Vogue Theater

The Vogue was renamed Cinema 7 in the Seventies, why, I do not know since it never had any more than one screen. It was a simple streamline moderne house. It last ran bargain double features, closing circa 1984. Sharp eyes can still see it was once a theatre, though marquee and entrance were replaced by typical mid-Eighties postmodern stuccowork.

The Vogue Theatre is located at 517 S. Main Street, it seated 643 people.

I lived in Salinas from 1961 to 1972. I don't recall any theater called The Vogue. I did, however, see dozens of films at the El Rey Theatre which was probably located at 512 S. Main. All three of Salinas's theaters were located on the east side of Main St. The Crystal was the northernmost, the El Rey the southernmost and the Fox located between the two.

Actually, none of the facade is original. The building facade now looks more like a theatre than when it was a theatre. Along the north wall, next to the Kinko's Copy Store, windows have been cut into the second floor level concrete. The former Vogue building stands between John and Winham streets on Main Street.

It was described above as "simple streamline". That was being very kind. It was easily the least memorable of the downtown theatres. I was last in the Vogue, in 1973 and remember it well...I remember the theatre far better than whatever film we were watching!

The theatre did not become Cinema 7 until about 1975 or so. It was always a single screen. The theatre was owned by RTC Theatres of Hayward who also (at the time) owned all the other downtown Salinas theatres and still own the Fox.

I remember the Vogue as the last ditch effort by the boys from IATSE to convince the fine citizens of Salinas to honor a picket line. I think they had the line up for a couple of years.

I also lived in Salinas from 1960 to 1979. Am I losing my mind or is this the Globe Theater? When I was 12-14 my paper route was all of downtown Salinas from the Californian building, Main Street, Monterey Street, etc. I remember almost every building in that area and what they looked like.

This is from Boxoffice magazine in October 1961:

SALINAS, CALIF.-Downtown Salinas will soon sparkle with a new theater when the old Vogue, dark and empty for two years, is reopened as the new Globe International by Kindair Corp. of Monterey.

Kindair, headed by Kirke Erskine and Bruce Matson, also owns and operates the Steinbeck and Hill theaters in Monterey, both first-run art houses. The Globe will also be an art house.

Matson will manage the new theater. Erskine will handle the designing end of the project. The theater, which originally seated 650, will be reduced to 450 luxury seats.

The theater building was completely gutted by its new owners. Reopening of the theater will mark the first new theater in Salinas in eight years. Matson said the theater will be furnished "in absolute luxury" and will have one of the most modern concession stands in Northern California. Erskine, who designed the Monterey Steinbeck Theater, is supervising the interior and exterior renovation.

The October 3, 1936, issue of Boxoffice ran an item about all three local movie houses in Salinas reopening after having been closed during riots related to a lettuce workers strike. The three theaters were the Crystal, the Fox, and the El Rey.

The Vogue opened three years later. The August 5, 1939, issue of Boxoffice carried this single-line item: "Homer Techmeyer's new Vogue Theatre in Salinas was opened with many local trade figures present."

So this was the Vogue Theatre from 1939 until (probably) 1959, the Globe International from its renovation in 1961 until about 1975 (and perhaps just Globe Theatre for part of that time), and Cinema 7 from then until closing in the 1980s.

Joe....Your comment was also saved to the Crump Theater page. This site has been doing some strange things lately.

I noticed that it took quite a while for that comment to get posted. I wonder if other comments are replicating?

Here's still more information about the Vogue, from the February 22, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The caption of a photograph of the Vogue's art moderne foyer lounge area attributes the design of the house to architect Vincent G Raney.

Raney also designed the Rodeo Theatre (later the Plaza Theatre) in the same city.

There are times when I post a comment and after reloading the page I find that the comment isn't there. At least it appears that way. That might explain why there are double and triple postings on one page. If people don't see the comment right away they believe that it wasn't saved and they post it again.

Growing up in Salinas in the 40's and 50's I remember the Vogue theater well. It was the local outlet for films from Universal Studios, and also showed lots of westerns, usually double-bills with Roy, Gene, and Lash LaRue.

The best thing about the Vogue was the popcorn! There was a large popcorn popper located to the left of the main entrance, with an outside window to serve walk-up customers on the sidewalk! You didn't have to endure those movies to enjoy their wonderful, buttery popcorn!