December 2nd Old Town Raahe Advent Calendar

Businessman Kalle Siponen founded a cinema in Raahe in 1923. The theatre was named Huvimylly (The Fun Mill) because the screenings were happy and anticipated events.

Construction of Bio Huvimylly, began in 1936. The building was completed in the spring of 1937. The design follows the type of cinema recommended by Kino magazine in the 1930s.

During the Second World War, screenings were full and tickets were booked in advance, tickets were fetched even from the owner's home. After the war, the American film industry rushed into the market. But the Huvimylly also showed a lot of domestic pictures.

Mr. Pentti Pirhonen recounts in his column how he got to the first x-rated premiere of his life accompanied by his father. The son would have wanted to be in the front row, of course, but his father took him to the box, where the old veterinarian had a regular seat. Behind the box was the engine room. The general practice was that the show would not start, not even with police force, before the vet was seated in his place and knocked on the engine room wall as a sign for the projector operator to start. 

Additional Information (In Finnish)