Family Theater

1311 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA

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lostmemory
lostmemory on May 11, 2009 at 12:06 pm

LOL

I wonder what the subject of the photo was. Maybe the photographer was trying to a photo of the bus.

Chuck1231
Chuck1231 on May 11, 2009 at 8:32 am

That photo is meaningless with the bus blocking the theatre.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 9, 2009 at 8:12 pm

This is the theater building in 1960. Unfortunately the bus is blocking the view of the marquee.
http://tinyurl.com/qmhbvl

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 9, 2009 at 8:05 pm

This 1911 photo shows the Fairyland Theater at 1311 Market:
http://tinyurl.com/o57mmg

Chuck1231
Chuck1231 on April 17, 2009 at 5:15 am

1986 photo of the Family Theatre.
View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 18, 2008 at 4:00 pm

I remember this theater from the early eighties. The area around Reading Terminal was pretty shabby at that time. It appears that there have been a lot of improvements since.

lostmemory
lostmemory on January 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm

The PAB website has another photo.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 18, 2008 at 3:28 pm

This is a photo from the Philadelphia Architects & Buildings site. The quality of the photo is not the best, unfortunately. Since Frank Rizzo was running for mayor, as seen in the second floor placard, the shot may be circa early 1970s. The photo is from the Irvin Glazer theater collection:
http://tinyurl.com/yst3vn

lostmemory
lostmemory on September 17, 2007 at 2:59 pm

A Kimball theater organ was installed in the Family Theater in 1917.

Chuck1231
Chuck1231 on February 27, 2005 at 5:50 am

The Family theatre opened in 1911 and was remodeled in 1931 with William H. Lee as the Architect. Seating after the remodel was 547.

RickB
RickB on May 6, 2004 at 5:09 pm

This theater opened as the Family Theatre in the late 1920s. By the early ‘30s it was already being described in print as a grind house. In the '50s it was staying open all night, and the Shore Patrol declared it off limits to Naval personnel. After a homicide in the theater in 1969, the police reported finding a number of weapons stashed around the auditorium, as well as large quantities of empty bottles and discarded food. Later that year the name was changed to the Apollo, supposedly to commemorate the moon landing.
The booking policy eventually shifted from last-run features to adult films. After the Convention Center was built in the area the Apollo’s location became more valuable and the building it was in was sold and demolished in the late 1990s.