Laurence Wiig, who says he’s now 81 and living in Oregon, suggested I write about the Saturday Kiddie Matinee Movie Clubs that many Hawaii theaters had in the mid-1930s to early 1960s.
Each theater had a different club, most named after cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Porky Pig. Besides showing cartoons, serials and kids’ movies, there were Duncan Yo-Yo contests, and cartoons, Wiig recalls. “And all for 9 cents. Birthday parties. Even Hopalong Cassidy showed up once. This might bring up a lot of memories for your readers who were kids on Oahu during the 1950s.”
Began at the Kaimuki Theater
The Saturday Matinee Kiddie Clubs in Hawaii were created in 1935 by John B. Mills, who managed the Kaimuki Theater at Wilhelmina Rise and Waialae Avenue.
Mills thought having a kiddie program every Saturday morning might fill up an empty space in the movie house.
It proved very popular, and his idea spread from the Kaimuki theater to many other local cinemas. Thousands of children participated in the program at different theaters.
Porky Pig Club
Gordon Jay remembers, “We rode our bikes from Kahala to Kaimuki every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. for the Porky Pig club. We’d bring 15 cents — 9 cents for admission and 5 cents for a candy bar.”
Ken Takeya said he went to the Porky Pig Club almost every Saturday morning. “My parents would give me 25 cents. We would stop and get one very large manapua, one large rice cake and one dried whole cuttlefish, and we still had 10 cents to get into the Porky Pig Club.
“Funny how nobody wanted to sit near us when we ate the cuttlefish.”
Pawaa Theater
Nani Kaiwi added, “I lived in Kalakaua Housing, which was on Kalakaua Avenue, just makai of King Street. The Pawaa Theater was on the mauka side of King Street, between Punahou Street and Kalakaua Avenue. It’s an O’Reilly Auto Parts store now.
“Every Saturday morning, my brother and I, along with neighborhood friends, could be found at Pawaa’s Mighty Mouse Club. It cost 9 cents to get in.
“I don’t remember if the ‘News of the World’ or the cartoon came on first. Then we played games, such as hot potato, musical chairs, and eating soda crackers and whistling.
“That was followed by a movie, usually ones that made us laugh. I definitely remember seeing quite a few that featured the Three Stooges.
“We were so fortunate to have been children at that time.”
‘Secret’ Theater Matinee
Mike Young said, “There was a ‘secret’ kids’ matinee place. I grew up a block away from the Fort Ruger Theater, what is now Diamond Head Theatre.
“Back in the 1950s, on Saturday mornings, the Army played the same kind of kids’ shows and events as the Consolidated Theaters, but for the benefit of Army kids at Fort Ruger. They allowed us neighborhood kids to attend also — for free!
“So, we all rode our bicycles there on Saturday mornings when we didn’t attend Porky Pig or Bugs Bunny clubs. It was bittersweet seeing our old but dearly loved theater full of memories torn down recently.”
Kapahulu Theatre
“Consolidated Amusement’s Kapahulu Theatre was on Kapahulu Avenue and Hoolulu Street, on the Koko Head side,” Wendell Hosea recalled.
“Today’s tenants are Papa John’s Pizza and Onoya Ramen. Parking was at an open dirt lot across the street, where Side Street Inn is.
“My uncle, Orlando Lloyd, was the janitor for many years at the Kapahulu Theater.
“Every year on or near my birthday in October, I would go to the Saturday morning Bugs Bunny Club movies. There were games to get the children’s enthusiasm up for the pending chapter series of ‘Blackhawk Action Team’ and other weekly action shows.
“Drawings were done to give three cakes to the weekly Birthday Babes. For three years in a row, I was one of the declared winners on my special week. I was the luckiest kid in the theater, so I thought!
“No! My uncle Orlando influenced the outcome, so I was fortunate to win a birthday cake each time. Great boyhood memories of the Kapahulu Theater.”
Remaining penny
Roger Kobayashi said, “I recall that admission was 9 cents for the Saturday morning matinees. My mom used to give me 20 cents for admission and snacks.
