A Four Year Old on Her Own

In her "Story of a Lifetime" book, Mom wrote about one of her experiences:

Question: Did anything unusual or strange happen to you during your childhood?

Helen McIntyre 6 years old, c1920

Answer: "This probably was unusual or strange! I was about 4 years old and living on Fillmore St. I was playing in the back yard, suddenly got bored and decided I wanted to go to the movies. My Mother and Father would take me to the Twentieth Century or Gold Theaters on Roosevelt Rd. which was 2 blocks south of us. So I went out the back gate, cut through the neighbors' yards and got to Roosevelt Rd. I saw the Gold about a block away. I went there and followed some people in the show and went in and sat down. My Mother looked all over for me and when my Father came home from work she sent him to look for me. After asking everyone if they saw a little girl with long blonde curls, he asked the Ticket Taker at the Gold. She said "Oh, about 3 hours ago I did, she went in the show." My Father got the usher to go down all the aisles with a flash light and there I was in the front row. I didn't want to leave but he got me out."

I can't imagine what someone would think today if their 4 year old daughter disappeared from the backyard. 

Helen did love the movies her whole life. I remember her taking me to the movies in downtown Chicago when I was 4 or 5. We would arrive in the morning and spend all day at the theater.