An extract from Myra Schneiderman's letter
Early in 1995, Myra Schneiderman of Cardiff responded to a request in 鈥楳ature Tymes鈥� for 1930s cinemagoers to get in touch with Cinema Culture in 1930s Britain. Born in London in 1931, Mrs Schneiderman left school at the age of seventeen and was a shorthand typist throughout her working life. In a long letter she details memories of early visits to the cinema with her mother to see 鈥渟uitable鈥� films including
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and
The Wizard of Oz; of queueing to get into 鈥渢he pictures鈥� and what it was like inside the cinema; of the varied items in a cinema programme; of added attractions such as the cinema organ that appeared 鈥渕agically from some subterranean kingdom鈥�; and of copying fashions from the films: 鈥淚 remember an aunt of mine sewing lace collars onto every dress she had, as she had seen Ginger Rogers wear a lace-collared dress in a film.鈥� Later in 1995, Mrs Schneiderman took part in CCINTB鈥檚 postal questionnaire survey.