Did you put a show on?

When you were a kid, did you put on
a show with friends for friends or neighbors?
You know,.... and this will date me... in the
ream of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney,
"lets do a show"! movies.

My mother had what we called a chicken coop
jump. It was used to practice jumping her horses.
It was about 4 feet high with a 8 inch plank
on top. The jump was built in a triangle. Meaning
while the top was 8 inches, the bottom was about
3 or 4 feet wide. With slanted sides, looking very
much like a chicken coop.

When I was a kid, we went to the Saturday
morning movies. It was a way for parents to
get rid of their kids for 2 hours of peace and quiet.
And of course we went willingly. Movie cost 10cents.
Pop was a nickel and of course there was penny
candy.

So some of the local neighbor kids and I decided
we would earn money to go to the show. As the folks
didn't send us every week.

We came up with songs and dances routines to do
on top of this jump. Now remember it was only 8
inches wide. But then again we were about 6 to 8
years old. Maybe 10 at most.

I can remember we burnt cork from the fishing nets
in the fields, to use to make our faces black as we
sang a song about Mississippi River. And the
audience were wicked critics, as pushing us off
of the "stage" was not unheard of, and laughter wasn't
always of the positive nature. After all they were charged
a great fee of a nickel to watch us.

We worked for at least a week to come up with our
routines, but I think our show closed within an hour
of starting... with request of refunds. And depending
on how big the kid was, whether we gave it back or not.

I don't think we earn enough for a free morning at the movies
for any of us.