The lobby of Peoples Theater is now occupied by a group of Nuns who run a mighty fine Pizza Parlor there I’m told. All that’s left of Peoples Theater is the front two story lobby with apartments on the second floor This area however is considerably improved from just a year ago as a real effort is being made by the City and landlords to attract better healed tenants and condo owners to Vine and 13th. Street. It’s a pleasure to see improvements in an area that still has magnificent architecture waiting to be saved and used.
In 1910 Louis Mayer bought The Eagle Hotel in Haverhill for $30,000, razed the hotel , sold the land at a profit,moved to 185 Merrimack Street where he had The Colonial Theater constructed opening it Dec. 11,1911 with a seating capacity of 1.500 fannies. The Colonial Th. had a thirty piece orchestra to play for its silent features as well as presenting Opera and Vaudeville. So you see Louis’s first venture at The Orpheum was providing swell capital. In 1912 Mayer went on to purchase The Bijou in Haverhill.
According to a book about the reign of Louis Mayer of MGM this theater (The Lafayette) started as a burlesque theater called The Gem. This was Mayer’s first movie and vaudeville house which he bought in 1907, re-nameing it The Orpheum. After a through cleaning this venue opening Nov.28,1907 to excellent business and allowed Mayer to refurbish again in Sept.3,1908 calling it now The New Orpheum. From there he moved on to more adventures. The Lafayette was closed by 1954, a picture of Mayer standing in front of it looking rather forlorned about its closed appearance in 1954 is rather sad. As noted above it seated 600.
Thanks Ron, I wonder if this was one of the derelict theaters that I saw as late as the 1960’s while riding through Lawrence on the way to check out Ames Castle in Metheun?
Strand Th. on Walnut had a full stage for its earlier days were as a burlesque theater, but after a year the Strand became a moviehouse. From time to time the theater was the site of live vaudeville acts and movies on double bills. It was never a first run venue,although located right next to the Keiths theater on Walnut. Today in 2007 it is the site of a parking garage.
On January 7,1940 the ad for the Mayfair Cinema listed a film called,“Stolen Life”, starring a Ms. Bergner and a Mr. M.Redgrave. Unusually mentioned in the advert for this British flick was an offer of free coffee and cigarettes being served to the cinemas patrons in the lobby. Since WW2 had not begun for America there wasn’t any rationing of these staples,yet.
Oops slight date correction here, The Vogue theater was built in 1940 with the architect builder listed as Albert Harris. Opening ad for the Vogue was Oct. 12,1940 and the closing was Nov. 28,1967. Closing ad read ,“Thanks for 27 years of loyal patronage…Mrs. Chase.” I don’t know if Mrs. Chase was the owner or the manager of the Vogue. Theater site has long been a parking lot. Last film shown was entitled “The Slender Thread”‘ starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. The Vogue sometimes held an evening billed as “Book Night”’ whatever that was.
The Valley theater closed for good on Sept.3,1985, I don’t know when it had become a two screen house, but it closed its days as a $2 for Adults and $1 for childrens venue.
The pictures of Louis Wiethe’s Valley Theater 1949, in Roselawn ,a suburb of Cincinnati,Ohio ,look like his 71 foot aluminum pilon with oversized film reel may have borrowed something of a design element from the 1941 20th. Century ’s vertical, both of these structures must have been spectacular when lit at night.
The Westwood Th. was built by Louis Wiethe in 1940 as a single screen and only one of his string of 13 theater chain which were in Ohio and Kentucky. Wiethe was born in Westwood a suburb of Cincinnati in 1910.
The Valley Theater was built by F&Y Building Services out of Columbus,Ohio in 1949. Weithe’s other cinemas were the Westwood Th.,in Cincinnati,the Bond in Bond Hill,the Roselawn in Cincinnati,the Jackson Th. in Cincy,the Andulas in St. Bernard,Ohio. In Kentucky the Ludlow Th. in Ludlow,the Derby Th. in Latonia,after his Latonia Th. burned in 1939 he rebuilt it as the Kentucky Th. In 1941 he erected the Bard Th. in Louisville , a very busy fellow this Weithe.
In 1962 ,Cincinnati Theaters ,a holding company subleased the Valley Theater from Weithe and continued to run reserved seat road shows. Later Louis Weithe became President of the Fort Lauderdale Symphony in Florida. Cincinnati Theaters Company had a 13 house movie chain in 1962 which included the Keith’s Theater on Walnut Street in downtown Cincinnati. The Keiths never became an RKO house much to my amazement.It must have always been an independatly owned theater,surprisingly since all the downtown first run houses in the 30,40,50,60’s were RKO controlled. Perhaps someone can explain this oddity?
