美国国家公共电台 NPR A 50-Year-Old Popcorn Machine Feeds Nostalgia At The Movies

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Nowadays, there's no shortage of competitors for your entertainment dollar - on demand television, games on your phone, workouts, cooking videos, movies streamed into your home - not to mention the World Cup, about which we will have more to say later. But in Lexington, Tenn., one century-old, one-screen theater is taking a decidedly homespun approach to winning over and keeping its customers. WESA's Megan Harris takes us to her hometown.

(APPLAUSE)

DAVID CAMPBELL-WATTS: We're going to get started here in just a few minutes. If you've got your cellphones, would you put them on silence or vibrate?

MEGAN HARRIS, BYLINE¹: That's David Campbell-Watts, still in his apron², talking to a mostly full house inside the Princess Theatre. He always waits to start the trailers so he can catch folks up on big happenings downtown and offer - one last time - personally to grab a refill if any of y'all need one.

D. CAMPBELL-WATTS: Everybody has to have something that they do or in their business that kind of sets them apart.

HARRIS: His favorite something right now is squeezed into a corner behind the concessions³ counter.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Do you want butter on the popcorn⁴?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I need a large butter.

D. CAMPBELL-WATTS: We call it It - It. It makes great popcorn. We always refer to it as It, so it sounds like something off "The Addams Family" - Cousin Itt back here.

HARRIS: It is 50 years old and taller than both of us. Campbell-Watts opens a pair of Plexiglas doors to refill a soup pot-sized kettle. The old popper served its first batches⁵ of buttery joy beneath Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" in 1968. That showing was also the Princess's first picture shown to a fully⁶ integrated crowd. Former Henderson County historian Clay Crook⁷ remembers walking over that year on a school field trip.

CLAY CROOK: We'd all taken our seats. And a very wonderful and lovely woman of color, Ms. Robinson, was one of our second grade teachers. And she looked up towards the back, and then down at us. And she said, this is the first time that I've ever been downstairs.

HARRIS: It was a big milestone⁸ for Lexington. But people often share personal memories of the Princess, like when country stars Roy Acuff and Gene⁹ Autry drop by, or the real-life inspiration behind the "Walking Tall" films shook hands with locals in the lobby. Seventy-three-year-old McArthur Lewis remembers vividly¹⁰ the years when a school bus driver would haul the farm kids into town on Saturdays for 10 cents a head.

MCARTHUR LEWIS: I can't imagine anybody not coming to the theater that lived in Lexington and close to Lexington regularly.

HARRIS: And everyone remembers when Elvis made his film debut¹¹. Lewis says lines went clear around the block.

LISA CAMPBELL-WATTS: Thank you. Y'all have fun.

HARRIS: Owner Lisa Campbell-Watts says she revels¹² in that nostalgia¹³. When her family took over two years ago, folks needed peace of mind to know the Princess and its history would be appreciated.

L. CAMPBELL-WATTS: Everybody wants to be a part of a family. And you want to have people who love you, and when you come in, they're excited to see you. I think that's a very important part of this business, and I think it's something that's missing in the world today that we need to bring back - that people are accepted and that they're loved.

HARRIS: Those announcements down front and anecdotes¹⁴ about a very old popcorn machine - for the Campbell-Watts family, they're all part of the same story - one they hope to savor¹⁵ with a large buttered popcorn or two for years to come.

For NPR News, I'm Megan Harris in Lexington, Tenn.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

3 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

4 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

5 batches   

一批( batch的名词复数 )； 一炉； （食物、药物等的）一批生产的量； 成批作业

参考例句：

• The prisoners were led out in batches and shot. 这些囚犯被分批带出去枪毙了。
• The stainless drum may be used to make larger batches. 不锈钢转数设备可用来加工批量大的料。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

8 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

9 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

10 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

11 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

12 revels   

n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• Christmas revels with feasting and dancing were common in England. 圣诞节的狂欢歌舞在英国是很常见的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dickens openly revels in the book's rich physical detail and high-hearted conflict. 狄更斯对该书中丰富多彩的具体细节描写和勇敢的争斗公开表示欣赏。 来自辞典例句

13 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

14 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。