This was another very early theater. Lloyd Palmer, who in 1924 took over the Iris Theatre in Postville, Iowa, had his start in show business as a musician at the Green Theatre in Anoka in 1915, according to a brief item about him in Boxoffice of November 5, 1955.
The Green Theatre was redecorated and got a new front in 1946, as reported in Boxoffice of June 1 that year.
Unless it was rebuilt or the name was moved at some time (I can’t find any indication that either of these took place) this was a very old theater. Lloyd Palmer took over the Iris in 1924, according to a brief article about him (center column, right page) in Boxoffice, November 5, 1955.
Mr.Palmer was not a big fan of musicals or costume dramas, judging from his letter to the editor (upper left) published in Boxoffice of February 11, 1956.
The Midway was still in operation as late as 1978. With Federal funds for its garage project delayed, the city of Camden decided to let the theater on a monthly lease to Marcos Cotto, who presented Spanish language movies at the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of July 10, 1978.
From Google satellite and street views it looks like this theater has been demolished. There is no building on that block with anything that looks like an auditorium or former auditorium. Historic Aerials has nothing before 2007 for the location.
I don’t think this theater was ever the Victoria. The Victoria (which opened in 1910) and the Embassy were in operation at the same time in the 1930s and 1940s, and the Victoria and the Astor were both in operation during the early 1950s. The Embassy did become the Astor, right around 1950. Also the Victoria was about twice the size of the Embassy or the Astor. I don’t know if the Victoria is listed here under a later name or not. If it is, it’s missing the Victoria aka. I’ve been unable to discover an address for it.
Here is a 1950 Boxoffice article about the reopening of the Victoria that year (lower right corner of page.) The Victoria was a Famous Players house. The Embassy/Astor was operated by Ben Ulster during this period.
An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.
A boxoffice item of February, 1983, gave the seating capacity of the Forest Park Theatres 1-2-3 (apparently the name when it opened) as 1,800, with two auditoriums of 500 seats and one of 800. All three were equipped for 70mm projection.
Probably a 1946 opening for this house. Boxoffice of June 1 that year said in an item datelined Kinmundy, Ill., “H.S. Butler and H.S. Butler jr., who built the new Sando Theatre in Sandoval, have purchased a site for a new theatre in this town.”
The Merry Widow Theatre occupied four different locations over the years, according to an article in Boxoffice of August 7, 1943. The first was a 99-seat nickelodeon opened in 1906 by George and Harry Hayes. It was at the corner of Chouteau Avenue and Dillon Street (the exact location is from a later Boxoffice item.) The Hayeses later moved the theater to a 250-seat location down the block. At an unspecified date, a new operator, John P. Murphy, opened the third Merry Widow, now with 485 seats, at 1435 Chouteau Avenue.
Sam Komm opened the New Merry Widow Theatre on March 21, 1942, reported in Boxoffice of March 28 that year. He had taken over the third Merry Widow a few months earlier.
The name of the theater was the result of a contest held by George and Harry Hayes in 1906, and was the submission of nine-year-old Lester Bona, who went on to become a film distributor.
I’ve been unable to find anything in Boxoffice about the 1947 fire. It isn’t mentioned in this web log post about the Merry Widow, either.
According to a report in Boxoffice of July 23, 1938, the general contractor for the Massac Theatre, Ed Barenfanger of Salem, Illinois, expected that the theater could be opened by late August or early September. There is today a Barenfanger Construction Company operating in Vandalia, Illinois. I wonder if it could be the successor firm of Ed Barenfanger’s operation and, if so, they might have old records about the Massac project?
I’ve been unable to find any mention in Boxoffice of the name of the architect of the Massac, but this web log post by Michael R. Allen, about the Merry Widow Theatre in St. Louis, points out the similarity between that house and the Massac, pictured in this web log post about the latter theater by the same author. Could the 1938 Massac have been designed by St. Louis architect Jack Shawcross, who designed the New Merry Widow a few years later?
The Office for Metropolitan History’s building permits database lists a permit for a project at 2182-2186 Broadway issued in 1913. A two-story brick theatre and stores on a lot 55'x130' was designed by New Jersey architect Fred Robbin Jr., for an Eva J. Coe.
The New York City building permits database has a new building listed for this address in 1912. It was a “1-st[or]y theatre and moving picture show” designed by architect H.B. Herts for a Mr. William E. D. Stokes. The cost listed for the project was $35,000.
If the Carlton was this 1912 project, it would have been either Herts as the sole architect, or Herts with Herbert J. Krapp (though the database entry doesn’t list Krapp) as Herts and Hugh Tallant had dissolved their partnership by 1911, but Krapp, once an apprentice at their firm, continued to work with Herts until 1915.
I’ve been unable to find in the database any mention of a building designed by Raymond Irrera at this address. Perhaps he was responsible a remodeling job.
This was another very early theater. Lloyd Palmer, who in 1924 took over the Iris Theatre in Postville, Iowa, had his start in show business as a musician at the Green Theatre in Anoka in 1915, according to a brief item about him in Boxoffice of November 5, 1955.
The Green Theatre was redecorated and got a new front in 1946, as reported in Boxoffice of June 1 that year.
Unless it was rebuilt or the name was moved at some time (I can’t find any indication that either of these took place) this was a very old theater. Lloyd Palmer took over the Iris in 1924, according to a brief article about him (center column, right page) in Boxoffice, November 5, 1955.