This was one of eight houses controlled by Louis Wiethe and certainly his biggest achievement. Lou Weithe died at age 92 in Florida in 2002. The Valley Theater featured road shows in its earliest days, I can remember seeing,“My Fair Lady”‘there with a packed house not long after it was released. The Valley had a stage for small variety acts and accomidations were included for early TV transmittion if it was going to be ulitized. The stage had two curtains in front of the movie screen, one rose vertically and the other horizontally. Weithe sold the Valley Th. in 1962 to Harold Poe, but Lou retained a lease on the Theater to continue running movies.
The name Dolly Varden was a character in a Charles Dickens novel entitled ,“Barnaby Rudge”,she was a locksmiths daughter and her flowered dress and hat gave its name to a popular womans outfit of the 19th century. Perhaps this is why the chocolate company and Dolly Varden Theater chose that name.
The F&Y Building Service Company went on to own many Drive-In Theaters in the Columbus and surrounding towns and cities.A present day Yassenoff my still own a couple of the Drive-Ins near Columbus.
Hello Joe Allen, Heres a chance to see a small glimpse of the Dolly Vardin Th. if you go to Cincinnati Memories web site and punch up theaters. The Vardin Th. lasted until after 1924 and was probably chased out of business by the expensive coming of sound picture projection.I’m told that the Dolly Vardin Candy Company lasted for many years after the cinemas demise so maybe the name Dolly Vardin Theater was choosen because people were familiar with the location of the confectionare . I’ve never been able to find an article about the closing of the theater or the candy company.The site of both the Theater and the candy company are vacant lots today.
The lobby of Peoples Theater is now occupied by a group of Nuns who run a mighty fine Pizza Parlor there I’m told. All that’s left of Peoples Theater is the front two story lobby with apartments on the second floor This area however is considerably improved from just a year ago as a real effort is being made by the City and landlords to attract better healed tenants and condo owners to Vine and 13th. Street. It’s a pleasure to see improvements in an area that still has magnificent architecture waiting to be saved and used.
In 1910 Louis Mayer bought The Eagle Hotel in Haverhill for $30,000, razed the hotel , sold the land at a profit,moved to 185 Merrimack Street where he had The Colonial Theater constructed opening it Dec. 11,1911 with a seating capacity of 1.500 fannies. The Colonial Th. had a thirty piece orchestra to play for its silent features as well as presenting Opera and Vaudeville. So you see Louis’s first venture at The Orpheum was providing swell capital. In 1912 Mayer went on to purchase The Bijou in Haverhill.
According to a book about the reign of Louis Mayer of MGM this theater (The Lafayette) started as a burlesque theater called The Gem. This was Mayer’s first movie and vaudeville house which he bought in 1907, re-nameing it The Orpheum. After a through cleaning this venue opening Nov.28,1907 to excellent business and allowed Mayer to refurbish again in Sept.3,1908 calling it now The New Orpheum. From there he moved on to more adventures. The Lafayette was closed by 1954, a picture of Mayer standing in front of it looking rather forlorned about its closed appearance in 1954 is rather sad. As noted above it seated 600.
The Vogue Cafe opened as Pinky’s in 1925.
Thanks Ron, I wonder if this was one of the derelict theaters that I saw as late as the 1960’s while riding through Lawrence on the way to check out Ames Castle in Metheun?
Strand Th. on Walnut had a full stage for its earlier days were as a burlesque theater, but after a year the Strand became a moviehouse. From time to time the theater was the site of live vaudeville acts and movies on double bills. It was never a first run venue,although located right next to the Keiths theater on Walnut. Today in 2007 it is the site of a parking garage.
The Liberty Th. closed July 18,1970. Original owner was L.B.Wilson who went on to great financial owning radio stations.
On January 7,1940 the ad for the Mayfair Cinema listed a film called,“Stolen Life”, starring a Ms. Bergner and a Mr. M.Redgrave. Unusually mentioned in the advert for this British flick was an offer of free coffee and cigarettes being served to the cinemas patrons in the lobby. Since WW2 had not begun for America there wasn’t any rationing of these staples,yet.
The Strand Th.opened Nov. 26,1914 with a 10 cent admission and hours of operation from 9am until 11pm.
In 1946 the Madison theater was a rebuild by F&Y Building Services out of Columbus,Ohio.