“I spent 9 cents on admission and 10 cents on popcorn but don’t recall what I did with the remaining penny.
“I’ve asked several friends what they did with that remaining penny — nobody can remember. I’d like to hear what your other readers did with the remaining penny.”
2 cents on the remaining 1 cent
Clyde Matsui wrote, “Saturday kiddie matinees represents the best of my ‘small kid time’ memories. As I recall those events, including the themed special events for Christmas or Easter, I am lost in fond reverie. Here’s my two cents on the remaining one cent.
“The New Pawaa Theatre opened on Jan. 5, 1929. It was on King Street, between Kalakaua Avenue and Punahou Street. The theater was renovated in 1962 and was renamed the Cinerama Theatre when it reopened on Dec. 11, 1962.
“In the late 1950s many of us who lived in the area attended the Saturday kiddie matinees. Admission was 9 cents, so what to do with the remaining penny?
“After the matinee program of adventure movies, cartoons, Westerns, games and contests, a handful of us used to go to a small crack seed and snack shop, which was next door on the Ewa side.
“Just outside the front door was a mechanical (no electrical component) football ‘kick-and-catch’ machine. It stood on a pole stand.
“It had a glass front, behind which were two ‘players,’ a kicker and a receiver. There were two knobs, one of which initiated the kick, and the other moved the receiver left or right. It cost 1 cent to play.
“Once the (pin) ball was ‘kicked,’ it moved downward through a maze of pins, which deflected the ball in quick, random directions.
“The object of the game was to position the receiver to catch the kick. Doing that successfully would return the pinball to the foot of the kicker for another try. Missing the kick ended that particular game, leaving play for the next kid.
“In time, some of us grew quite skilled in repeatedly catching the ball. Some games lasted for five to 10 minutes, oftentimes longer. In total, our playing time might have occupied us for an hour or two!
“Of course, as each of us played, the others would cheer the player on, at least until a kick was missed, which was met with boos from the ‘fans.’ Quite a bargain. All of that entertainment … for a penny.
“Afterwards, we all left for home, totally content with our Saturday of fun … albeit penniless.”
Remaining penny
Walt Ozawa said, “Waipahu Theater’s Saturday morning kiddie show was the Andy Panda Club, and tickets were also 9 cents.
“Some of us from the plantation camps above the sugar mill didn’t have spending money. We would walk through the sugar mill’s brown sugar bagging department, and Mr. Kohagura would put some brown sugar in the empty cone-shaped spools.
“So, we had brown sugar cones as a last choice of sweets to lick in the theater. Or, we’d wait by the ticket window and ask for the penny change from kids who had a dime to buy their tickets.
“If we were lucky, we were able to get at least nine pennies to buy a ticket to get in! And if we were able to get 14 pennies, the extra five cents meant we could hustle to the okazuya or crack seed store next to the theater and buy a brown paper bag of fried noodles or crack seed!
“We even chewed that paper bag to get all of the crack seed flavor! So many good memories!”
Other readers told me the extra penny gave them a crank of the gumball machine in the lobby.
By the late 1950s more families got television sets, and theater attendance declined. Kids tuned in the “Chubby Roland Club,” “Checkers & Pogo” or “Captain Honolulu,” and the kiddie matinee movie shows retreated into our rearview mirrors.
SATURDAY MATINEE KIDDIE CLUBS
>> Palace Theater (Hilo): Mickey Mouse Club
>> Mamo Theater (Hilo): Roy Rogers Riders Club
>> Kaimuki Theatre: Porky Pig Club
>> Kapahulu Theater: Scrappy’s Saturday party; later, the Bugs Bunny Club
>> Pawaa Theater: Mighty Mouse Club
>> Palama Theater: Popeye Club
>> Wahiawa Theater: Joe Palooka Club
>> Kalihi Theater: Donald Duck Club
>> Kewalo Theater: Woody Woodpecker Club
>> Waipahu Theater: Buck Jones Rangers Club; later, the Andy Panda Club
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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
