I worked at the UA from May of 1968 to around July of 1970,eventually becoming the head usher or “Chief of Service.” Most of the ushers back then were paid 95 sents an hour, as chief I was paid about 1.25 per hour. The people in the projection booth, a union job, were paid $25 per hour and the theater had a union “stage hand” whose salary I don’t really know, but I knew their job was to open and close the curtain and turn the house lights on and off, the rest of the time was his own. The popcorn wasn’t really inventoried, as it cost probably less than a dollar to make a bag three feet high and around 15 inches across. But popcorn cups and soda cups were counted. I remember afternoons in the basement counting hotdogs and writing how many were in each box. Some of the hot dogs I counted in 1970 were probably there when the UA was torn down – they used to keep recycling those dogs until they were all wrinkled and dry! But the work was easy, the hardest job being taking the film canisters up three stories to the booth…you didn’t think those union men would do that now did you? It was a great time and my movie pass got me into to see a lot of flicks for free. The UA was the best theatre downtown, the seat rows were set farther apart and the place was more comfortable. Too bad it got tore down. I guess they knew what they were doing when the the downtown theatres led a petition drive to ban cable – which they called “pay TV” becasue it would put them out of business. Guess they were right!
I worked at the UA from May of 1968 to around July of 1970,eventually becoming the head usher or “Chief of Service.” Most of the ushers back then were paid 95 sents an hour, as chief I was paid about 1.25 per hour. The people in the projection booth, a union job, were paid $25 per hour and the theater had a union “stage hand” whose salary I don’t really know, but I knew their job was to open and close the curtain and turn the house lights on and off, the rest of the time was his own. The popcorn wasn’t really inventoried, as it cost probably less than a dollar to make a bag three feet high and around 15 inches across. But popcorn cups and soda cups were counted. I remember afternoons in the basement counting hotdogs and writing how many were in each box. Some of the hot dogs I counted in 1970 were probably there when the UA was torn down – they used to keep recycling those dogs until they were all wrinkled and dry! But the work was easy, the hardest job being taking the film canisters up three stories to the booth…you didn’t think those union men would do that now did you? It was a great time and my movie pass got me into to see a lot of flicks for free. The UA was the best theatre downtown, the seat rows were set farther apart and the place was more comfortable. Too bad it got tore down. I guess they knew what they were doing when the the downtown theatres led a petition drive to ban cable – which they called “pay TV” becasue it would put them out of business. Guess they were right!