Mr.Palmer was not a big fan of musicals or costume dramas, judging from his letter to the editor (upper left) published in Boxoffice of February 11, 1956.
The Midway was still in operation as late as 1978. With Federal funds for its garage project delayed, the city of Camden decided to let the theater on a monthly lease to Marcos Cotto, who presented Spanish language movies at the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of July 10, 1978.
From Google satellite and street views it looks like this theater has been demolished. There is no building on that block with anything that looks like an auditorium or former auditorium. Historic Aerials has nothing before 2007 for the location.
A glimpse of the auditorium of the Flower Theatre on the cover of Boxoffice, October 7, 1950.
A view of the auditorium is one of two photos of the Crest featured in an ad for Heywood-Wakefield theater seats in Boxoffice of October 7, 1950.
Thanks for clearing up the confusion.
I don’t think this theater was ever the Victoria. The Victoria (which opened in 1910) and the Embassy were in operation at the same time in the 1930s and 1940s, and the Victoria and the Astor were both in operation during the early 1950s. The Embassy did become the Astor, right around 1950. Also the Victoria was about twice the size of the Embassy or the Astor. I don’t know if the Victoria is listed here under a later name or not. If it is, it’s missing the Victoria aka. I’ve been unable to discover an address for it.
Here is a 1950 Boxoffice article about the reopening of the Victoria that year (lower right corner of page.) The Victoria was a Famous Players house. The Embassy/Astor was operated by Ben Ulster during this period.
The Jefferson Drive-In was designed by Jack Corgan. The architect’s rendering appeared in Boxoffice of December 2, 1950.
An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
The auditorium of the Odeon Ottawa was on the cover of Boxoffice, December 2, 1950.
A photo of the lobby of the Garmar was featured on the frontispiece of Boxoffice Magazine’s Modern Theatre section, December 2, 1950.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.
A boxoffice item of February, 1983, gave the seating capacity of the Forest Park Theatres 1-2-3 (apparently the name when it opened) as 1,800, with two auditoriums of 500 seats and one of 800. All three were equipped for 70mm projection.
The February 4, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the Carver Theatre in St. Louis was to be remodeled. The plans were by architect Jack Shawcross.
Probably a 1946 opening for this house. Boxoffice of June 1 that year said in an item datelined Kinmundy, Ill., “H.S. Butler and H.S. Butler jr., who built the new Sando Theatre in Sandoval, have purchased a site for a new theatre in this town.”
The Merry Widow Theatre occupied four different locations over the years, according to an article in Boxoffice of August 7, 1943. The first was a 99-seat nickelodeon opened in 1906 by George and Harry Hayes. It was at the corner of Chouteau Avenue and Dillon Street (the exact location is from a later Boxoffice item.) The Hayeses later moved the theater to a 250-seat location down the block. At an unspecified date, a new operator, John P. Murphy, opened the third Merry Widow, now with 485 seats, at 1435 Chouteau Avenue.
Sam Komm opened the New Merry Widow Theatre on March 21, 1942, reported in Boxoffice of March 28 that year. He had taken over the third Merry Widow a few months earlier.
The name of the theater was the result of a contest held by George and Harry Hayes in 1906, and was the submission of nine-year-old Lester Bona, who went on to become a film distributor.
I’ve been unable to find anything in Boxoffice about the 1947 fire. It isn’t mentioned in this web log post about the Merry Widow, either.
According to a report in Boxoffice of July 23, 1938, the general contractor for the Massac Theatre, Ed Barenfanger of Salem, Illinois, expected that the theater could be opened by late August or early September. There is today a Barenfanger Construction Company operating in Vandalia, Illinois. I wonder if it could be the successor firm of Ed Barenfanger’s operation and, if so, they might have old records about the Massac project?
I’ve been unable to find any mention in Boxoffice of the name of the architect of the Massac, but this web log post by Michael R. Allen, about the Merry Widow Theatre in St. Louis, points out the similarity between that house and the Massac, pictured in this web log post about the latter theater by the same author. Could the 1938 Massac have been designed by St. Louis architect Jack Shawcross, who designed the New Merry Widow a few years later?
Try Google Books&client=opera&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q=nassau&f=false). P.97.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s building permits database lists a permit for a project at 2182-2186 Broadway issued in 1913. A two-story brick theatre and stores on a lot 55'x130' was designed by New Jersey architect Fred Robbin Jr., for an Eva J. Coe.
The New York City building permits database has a new building listed for this address in 1912. It was a “1-st[or]y theatre and moving picture show” designed by architect H.B. Herts for a Mr. William E. D. Stokes. The cost listed for the project was $35,000.
If the Carlton was this 1912 project, it would have been either Herts as the sole architect, or Herts with Herbert J. Krapp (though the database entry doesn’t list Krapp) as Herts and Hugh Tallant had dissolved their partnership by 1911, but Krapp, once an apprentice at their firm, continued to work with Herts until 1915.
I’ve been unable to find in the database any mention of a building designed by Raymond Irrera at this address. Perhaps he was responsible a remodeling job.
The New York City building permits database has an entry for a 3-story theater at 11-13 W. 116th Street, built in 1910. The architect was S. S. Sugar.