Interview with the Capels

Allen and Virginia Capel.

Yesterday, Abby and I interviewed Allen Capel and Virginia Mulligan Capel.  These two were children during WWII and they had their own sets of stories to tell.  They each were born and raised on farms, so they had similar stories to tell about their experiences.  One of the interesting experiences that the both were able to talk about wasn't war related, but rather their memories with the radio/movie theater.

Allen talked about how there was a movie theater in town that showed one film continuously for about 2 weeks.  The admission was 10 cents.  Compared to today, that would seem pretty limited (but extremely cheap!) so for more variety, people would turn to the radio.

They described their radios as huge mainly because of all the tubes and lights and such that would fit inside it. They talked about some of the things they listened to, with a particular emphasis put on The Lone Ranger which seemed to be a personal favorite of both of them.  It reminded my of my paternal Grandfather who also loved to listen to radio shows, with his favorites being Superman and Captain Midnight.

They talked about how people would watch the radio as if it were a TV and that they'd use their imaginations to see what was happening.  It was definitely the most fun part of the interview.  I could tell that both Allen and Virginia were happy to talk about some of the more fun aspects of their childhood, especially in the midst of an interview about wars and whatnot.  All in-all, it was quite fun.

--Elijah