Back in the Fifties, after the clamour leading up to Christmas, the pageant, the Magic Cave, school parties and family Christmas, came the long hot summer holidays.

I've heard many people say then that there was nothing much to do in little old Adelaide, yet I recall many fun activities. Admittedly, attractions closed earlier than they would today and just about everything was closed on a Sunday, but for entertaining fidgety school kids in the morning or afternoon there was lots to do.

We had trips to the zoo, combined with a ride on Popeye, the tourist boat that sailed up and down between Elder Park and the zoo. As a very small child I called it PiePie. There was always the welcoming beach and a swim to keep cool. We have lovely beaches, so that was popular. My

Not sure where the above beach is located, but Adelaide beaches are very similar.

 parents would take me in the late afternoon, as Mum was very sun-aware, before many other people were, and didn't like us being out on the beach in the full glare of the blazing midday sun. Summers then always seemed to be very hot and with not a cloud in the sky. There were also trips to the city, which we called town and a special treat with lunch in one of Adelaide's favourite cafes, Balfours or John Martin's Buttery Cafe up on their top floor. I'm forgetting about the Museum, which was often crowded with kids. My favourite displays were the bees, which flew in and out of their indoor hive and upstairs, panoramic  displays of the Australian bush, which lit up at the flick of a switch. I used to run around turning on all the switches.

However, my favourite outings were seeing a movie. In those days we called it 'going to the pictures'. Adelaide had many individual, centrally located cinemas. There were the State, Wests and the Metro in Hindley Street; and later came the My Fair Lady theatre. In Rundle Street, which is a main Adelaide retail thoroughfare, long before it became Rundle mall, was the Sturt, The York, the Regent with its gorgeous blue velvet curtains and organ. Also the Globe, which ran continuous newsreels and cartoons; sometimes a feature movie. Huge megaplexes in the suburbs like we have today were non existent.

In town, you'd see long lines of restless kids with parents, mostly mums, as dads in those days  were usually working, queueing for a block or two under the blazing sun. Theatres had limited space and quite often sold out of tickets to a popular movie before you even reached the ticket office.

Favourite movies for me back then were those starring Shirley Temple, who was so pretty and wore lovely dresses. Laurel and Hardy I absolutely adored and would just about fall off my seat I was laughing so hard. Ma and Pa Kettle were also a favourite; then who could forget the Marx brothers, the British Carry-On movies and a little later, Hayley Mills with her blonde good looks and melodious voice. Many a young girl wanted to be Hayley.

Shockingly, people were allowed to smoke in cinemas, but if you arrived early enough you could request a no smoking area. They also wore hats. Imagine, a small kid sitting behind a large woman wearing a hat. Awful and really selfish. While today, large tubs of popcorn are popular for snacking on in the movies, back in the 50s, potato chips in rustling bags were all the go. People around a kid rustling their chip bag, would turn around and say Ssh Ssh!. In many theatres, in the intervals, young lads would walk up and down aisles carrying trays of sweets, ice-creams (choc-ices) and drinks which they had strapped to their shoulders. You had to be quick if you wanted them to stop in your aisle, as there were many demands for their services.

In about 1958 or 59 I saw the Aladdin pantomime. The excitement of the lights going down, followed by lively dance routines in vibrant costumes and music delighted and enchanted and inspired many a little girl to pester her mother to let her have dance lessons. We all wanted to be  pantomime dancers.

Little girls would all wear their best dresses to the theatre and in the foyer at interval, they would furtively check out other girls' dresses. A bit catty and competitive, but there you are.

Funnily enough, I can still recall one of the pantomime songs word for word.  It was called If Something Slips your Memory. I even used to sing it to my kids when they were small.

I have room to include it here;

If something slips your memory

Never get upset,

Tie a little knot in your pigtail, then you won't forget.

Tying knots in handkerchiefs is of no avail

Tie a little knot in your pigtail. I've never known it fail.

How does the elephant keep so much in mind

He's got a pigtail in the back, as well as one behind.

Don't wait any longer now. Try my little plan.

Tie a little knot in your pigtail; you'll be a memory man.

The ultimate show I remember is being taken to the Borovansky Ballet Company (later to become the Australian Ballet) to see a full production of The Sleeping Beauty. Mum and I sat up in the rarified 'Gods'; which meant the top- most,furthest away seats and I watched a young Marilyn Jones in her debut performance as a prima ballerina. She was just nineteen and so beautiful in her mauve tutu Lilac Fairy costume. I was so impressed, that I persuaded my Mum to make me a mauve tutu for a Sunday School Fancy Dress Party.

I was quite cross when I just missed out on the main best dressed prize, as I was beaten by a girl in a Chinese outfit. She was a red-headed girl who I didn't much like anyway and she didn't look a bit Chinese ( and rather unkindly, I thought, not very pretty either). I think her Mum was on the Church committee.

My mauve tutu in later years found its way into my kids' dressing up box.

Sadly, the Theatre Royal had to be demolished, as it was found to be structually unsafe. It turned into Miller Anderson's car park. Miller Anderson was another charming, old fashioned store with high quality goods and a cosy little cafe on the second floor, where you could buy dainty sandwiches and fresh fruit scones.

So you can see that the 1950s school holidays were full of wonderful things to see and do.