Felix and Wawa Do The Jumbo

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Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

0 posted 2008-03-10 12:28 PM

Felix and Wawa loved the movies
playing every Saturday noon
down the Jumbo Theater,
the corner Front and Girard
underneath the shaky El.

Mothers liked to send their kids there,
they knew they would be
well looked after
and it only cost a quarter.
They'd be entertained
and out of the way
a few hours every Saturday.

The movies at the Jumbo
were suited best for kids.
Western movies and gangster flicks
a popular treat for boys.

The westerns were the best by God,
with cowboys brave and bold.
Felix and Wawa would shout
for more Indian blood,
the lead was flying thick.

Gangster flicks featured Cagney,
Edward G., Georgie Raft,
Humphrey Bogart, and slim Lauren Bacall
who looked good to Felix and Wawa.

For the girls, big band movies
that they really couldn't enjoy;
the boys made too much noise,
hooted and hollered,
because they didn’t like them.
It always was a male dominated hood.

Yet, besides movie entertainment
there were other things
you could do at the Jumbo.

If you really needed cash,
you could go sit the back rows,
plop yourself down beside a friendly stranger.
The creepy guys liked the Jumbo
on a Saturday afternoon
because the kids were poor and hungry.
They’d give the kids a buck
to sit beside them,
and invite them home to see
their big non-existent
collection of electric trains.

Felix and Wawa, they’d go back there,
sit beside a likely mark,
accept the dollar, scream “You creep”,
grab the money and run like hell.

Just another entertaining Saturday afternoon,
down the old Jumbo Theater.

Bobby

[This message has been edited by Robert E. Jordan (03-11-2008 10:51 AM).]

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean

since 2002-08-27

Posts 40215
Realms of Light

1 posted 2008-03-10 12:37 PM

"The westerns were the best by God"

~ I hadn't realized that God was into making westerns?!?

Sorry, Bobby ~ and God! ~ I couldn't help myself!

Felix and Wawa, certainly found themselves in many a compromising situation while they were growin up.

Linda

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2 posted 2008-03-10 02:52 PM

Linda,

God made those movies with the roaring lion and stuff.

The Jumbo Theater left us about 25 years ago. A kid can still make a buck or two at Front and Girard. The neighborhood never changes.

Bobby

effjayel
Senior Member

since 2007-09-30

Posts 1474
At the Crossroads of Infinity

3 posted 2008-03-10 03:27 PM

Bobby this was a lot like my saturday mornings at the local flea pit, except for the strange shenanigans at the back with the creepy guys....only ever kids having fun in my place...sorry Felix missed out on the normality of these times.

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

4 posted 2008-03-10 03:46 PM

John,

I like your description of the movie theater as a "flea pit". That was about right. At the Jumbo it was best to keep your hand over the opening in you popcorn box to keep the rodents out.

Perhaps the "creepy guys" were there, but you just didn't notice.

We had loads of fun too.

Not everyone sold themselves. Most went for the movie.

Bobby

[This message has been edited by Robert E. Jordan (03-10-2008 09:07 PM).]

secondhanddreampoet
Member Ascendant

since 2006-11-07

Posts 6394
a 'Universalist' !

5 posted 2008-03-10 07:03 PM

in my ever-most-humble opinion, this is the best (nostalgic) "slice of Felix-life" penning yet!

v. serious and sustained applause!!

Margherita
Member Seraphic

since 2003-02-08

Posts 22236
Eternity

6 posted 2008-03-10 08:01 PM

The saturday movie visits certainly represented a peak in Felix' and Wawa's week.

Enjoyed the feeling you channeled with this piece of real life, dear Bobby.

Love,
Margherita

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

7 posted 2008-03-10 09:24 PM

Secondhanddreampoet,

Thanks friend, I'm pleased you enjoyed this peek into Felix and Wawa's Saturday fun. It's sad that modern kids miss out on that fun--I guess.

Bobby

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

8 posted 2008-03-10 09:28 PM

Margherita,

Thanks Hon. I think you would have liked it if you had joined us there. It was a lot of fun.

I'll have to write one about sneaking into the movie free.

Bobby

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

9 posted 2008-03-11 10:09 PM

When we first moved to El Monte I was 15 (1959) and the local "flea pit" here was called the Tumbleweed (it looked like a windmill) and all the kids went there. Except for an ocasional fight it was a lot of fun. Jimmy was here in the sixties and probably remembers the Tumbleweed. It was torn down several years ago.
Ida

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

10 posted 2008-03-11 10:19 PM

Ida,

Thanks for the information on your "flea pit".

I'm old and a little slow Ida. Who is "Jimmy"?

Bobby

LadyTom
Member

since 2008-02-29

Posts 353
LA, CA

11 posted 2008-03-12 12:12 PM

very good, very good. No memory of it. It is all new to me. I am happy if they were safe.
love the read, Mr.Jordan. Thank you.

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

12 posted 2008-03-12 12:24 PM

LadyTom,

Yes, we were all safe at the Jumbo. We could take care of ourselves. We were cunning and cruel. Yes, I'm afraid so, we were cunning and cruel.

You get that way fast in the hood.

We only got nice as we grew older.

Bobby

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

13 posted 2008-03-12 09:06 AM

I'm sorry, Bobby. I guess I just assumed you would know of jwesley who posts on this site.
You know what they say about assuming...
Ida

Artic Wind
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 8080
Realm of Supernatural

14 posted 2008-03-12 09:53 AM

Let it all out i say..

ARCTIC WIND

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

15 posted 2008-03-12 10:21 AM

Ida,

Thanks for the info Hon. I didn't know that jwesley was Jimmy.

I'm kinda new here.

Bobby

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

16 posted 2008-03-12 10:24 AM

Artic Wind,

Thanks for your comment.

Felix lets a little more hang out in "Felix Pulls Jack Roll" over "Behind Closed Doors" in "Mature Content".

If you're old enough you can go over there and read it.

Bobby

Earl Brinkman
Senior Member

since 2010-03-03

Posts 1183
Osaka, Japan

17 posted 2010-11-27 05:59 PM

I remember reading about movie theatres of the hood in `City Boy Stays Alive`, There sure were some creeps lurking in the back seats.

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