A confusion of Pomona Pages

Everyones Magazine

What were your parents or grandparents watching at the movies? 

Everyones was a weekly magazine published in Sydney and copies from 1920 -1937 are digitised and available through Trove. The content covered movie news in all states. It included reviews of recent releases, movie gossip, photos of local attendees at balls, news from the theatres around Australia and much more. 

 

Representatives of the various film companies travelled Australia to visit the local theatre operators.  Writing in Everyones magazine in 1933, Roy Gubbins recalled a humorous anecdote about the confusion caused to outsiders when contacting H. W Page of Pomona.

POMONA, the centre of a prosperous fruit growing area normally, is suffering for the want of rain. Dry conditions are unusual here, so the blow is all the more severe. Still Harold W. Page, who is the picture man of the town, finds plenty to do; what with the petrol and fruit agencies, a farm at Maleny and another at Pomona, we’ll say he certainly has his hands full. 

There are two H. W. Pages in Pomona, and a film rep. invariably strikes the wrong one when making his first visit to the town. Some of the results have been very amusing, as was the writer’s, some years ago. 

Arriving early one morning and phoning the wrong man, who was out, a message was left for him to meet me at the hotel. Introducing myself as a rep. of M-G-M, a vague look came over his face as he slowly repeated M-G-M, and I thought I had met the most sarcastic exhibitor in the land. 

 Suddenly he exploded “You’re not a picture man, are you-” And upon modestly claiming that I was, and wondering what it was all about, he told me off in no uncertain manner, finishing up with “I’m Ford or Blueshirt Page, you get to hell and find Picture Page if you want to sell any darned pictures.” 

 A decent fellow usually, some of the wags of the town had phoned him about midnight prior to my call, asking him if he could possibly fit in ‘‘Blood and Thunder” for the following Saturday. Incidentally the two “H.W.’s” are not even distantly related! 

Everyones.Vol.13 No.698 (12 July 1933) page 27 available through Trove in the Magazines and Newsletters section https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-522690001

One can browse through issues of the magazine or use the Trove search box to search only for a place or name within the Magazines and Newsletter categories.

Have you found genealogy gold in a magazine?