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Plaza Theatre 368 Sydney Road, Coburg, VIC

Peters Ice-cream glass theatre slide courtesy of The Ephemera Society of Australia Inc.

Here detailed below is a letter received from Des Harris who worked as a Lolly Boy at The Plaza Theatre Coburg in the early to mid 1950’s. He gives us a valuable insight into the concession side of running a cinema during the Golden Era.

Gday. Thank you for posting the photos of the Plaza Theatre. I worked as a lolly-boy at the Coburg Plaza in the early to mid 1950’s. (The caterer was Sheehan Sweets and the shop manager at the time was Ron Kendricks).

I was equipped with a jacket and snacks. The snacks (confectionery and ice cream ‘dixies’.) were packed onto a flat tray and carried with a lanyard.

The sweets were sold inside the theatre before the start of the movies and at interval time. I was paid nightly at a 10% commission.

I was one of four lolly-boys at each evening sessions Mondays to Saturdays, two for downstairs stalls and, two for upstairs dress circle and lounge – there were no afternoon or Sunday sessions.

After some time as a lolly-boy I worked behind the counter of the corner shop, shown in the 1934 photograph of the Plaza Theatre.

The shop had two metal roller doors facing the streets with a front door in the corner. The Sydney road opening had a counter to serve people on the street whilst the Harding Street opening allowed access to the shop. I was paid a set amount for each night.

A new manager, George Bolingbroke, put me in charge of a second smaller shop on the north edge of the theatre and was paid 10% commission on weekly sales.

When George retired due to ill health the new manager put his wife in charge of the smaller shop and I returned to counter duties in the corner shop. I was then offered a position at a milk bar over the road in Harding Street.

The theatre had single seating on two levels. The ground floor had front and back stalls with a separate ‘crying room’ for mothers and their babies. The upper floors had double seating in the front rows (lounge) with single seating in the back rows (dress circle).

The evening session, opened with the National Anthem featuring the Queen and National Anthem, included two movies, a news reel, usually a cartoon and a short film such as a travelogue.

Entrance to the theatre was controlled by the ushers in their dinner suits who also issued pass-outs at interval time. Saturday nights were the most popular sessions with many patrons attending each week - Regards Des Harris.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -