The Northwest was originally a sixplex built in 1976. They added four screens in the early 80s, and built the four screen annex in the late 80s.
It was once the premier theatre in San Antonio. The annex is usually closed. The ten in the main building are always in operation. The 10 screens were converted (badly) to stadium seating in the late 90s. The annex is still sloped.
Are you talking about Powers BRAND projectors? Their value would be determined by the condition they’re in. They would be very old! If you just have power projectors, meaning they run with a motor, it would depend on the brand and condition.
The BX-60 is one of my favorite projectors of all time! I have an immaculate 1951 BX-60, RCA 9030, RCA base, and Brenket Enarc with less than 1000 hours runnig time on it! I have lots of experience with the BX-60. I would be delighted to troubleshoot it or help you out.
movie534, your theater beginnings almost mirror mine. General Cinema was a class act back then. I learned showmanship, and found love for the theater through the manager there. He was a very colorful character, and a showman’s showman! He taught me everything from cleaning an auditorium to merchandising and advertising. I worked my way up quickly to assistant manager. The union projectionists in the booth soon became friends, and my interest went to the projection end. I eventually learned the ART of good projection, and became a working member of the IATSE. North Star had Century JJ2s in Cinema II, and Century SAs in Cinema I. Ashcraft Cinex Specials using 13.6 carbons lit our large “shadowbox” screens VERY well!
When the union fell on hard times, the education I got as an usher and assistant manager years before got me into management, and i manged some very nice independently owned theaters.
Now it looks like only the big chains that may have heard of showmanship, but aren’t sure of what it means have the theatre business hostage. Get ‘em in, and get 'em out quickly and at the highest possible profit has taken the place of showmanship, and all the pride and romance out of the theatre business.
I don’t go to the movies much anymore. The few times I have gone, sometimes there isn’t even a ticket taker, let alone an usher! The person selling tickets with tattoos, piercings and a sneer sell me and tear my ticket. If I can afford to buy concession items, the ticket seller’s siblings seem to wait on me. I find the auditorium I want, and climb up the stadium seating layout, then my ears are assaulted by loud and overly long COMMERCIALS, and then the movie finally starts.
I miss the days of large single screen theatres! The North Star Cinema twin where I worked was the first “multiplex” in San Antonio. They were run as different theatres though, with separate boxoffices, restroom facilities (VERY NICE ONES AT THAT!). snack bar facings, and PLENTY of help to wait on the customer.
Reading about the theatres that have just opened without projection rooms has made me even more nostalgic for the old days.
I became an usher at the North Star Cinema I&II in October 1968 here in San Antonio, TX. FORTY YEARS AGO! I am so old! We wore blue blazers, white shirt with bowtie, and tuxedo pants. We had the roadshow engagement of “2001: A Space Odyssey” playing in 70mm when I started. It was a reserved seat engagement. Our shoes were expected to be shined, our hair clean and short. We were paid a whopping 75 cents an hour when minimum wage was $1.60! We ran reserved seat roadshows at North Star until the autumn of 1969. The final roadshow was “Oliver!” For the regular run features at least one usher was expected to stand in the back of the auditorium monitoring picture, sound, temperature, and the audience. I LOVED every minute of the job, and the era I worked. I have been out of the theater business for 14 years now, and I miss it VERY much, but I would not want to work in today’s theaters, or theatre companies.
I was a union projectionist for 12 years. I put on the finest show possible. Showmanship showed in everything I did, from the cleanliness of the projection room, and equipment to the opening of the curtain, the changeovers were flawlessly made, and the equipment was maintained to the letter. Unfortunately we went by the “seniority system”, and a lot of slackers that had been around for a long time got the better theatres. As automation set in, many could not “get it”, and many shows were lost due to incompetence. There were also MANY archaic items in the union contracts that definitely did not coincide with the times. Attitudes were poor, tension between management was high, dirty tricks abounded at contract time. We were seen more as a liability than an asset. Our local disbanded in the late 80s. What was once an honorable trade has has become a job for the high school kid. Newer automation has made the job easy, and kids that are the age of ushers often run megaplex projection rooms now. I see parllels in the aut industry too. They are running themselves out of their jobs too, just as the projectionist locals did.
I was the city manager for Cinemas Southwest Theatres and opened the Ivy Twin in late October, 1974. We opened with “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” in 3D in Cinema I and “2001: A Space Odyssey” in Cinema II. Cinema I’s feature was rated X, and the Baylor University police parked in front of the theatre on opening night watching who was going to that show! The auditorioms were done in red soundfold, and had red American Seating chairs. A small stage was in front of each screen. There were separate rest room facilities for each theatre, and the snack bar divided the lobby, so changing screens was not very easy. The projection rooms sported Ballantyne projectors and soundheads and Christie console Xenon lamps.
I came up with the poem,
Because when I got home
from a multiplex theatre in town,
My ears were ringing from WAY too loud digital sound!
I’ve been out of the business now for 13 years,
and when I left it, I did shed some tears,
But the way the business has changed in this decade or so,
I realize that it was best that I did go.
I look back fondly at the cinema’s glory days,
but they were so long ago they’re beginning to haze
DVDs, Home Theatre have taken the place
of the movie show theatre once filled with grace.
It’s always nice to have differing views, but going for the dirt does absolutely no good. A person that uses vulgar language, racial slurs, or forms a vendetta against someone is seldom taken seriously anyway. I am relatively new to this site, and until now, the only distasteful things I have run across are a few of the answers to this topic.
I hope this site goes on for a long time. It’s a great place for old showmen to get together and remember the good old days. Having discord really takes away the fun.
The Woodlawn is being renovated. I was there a few days ago. It has been completely gutted. The stage has been greatly enlarged. The balcony theatre which was built in 1975 has been removed and it is now a wonderful balcony again! The “satellite projection booth” that was hanging from the ceiling for the big downstairs auditorium has been demolished. The new owner is going to have plays on stage, and occasionally run film. When the big screen gets lit up again, it will be from the original projection room! Nice seats are to be installed, as well as some top notch projection equpment. The wonderful glass bricks that were covered up with the “renovation” in 1975 have been uncovered, and are once again giving the Woodlawn an elegant flair.
The Ingram 6 was the third and final theatre built by United Artists Theatres in San Antonio. It had three nice sized auditoriums and three small ones. Like the UA Movies 4 in South Park Mall, and the UA Cine Cinco in Windsor Park Mall, the UA Ingram 6 had blue American Seating chairs and white Soundfold with blue soundfold accents on the side walls. The large auditoriums had 5 rows with American Seating rocking chair seats, and when the theatre first opened 50 cents more per ticket was charged for the privilege of sitting in one! That policy was quickly abandoned. The Ingram 6 didn’t stay around long. It was outlived by it’s older sisters on the Northeast and South sides of town!
The Guadalupe reopened in early 1972 as the Aztlan Theatre. The then owner of the Empire cleaned it up nicely and tried running American double features there. It did not do well. I saw “WUSA” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward at the Aztlan. My best memory of the theatre was the ornate floor in the lobby, and a beautiful light blue traveler curtain that flowed gracefully when opened or closed. The projection room was outfitted with some ANCIENT Simplex Standard projectors. Even so, the picture quality was quite good. The only way up to the projection room was by a ladder fastened to the wall. It made getting the film up to it quite a chore! By 1973 the theatre was closed, and became the Guadalupe again.
The Trail was the first drive in built with In Car Speakers. It was similar to the Fredericksburg Road drive in as it was built by the same company. Unfortunately the Trail suffered the same indignity of the Fred. Road and was turned to a porno theatre in it’s last years. It was a very sad end to one of the great theatres in San Antonio.
The Towne Twin was a VERY nice drive in. It had large (55x110) CinemaScope screens that were made of plaster. The light on the screens was very good. The two projection rooms sat atop the snack bar and were mostly glass and resembled airplane control towers. The snack bar originally had dining booths, and was open during the day as a restaurant. The Towne Twin was never a big money maker. Although it was right on the highway you had to go through a residential area to get to the boxoffice. The large ornate marquee was on WW White near “The Farmer’s Daughter” night club.
Most people liked the Aztec and Majestic better than the Texas. They were more ornate in their own ways, but the Texas was my favorite of all. It was elegant. It had an orchestra pit, stage, and a beautiful red curtain in front of it’s massive screen. It had a HUGE chandelier above the second balcony, and the “colored” balcony which sat above the projection room had eight small Tiffany style chandeliers. The acoustics were fantastic. Even in the highest perch, the sound was crisp and clear. I explored every nook and cranny in that theatre and found all sorts of hidden rooms, and lots of neat old memorabilia. It is a shame that a jewel like the Texas was demolished, and a much lesser theatre like the Empire was saved.
The Judson 4 was owned and operated by the late Maurice Braha. The snack bar was very nice, and had a good assortment of delicious food. The projection room was state of the art, and was even air conditioned! The screens were smaller than most modern drive ins, but the picture quality was good. The lots were not paved, and a lot of dust was kicked up when it was dry. The Judson was the last drive in built in San Antonio, and had the shortest life span.
The Hi-Ho’s owners lived in an apartment upstairs in the theatre. The theatre did fair business at first, but television really hurt the theatre in the late 40s and early 50s. It was set up to run 3-D movies, but that never took off, and the only types of films that brought in any kind of crowd were risque movies. The Archdicese of San Antonio called for a boycott of the Hi-Ho, and that finally did it in. The Hi-Ho was so named because it was between the Highlands and Hot Wells neighborhoods. The Hi-Ho had a sister theatre in Mathis, Texas called the IT.
A friend of mine has one of the Todd A-O projectors from the Broadway. They were the very finest projectors ever made. Every gear and bearing are the originals.
The Broadway had Todd A-O projectors installed for the first run of “Around The World In 80 Days”. Todd A-O was 70mm projection that ran 30 frames per second as opposed to the normal 24 frames per second. One of the original Brenkert BX-80 setups was left installed to run cartoons and 35mm coming attractions before the great 70mm show. The Broadway ran some of the biggest movies through the 1970s including “The Exorcist” and “Jaws”. There would be lines around the theatre for people to buy tickets for the blockbusters! There was a green curtain in front of the Broadway’s big screen. The houselights were simple stainless steel chandeliers that projected the light upward to the ceiling. There were lights on the side walls too. The Broadway also had a satellite snack bar on the mezzanine to the balcony.
The Alamo was opened before the advent of in car speakers, and had a large horn type speaker below the screen. This set up made problems with neighbors, and also the people in the back ramps had a sound delay. A cowboy shot on the screen would fall dead off his horse before the people in back heard the shot! The screen was similar ro many Texas drive ins built by Landsman Theatres in the 40s, including the Mission Drive In in San Antonio. There was mural with a neon palm tree on the back of the screen tower building. The Alamo fell into disrepair in it’s later years. I worked there it’s last summer in 1972. It was demolished in the Fall of 1972. The news filmed the tearing down of the screen. The anchors were cut, and cables were attached to the corners of the screen inside the theatre, and it was just pulled over! It came down in a huge cloud of dust!
The North Star Cinema was originally built free-standing in the North Star Mall parking lot. Later a Joskes store was built free-standing just 300 yards or so east of the Cinema. In 1969 North Star Mall enlarged and engulfed North Star Cinema and Joskes, and they both ended up inside the mall, surrounded by other stores and businesses.
The cheerleader tossed a megaphone.
The Varsity was built by the same people that built the Josephine indoor theatre. They were projectionists in the local union, and it showed, because the Josephine and the Varsity were outfitted with the very best projection equipment of their time! The Varsity’s screen was enlarged to full CinemaScope width with the advent of wide screen projection, and was one of the largest drive in screens in San Antonio. The Varsity always did brisk business, and I find it to be one of the drive ins that have some of the most fond memories from people I talk to.
The Josephine was one of many neighborhood theatres that sprang up after World War II. It held around 750 seats, and had a green curtain in front of it’s screen. There was no balcony. The auditorium had three back lit glass etchings of nursery rhyme characters on each side wall. The seats had padded armrests. There was a drinking fountain on the back wall of the auditorium. The Josephine went to running X rated movies in the 1970s, and the few times it tried to revert back to regular fare, it didn’t do well. It finally closed, and the theatre was refurbished into a legitimate playhouse. It is doing very well, and the shows put on there are VERY well done! Although the Josephine was probably the least elegant of all the neighborhood theatres of it’s time, it is still shining as an entertainment venue whhile the others are demolished, or being used as other businesses.
The “Fred. Road”, as it was usually called opened in 1940. This was before the advent of in car speakers. The lot had speakers under grates. One would park over the grate and the sound would come up through the floorboard! When the In Car Speaker made it’s debut in 1946, the Fred. Road was finally outfitted with this revolutionary development. The original manager of the Fred. Road lived on the property and stayed on the job until his death in the mid 70s! His wife stayed on as assistant manager, and lived on the property until her death a few years later.
The Northwest was originally a sixplex built in 1976. They added four screens in the early 80s, and built the four screen annex in the late 80s.
It was once the premier theatre in San Antonio. The annex is usually closed. The ten in the main building are always in operation. The 10 screens were converted (badly) to stadium seating in the late 90s. The annex is still sloped.
Check it out! It’s a great forum for discussion of everything movie!
Are you talking about Powers BRAND projectors? Their value would be determined by the condition they’re in. They would be very old! If you just have power projectors, meaning they run with a motor, it would depend on the brand and condition.
The BX-60 is one of my favorite projectors of all time! I have an immaculate 1951 BX-60, RCA 9030, RCA base, and Brenket Enarc with less than 1000 hours runnig time on it! I have lots of experience with the BX-60. I would be delighted to troubleshoot it or help you out.
movie534, your theater beginnings almost mirror mine. General Cinema was a class act back then. I learned showmanship, and found love for the theater through the manager there. He was a very colorful character, and a showman’s showman! He taught me everything from cleaning an auditorium to merchandising and advertising. I worked my way up quickly to assistant manager. The union projectionists in the booth soon became friends, and my interest went to the projection end. I eventually learned the ART of good projection, and became a working member of the IATSE. North Star had Century JJ2s in Cinema II, and Century SAs in Cinema I. Ashcraft Cinex Specials using 13.6 carbons lit our large “shadowbox” screens VERY well!
When the union fell on hard times, the education I got as an usher and assistant manager years before got me into management, and i manged some very nice independently owned theaters.
Now it looks like only the big chains that may have heard of showmanship, but aren’t sure of what it means have the theatre business hostage. Get ‘em in, and get 'em out quickly and at the highest possible profit has taken the place of showmanship, and all the pride and romance out of the theatre business.
I don’t go to the movies much anymore. The few times I have gone, sometimes there isn’t even a ticket taker, let alone an usher! The person selling tickets with tattoos, piercings and a sneer sell me and tear my ticket. If I can afford to buy concession items, the ticket seller’s siblings seem to wait on me. I find the auditorium I want, and climb up the stadium seating layout, then my ears are assaulted by loud and overly long COMMERCIALS, and then the movie finally starts.
I miss the days of large single screen theatres! The North Star Cinema twin where I worked was the first “multiplex” in San Antonio. They were run as different theatres though, with separate boxoffices, restroom facilities (VERY NICE ONES AT THAT!). snack bar facings, and PLENTY of help to wait on the customer.
Reading about the theatres that have just opened without projection rooms has made me even more nostalgic for the old days.
I became an usher at the North Star Cinema I&II in October 1968 here in San Antonio, TX. FORTY YEARS AGO! I am so old! We wore blue blazers, white shirt with bowtie, and tuxedo pants. We had the roadshow engagement of “2001: A Space Odyssey” playing in 70mm when I started. It was a reserved seat engagement. Our shoes were expected to be shined, our hair clean and short. We were paid a whopping 75 cents an hour when minimum wage was $1.60! We ran reserved seat roadshows at North Star until the autumn of 1969. The final roadshow was “Oliver!” For the regular run features at least one usher was expected to stand in the back of the auditorium monitoring picture, sound, temperature, and the audience. I LOVED every minute of the job, and the era I worked. I have been out of the theater business for 14 years now, and I miss it VERY much, but I would not want to work in today’s theaters, or theatre companies.
I was a union projectionist for 12 years. I put on the finest show possible. Showmanship showed in everything I did, from the cleanliness of the projection room, and equipment to the opening of the curtain, the changeovers were flawlessly made, and the equipment was maintained to the letter. Unfortunately we went by the “seniority system”, and a lot of slackers that had been around for a long time got the better theatres. As automation set in, many could not “get it”, and many shows were lost due to incompetence. There were also MANY archaic items in the union contracts that definitely did not coincide with the times. Attitudes were poor, tension between management was high, dirty tricks abounded at contract time. We were seen more as a liability than an asset. Our local disbanded in the late 80s. What was once an honorable trade has has become a job for the high school kid. Newer automation has made the job easy, and kids that are the age of ushers often run megaplex projection rooms now. I see parllels in the aut industry too. They are running themselves out of their jobs too, just as the projectionist locals did.
I was the city manager for Cinemas Southwest Theatres and opened the Ivy Twin in late October, 1974. We opened with “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” in 3D in Cinema I and “2001: A Space Odyssey” in Cinema II. Cinema I’s feature was rated X, and the Baylor University police parked in front of the theatre on opening night watching who was going to that show! The auditorioms were done in red soundfold, and had red American Seating chairs. A small stage was in front of each screen. There were separate rest room facilities for each theatre, and the snack bar divided the lobby, so changing screens was not very easy. The projection rooms sported Ballantyne projectors and soundheads and Christie console Xenon lamps.
I came up with the poem,
Because when I got home
from a multiplex theatre in town,
My ears were ringing from WAY too loud digital sound!
I’ve been out of the business now for 13 years,
and when I left it, I did shed some tears,
But the way the business has changed in this decade or so,
I realize that it was best that I did go.
I look back fondly at the cinema’s glory days,
but they were so long ago they’re beginning to haze
DVDs, Home Theatre have taken the place
of the movie show theatre once filled with grace.
It’s always nice to have differing views, but going for the dirt does absolutely no good. A person that uses vulgar language, racial slurs, or forms a vendetta against someone is seldom taken seriously anyway. I am relatively new to this site, and until now, the only distasteful things I have run across are a few of the answers to this topic.
I hope this site goes on for a long time. It’s a great place for old showmen to get together and remember the good old days. Having discord really takes away the fun.
The Woodlawn is being renovated. I was there a few days ago. It has been completely gutted. The stage has been greatly enlarged. The balcony theatre which was built in 1975 has been removed and it is now a wonderful balcony again! The “satellite projection booth” that was hanging from the ceiling for the big downstairs auditorium has been demolished. The new owner is going to have plays on stage, and occasionally run film. When the big screen gets lit up again, it will be from the original projection room! Nice seats are to be installed, as well as some top notch projection equpment. The wonderful glass bricks that were covered up with the “renovation” in 1975 have been uncovered, and are once again giving the Woodlawn an elegant flair.
The Ingram 6 was the third and final theatre built by United Artists Theatres in San Antonio. It had three nice sized auditoriums and three small ones. Like the UA Movies 4 in South Park Mall, and the UA Cine Cinco in Windsor Park Mall, the UA Ingram 6 had blue American Seating chairs and white Soundfold with blue soundfold accents on the side walls. The large auditoriums had 5 rows with American Seating rocking chair seats, and when the theatre first opened 50 cents more per ticket was charged for the privilege of sitting in one! That policy was quickly abandoned. The Ingram 6 didn’t stay around long. It was outlived by it’s older sisters on the Northeast and South sides of town!
The Guadalupe reopened in early 1972 as the Aztlan Theatre. The then owner of the Empire cleaned it up nicely and tried running American double features there. It did not do well. I saw “WUSA” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward at the Aztlan. My best memory of the theatre was the ornate floor in the lobby, and a beautiful light blue traveler curtain that flowed gracefully when opened or closed. The projection room was outfitted with some ANCIENT Simplex Standard projectors. Even so, the picture quality was quite good. The only way up to the projection room was by a ladder fastened to the wall. It made getting the film up to it quite a chore! By 1973 the theatre was closed, and became the Guadalupe again.
The Trail was the first drive in built with In Car Speakers. It was similar to the Fredericksburg Road drive in as it was built by the same company. Unfortunately the Trail suffered the same indignity of the Fred. Road and was turned to a porno theatre in it’s last years. It was a very sad end to one of the great theatres in San Antonio.
The Towne Twin was a VERY nice drive in. It had large (55x110) CinemaScope screens that were made of plaster. The light on the screens was very good. The two projection rooms sat atop the snack bar and were mostly glass and resembled airplane control towers. The snack bar originally had dining booths, and was open during the day as a restaurant. The Towne Twin was never a big money maker. Although it was right on the highway you had to go through a residential area to get to the boxoffice. The large ornate marquee was on WW White near “The Farmer’s Daughter” night club.
Most people liked the Aztec and Majestic better than the Texas. They were more ornate in their own ways, but the Texas was my favorite of all. It was elegant. It had an orchestra pit, stage, and a beautiful red curtain in front of it’s massive screen. It had a HUGE chandelier above the second balcony, and the “colored” balcony which sat above the projection room had eight small Tiffany style chandeliers. The acoustics were fantastic. Even in the highest perch, the sound was crisp and clear. I explored every nook and cranny in that theatre and found all sorts of hidden rooms, and lots of neat old memorabilia. It is a shame that a jewel like the Texas was demolished, and a much lesser theatre like the Empire was saved.
The Judson 4 was owned and operated by the late Maurice Braha. The snack bar was very nice, and had a good assortment of delicious food. The projection room was state of the art, and was even air conditioned! The screens were smaller than most modern drive ins, but the picture quality was good. The lots were not paved, and a lot of dust was kicked up when it was dry. The Judson was the last drive in built in San Antonio, and had the shortest life span.
The Hi-Ho’s owners lived in an apartment upstairs in the theatre. The theatre did fair business at first, but television really hurt the theatre in the late 40s and early 50s. It was set up to run 3-D movies, but that never took off, and the only types of films that brought in any kind of crowd were risque movies. The Archdicese of San Antonio called for a boycott of the Hi-Ho, and that finally did it in. The Hi-Ho was so named because it was between the Highlands and Hot Wells neighborhoods. The Hi-Ho had a sister theatre in Mathis, Texas called the IT.
A friend of mine has one of the Todd A-O projectors from the Broadway. They were the very finest projectors ever made. Every gear and bearing are the originals.
The Broadway had Todd A-O projectors installed for the first run of “Around The World In 80 Days”. Todd A-O was 70mm projection that ran 30 frames per second as opposed to the normal 24 frames per second. One of the original Brenkert BX-80 setups was left installed to run cartoons and 35mm coming attractions before the great 70mm show. The Broadway ran some of the biggest movies through the 1970s including “The Exorcist” and “Jaws”. There would be lines around the theatre for people to buy tickets for the blockbusters! There was a green curtain in front of the Broadway’s big screen. The houselights were simple stainless steel chandeliers that projected the light upward to the ceiling. There were lights on the side walls too. The Broadway also had a satellite snack bar on the mezzanine to the balcony.
The Alamo was opened before the advent of in car speakers, and had a large horn type speaker below the screen. This set up made problems with neighbors, and also the people in the back ramps had a sound delay. A cowboy shot on the screen would fall dead off his horse before the people in back heard the shot! The screen was similar ro many Texas drive ins built by Landsman Theatres in the 40s, including the Mission Drive In in San Antonio. There was mural with a neon palm tree on the back of the screen tower building. The Alamo fell into disrepair in it’s later years. I worked there it’s last summer in 1972. It was demolished in the Fall of 1972. The news filmed the tearing down of the screen. The anchors were cut, and cables were attached to the corners of the screen inside the theatre, and it was just pulled over! It came down in a huge cloud of dust!
The North Star Cinema was originally built free-standing in the North Star Mall parking lot. Later a Joskes store was built free-standing just 300 yards or so east of the Cinema. In 1969 North Star Mall enlarged and engulfed North Star Cinema and Joskes, and they both ended up inside the mall, surrounded by other stores and businesses.
The cheerleader tossed a megaphone.
The Varsity was built by the same people that built the Josephine indoor theatre. They were projectionists in the local union, and it showed, because the Josephine and the Varsity were outfitted with the very best projection equipment of their time! The Varsity’s screen was enlarged to full CinemaScope width with the advent of wide screen projection, and was one of the largest drive in screens in San Antonio. The Varsity always did brisk business, and I find it to be one of the drive ins that have some of the most fond memories from people I talk to.
The Josephine was one of many neighborhood theatres that sprang up after World War II. It held around 750 seats, and had a green curtain in front of it’s screen. There was no balcony. The auditorium had three back lit glass etchings of nursery rhyme characters on each side wall. The seats had padded armrests. There was a drinking fountain on the back wall of the auditorium. The Josephine went to running X rated movies in the 1970s, and the few times it tried to revert back to regular fare, it didn’t do well. It finally closed, and the theatre was refurbished into a legitimate playhouse. It is doing very well, and the shows put on there are VERY well done! Although the Josephine was probably the least elegant of all the neighborhood theatres of it’s time, it is still shining as an entertainment venue whhile the others are demolished, or being used as other businesses.
The “Fred. Road”, as it was usually called opened in 1940. This was before the advent of in car speakers. The lot had speakers under grates. One would park over the grate and the sound would come up through the floorboard! When the In Car Speaker made it’s debut in 1946, the Fred. Road was finally outfitted with this revolutionary development. The original manager of the Fred. Road lived on the property and stayed on the job until his death in the mid 70s! His wife stayed on as assistant manager, and lived on the property until her death a few years later.