This item from Heraldgrams in the July 4, 1933 paper sets out some new regulations which had been added to the Theatres Act. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to allow dances to continue until 1:00 AM during the week but force them to shut down at midnight on Saturdays! This happened during the government of the United Farmers of Alberta Party, under the premiership of J.E. Brownlee. The party by then was being influenced by Evangelist William Aberhart, which makes one wonder if that’s where the restrictions on dances came from. So many articles about the old time dances in the district talked about them going on until the wee hours that I imagine these new rules caused a lot of hardship in the district.
Researched & written by Kathryn Auger
