President Follies Theatre
60 McAllister Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
60 McAllister Street,
San Francisco,
CA
94102
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I am the surviving daughter of Eddie Skolak who owned the theater from the 1940’s till his death in 1960. My mother who was the surviving widow and ran it till 1963 (Cathy) is still alive as of this date. She is living on the San Mateo Coast. I have little bits of info. since I had been around ‘the theater’ (as we called it) from birth till age 16. The theater was bought by St. Boniface Church who boardered it on Golden Gate Ave. They had been after that property for yrs. saying that they wanted it to expand their school, I was told by my mother. My father fancied himself as another Flo Ziegfeld but never reached the heights that Mr. Ziegfeld (sic).did. My father moved out to SF from Chicago Il. where he was born in 1901. ‘The Theater’ was a problem for me growing up since the business sort of clashed with the Catholic Church. I attended Perochial School for eight yrs. and I was always treated sort of different by them because of it. I do not approve of the business but the actual theater was really something. I was pretty sad that it was never salvaged by some sort of historical group in SF to preserve it and maybe put in respectable plays, etc. I think that if it had been upgraded and refurbished it would have been really something to see. There was beautiful/ornate structural artistry to it. My father and mother had told me that it withstood the 1906 earthquake and fire but I really do not have any historical proof of that. When my mother sold much of the artwork from the inside of it before sale of the theater, there were some very valuable paintings and mirrors. It must have been a somewhat classy theater in it’s beginning.
In 1959, the President Follies Theatre was operating as one of the last real ‘Strip Tease’ parlours. It had a live three-piece band. It was not like any of the nude dancing or lap dancing parlours of today, but featured real strip tease, and was great place for college boys to hang out.
Contributed by William Gabel
Yes, I’m sure it was. And it was probably due to pretty faced strippers and tough bouncers. The counterpart, Market Street Cinema, boasts gang-bangers, drug sales and consumption, rampant stripper-customer sex, rip offs and the occasional visit from one of San Francisco’s Finest to ascertain that “everything is o.k.”.
The September, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer said that the Savoy Theatre was being extensively altered for conversion “…into a high class moving picture theatre….” Architects for the project were the Reid brothers.
I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the burlesque entertainer Nickie “The It Girl” Joy who worked at The President Follies in San Francisco. Ms. Joy is currently in the Comcast “Something Weird” free films. Ms. Joy is truely mesmerizing.
Here is a 1963 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ktpp26
1964 Photo
With all due respect to the 05/15/04 comment about Lon Chaney making his 1912 stage debut at this theater. Mr. Chaney’s first theatre job was in 1902 as a stage hand at Colorado Springs Opera House. Soon after he acted in a national tour stock company before settling for awhile in Oklahoma City to be near his beautiful 16 year-old sweetheart, Cleva Creighton. Around 1909 he appeared in his first film with Tom Mix at the Bison 101 Studios in Ponca City, OK.
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My late mother enjoyed reminiscing years ago about the time in the early 1940’s when my grandfather (her father) and another Armenian man decided to play a good-natured prank on a third Armenian man who was coming to SF to visit family. The third man was a rural rancher and somewhat naiive to City life. They told the rancher they were taking him to the movies, and into the President Follies they all marched, the rancher completely oblivious to the photos of all the bombshell attractions! When the music began and the first gal stepped onto the runway, the rancher was heard to exclaim, “AMAN!” which is Armenian for “Oh, my God!” He decided not to attract attention to himself by bolting from the theater, but I believe his sensibilities were somewhat offended and he was embarrassed to tears. It’s my understanding the famous Tempest Storm was one of the regular attractions at the President Follies.
More photos:
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From the SF Public Library website:
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A photo of this theater when it was called the Colonial is here:
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A photo of this theater when it was called the Savoy is here:
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And a photo of this theater when it was called the President is here:
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As the Colonial Theatre, construction began in 1905,
but was halted by the devastation of the April 1906 earthquake and fire.
Still named the Colonial, the theatre formally opened on October 6, 1906.
On December 12, 1909 it was renamed the Savoy,
In 1912, Lon Chaney is said to have made his stage debut there.
On September 30, 1913 it was renamed the Oriental,
and on October 14, 1916 it was renamed the Savoy again.
On September 27, 1922, it was renamed the Plaza,
and (finally) on May 14, 1925 it was renamed the President,
and remained so until it closed on September 5, 1963.
During the 1920’s the President was a popular legitimate theatre,
offering the live stage productions of the Henry Duffy company,
but the popularity of talking pictures and the stock market crash of 1929,
followed by the great depression, ended all that, and by
the mid-1930’s the President was offering double feature film programs for fifteen cents.
Burlesque saved the day in 1941 when Eddie Skolak turned it into
the President Follies, and as such it served San Francisco audiences
through the halcyon war years, the 1950’s and into the 1960’s.
After the death of Skolak, his widow sold the theatre, and on
September 5th, 1963 it terminated its lonely distinction as California’s last burlesque house.
It was torn down soon afterwards.
If my records are right this thetre was also known as the Savoy and Royal Theatre during its life.