EASTLAND, Texas-Eight o'clock didn't always mean 8 o'clock. Sometimes, it meant 7:45.
The Abilene Reporter-News reports Rhyne Hobbs chuckled remembering Ed Alcorn, who died Sept. 3. Alcorn was the general manager of the Majestic Theatre when Hobbs started volunteering there when he was 8.
"It's one of those things that I did to get out of the house, because I lived outside of town and I never got to play with friends," Hobbs said. "My parents would drive me back into town to volunteer."
Alcorn had, among other things, managed Abilene's historic Paramount Theatre before coming to Eastland. The Majestic started life in the 1920s as the Connellee Theater, built by C.U. Connellee.
It struggled somewhat; competition with the Lyric Theatre down the street was strong. In 1946 the Connellee was sold to Karl Hoblitzelle who owned a string of Texas theaters. He remodeled the Connellee in an Art Deco style, renaming it the Majestic after the theater in Dallas that he also owned. The venue reopened in 1947.
But after years of deterioration and hit-or-miss attendance, the theater was purchased and renovated again in 1987 thanks to a massive public effort. Administration was turned over to the Eastland Fine Arts Association, which had been created for that purpose.
It also was the year Hobbs was born, and eight years later is when the Majestic entered his life.
It's easy to imagine the influence Alcorn had on the young Hobbs.
"He quoted so much, and probably my favorite one was from Julius Caesar," Hobbs recalled. "'The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.'"
It was an expression heard a lot, particularly when things went awry.
"He taught me to show up at least 15 minutes early to everything," Hobbs continued, recalling a story when Alcorn needed him for an errand.
"He was like, 'I need you to do this for me at 8 o'clock; meet me at the museum and we're going to unload this guy.'" Hobbs said. "It was a truckload of books or something."
True to his word, Hobbs was there bright and early Saturday morning, ready to work.
"I showed up right at 8 o'clock and these two older men already had it done and Ed was like, 'Where've you been?'" Hobbs remembered.
"It's 8 o'clock!" he answered.
"When I say 8 o'clock, I mean at least 7:45," Alcorn replied.
From ages 8 to 23, Hobbs and Alcorn worked closely until the older man asked the now-grown assistant to take over as the Majestic's general manager.
Thinking of all the lessons taught him, Hobbs chuckled at the memory of his late mentor's humor.
"What was funny was how people wanted to call him 'Al-Corn'," Hobbs said. "He would correct them by saying, 'No, it's 'All-Corn' - 100 percent corn.'"
Alcorn had a passion for Eastland and its history. But even after 70 years, he might have agreed it was time for new seats in the Majestic.
It's likely that people were skinnier in 1947 than they are in 2017. But even after the 1987 restoration gave the seats a new life, to every season there is a turn and for movie patrons who turn quite a bit, that physical action usually occurs on a specific part of the human anatomy.
"(The seats) were falling apart, some of them were torn, and that was our biggest complaint," Hobbs said. "Sitting in 70-year old seats was just not comfortable."
The Majestic is unusual for a historic theater in that it shows first-run movies. "God's Not Dead," has been their biggest showing, followed by "Titanic" back in 1997.
R-rated movies are rare, they just don't get a good crowd unless it's critically acclaimed, such as "American Sniper."
"(We don't have) as many as Abilene, we only have one screen to work with," Hobbs said. "It's hard to compete with luxury chairs and all that, so we try to compete with our prices."
Distance also works in their favor, Hobbs said there isn't another movie theater within 45 miles of the Majestic.
There are some diehard preservationists who might wish for the seats to stay. But unless they've got a Zen-like tolerance for pain, those folks might not be part of the regular movie-going public. Out of perhaps a thousand people, Hobbs said he's heard maybe two complaints over losing the seats.
The new maroon chairs will feature cup-holders in each armrest, which also can be raised for snuggling up to your date. Thick padding and the seat's ability to lean back six inches should provide some comfort after she tells you to keep your hands to yourself.
The larger chairs will mean 200 less seats. But with about 100-200 people attending on a good night, the 336 seats remaining on the floor and 300 in the balcony should be adequate.
Ironically, the old seats are being stored temporarily in the Lyric Theatre, which has been undergoing its own restoration. Hobbs said they will keep a few for the Majestic but are offering the rest up for sale.
"Right now, they are all half-off. You can get one for $25 or a row of six for $75," he offered. "These are 70-year-old seats, they need a little tender-loving care but they are a part of history and we didn't want to just chuck them."
There's been a few buyers. Some talk about putting them in their deer stands, others installing them on a porch or making loveseats for a living room.
Hobbs said they are aiming for reopening early this fall. But it's not just soft chairs that will bring patrons to the movies, he's hoping Hollywood comes up with some fresher ideas this fall than the ones churned-out in recent memory.
Thankfully, Alcorn had a quote for that, too. Hobbs laughed again.
"Any time I said, 'Aw, that doesn't make any sense,' Ed would say, 'Well does it make dollars? Because that's all that matters.'"