Oops slight date correction here, The Vogue theater was built in 1940 with the architect builder listed as Albert Harris. Opening ad for the Vogue was Oct. 12,1940 and the closing was Nov. 28,1967. Closing ad read ,“Thanks for 27 years of loyal patronage…Mrs. Chase.” I don’t know if Mrs. Chase was the owner or the manager of the Vogue. Theater site has long been a parking lot. Last film shown was entitled “The Slender Thread”‘ starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. The Vogue sometimes held an evening billed as “Book Night”’ whatever that was.
I do apologize for mispelling Mr Wiethe’s name it really is Wiethe, not Weithe.
The Valley theater closed for good on Sept.3,1985, I don’t know when it had become a two screen house, but it closed its days as a $2 for Adults and $1 for childrens venue.
This was another of the local theaters that Louis Wiethe bought in 1943 to add to his chain.
The pictures of Louis Wiethe’s Valley Theater 1949, in Roselawn ,a suburb of Cincinnati,Ohio ,look like his 71 foot aluminum pilon with oversized film reel may have borrowed something of a design element from the 1941 20th. Century ’s vertical, both of these structures must have been spectacular when lit at night.
The Westwood Th. was built by Louis Wiethe in 1940 as a single screen and only one of his string of 13 theater chain which were in Ohio and Kentucky. Wiethe was born in Westwood a suburb of Cincinnati in 1910.
The Valley Theater was built by F&Y Building Services out of Columbus,Ohio in 1949. Weithe’s other cinemas were the Westwood Th.,in Cincinnati,the Bond in Bond Hill,the Roselawn in Cincinnati,the Jackson Th. in Cincy,the Andulas in St. Bernard,Ohio. In Kentucky the Ludlow Th. in Ludlow,the Derby Th. in Latonia,after his Latonia Th. burned in 1939 he rebuilt it as the Kentucky Th. In 1941 he erected the Bard Th. in Louisville , a very busy fellow this Weithe.
Mr Weithe was the owner of the Mt. Healthy Drive-In and also the Kentucky Theater in Latonia, Kentucky.
In 1962 ,Cincinnati Theaters ,a holding company subleased the Valley Theater from Weithe and continued to run reserved seat road shows. Later Louis Weithe became President of the Fort Lauderdale Symphony in Florida. Cincinnati Theaters Company had a 13 house movie chain in 1962 which included the Keith’s Theater on Walnut Street in downtown Cincinnati. The Keiths never became an RKO house much to my amazement.It must have always been an independatly owned theater,surprisingly since all the downtown first run houses in the 30,40,50,60’s were RKO controlled. Perhaps someone can explain this oddity?
This was one of eight houses controlled by Louis Wiethe and certainly his biggest achievement. Lou Weithe died at age 92 in Florida in 2002. The Valley Theater featured road shows in its earliest days, I can remember seeing,“My Fair Lady”‘there with a packed house not long after it was released. The Valley had a stage for small variety acts and accomidations were included for early TV transmittion if it was going to be ulitized. The stage had two curtains in front of the movie screen, one rose vertically and the other horizontally. Weithe sold the Valley Th. in 1962 to Harold Poe, but Lou retained a lease on the Theater to continue running movies.
Seems to me there was a Latchis Theater and a Comiston Theater in Newport.N.H. both owned by the Latchis family, but this is only a guess.
The name Dolly Varden was a character in a Charles Dickens novel entitled ,“Barnaby Rudge”,she was a locksmiths daughter and her flowered dress and hat gave its name to a popular womans outfit of the 19th century. Perhaps this is why the chocolate company and Dolly Varden Theater chose that name.
The F&Y Building Service Company went on to own many Drive-In Theaters in the Columbus and surrounding towns and cities.A present day Yassenoff my still own a couple of the Drive-Ins near Columbus.
Hello Joe Allen, Heres a chance to see a small glimpse of the Dolly Vardin Th. if you go to Cincinnati Memories web site and punch up theaters. The Vardin Th. lasted until after 1924 and was probably chased out of business by the expensive coming of sound picture projection.I’m told that the Dolly Vardin Candy Company lasted for many years after the cinemas demise so maybe the name Dolly Vardin Theater was choosen because people were familiar with the location of the confectionare . I’ve never been able to find an article about the closing of the theater or the candy company.The site of both the Theater and the candy company are vacant lots today.
The Covedale Theater was constructed by F&Y Building Services out of Columbus,Ohio.