be seeing any
Enter Television ushers in their jaunty jackets and natty black
At the period of my ushering, I was only 27 and When the magic of television enveloped our trousers escorting a happy couple to their seats
was extremely partial to conversing with young town in 1956, we all knew "progress" had in the lounge. And, when I look back and see
ladies about the political state of our nation and finally reached the lounge room, and the my workmates at The Cinema in the 40s, they
advanced theories of life in outer space, among suburban picture theatre started on a toboggan not only were neat, clean and smart, but they
slide, seeing the eradication of scores of carried out their duties as ushers displaying
suburban movie houses. Within two or three principle and fidelity to their employers and the
years they had become second hand furniture moviegoer. They were perfect examples of
stores, plant nurseries, storerooms. courtesy, consideration and cheerfulness. ★
As I pass the building that was The Cinema in
Bridge Road, Richmond today, it sells Credits:
barbecues and pie warmers. I can still visualise
the vast amount of people flocking in on a This article was written by the late Bertie Bertram c.
Saturday night and when the theatre was almost 1995. It is published here with permission.
packed, the manager would dash out with a
signboard reading "house full", and he would Images on Page 6 are “frame grabs” from the Hoyts
stand there beside it with a smug smile. training film Guests in Our House.
Mike Trickett collection.
At interval, all the males would stand out the
front of the theatre on the footpath "having a
puff". The eerie emptiness of the theatre itself,

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