Strand Theatre
112 West Main Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73102
112 West Main Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73102
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Opened in November 1908 as the Olympic Theatre, it was located on West Main Street off Broadway. Renamed Strand Theatre from May 19, 1915, as a five cent cinema, but on rare occasions management would add to the program a vaudeville act, or two.
On October 28, 1917, the Strand changed directions when it switched over to the staging of Grand Opera, at substantially higher prices.
By March, 1918, the Strand had gone back to showing motion pictures, and remained a twenty cents a seat movie house until it died in February, 1920.
During sweltering summer months Strand advertisements stressed that the interior provided mechanically chilled air, “cool breezes bathe your body in pure comfort.”
It is probable that the Strand Theatre was housed in the former (1906) Bijou Vaudeville Theatre. Since this has not yet been established beyond a reasonable doubt the Strand has been submitted under its own listing. Tell us what you know!
Contributed by
Royce
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
This site has lots of facts on the Strand Theatre. Explore the free search option to discover fascinating news articles and photos about anything you’re interested in,
http://www.newsok.com/
IF the Strand and Bijou occupied the same theater, it may have been in the building located above the letter K in this vintage postcard view of Oklahoma City. Looks like a modern facade had been added somewhere along the line. Most of the buildings seen in this shot were torn down during the 1970’s,
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Study of old newspaper ads reveal that the Bijou and Strand were in fact one and the same.
According to Oklahoman ads and articles (11/10/1908, 11/11/1908), the Olympic Theater’s address was 112 W. Main; Strand items began appearing 10/22/1916 and show the same address, so apparently the Olympic became the Strand. The Bijou photo postcard in Terry Griffith’s Statehood to 1930 shows it being on Main but 2 or 3 doors east of Broadway.
I now see Oklahoman items indicating that the “Strand” or “New” Strand" opened in May 1915. Office rooms above the theater were advertised for rent with an address of 112 ½ W. Main. I found nothing indicating that it ever had an “East” Main address, only “West.”
OKC Strand and Olympic Theatre were one and the same cinema. Quote taken from above, “Opened in November 1908 as the Olympic Theatre, it was located on West Main Street off Broadway. Renamed Strand Theatre from May 19, 1915,”