While the Hawarden Theatre is listed (without an address) in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, Polk’s 1914 Iowa Gazetteer lists only one movie theater (the Lyric) and the opera house (Brunskill Opera House, David Brunskill, propr.) at Hawarden. Items in theater industry trade journals indicate that Lyric was a new name for the Hawarden Theatre, but not in 1914. The earliest mention of the Lyric in Hawarden I’ve found in the trades is from Moving Picture World of March 6, 1915, which says that the Hawarden Theatre had recently changed hands and would be renamed the Lyric. But I do wonder how a name change from 1915 ended up in the 1914 Gazetteer?
In any case, after that March 6, 1915 item, Lyric is the only theater name I’ve found associated with Hawarden in the trade journals for the next few years, and the last of those mention, in MPW of January 4, 1919, says that the Lyric had “…burned to the ground….” Is there any indication of the building at 804 Central having burned? It most likely would have been only whatever was between the brick side walls. Roof and floors were usually built of wood in those old commercial buildings.
Polk’s 1914 Iowa Gazetteer lists only one movie theater (the Lyric) and the opera house (Brunskill Opera House, David Brunskill, propr.) at Hawarden. Items in theater industry trade journals indicate that Lyric was a new name for the Hawarden Theatre, but not until early 1915, so I don’t know how it got named in the 1914 Gazetteer.
This house at 906 Central might not have opened until after the 1914 Gazetteer went to press, so didn’t get listed that year, but this might be the house called the Electric Theatre that was listed (along with the Lyric) in the 1918 Gazetteer. An Electric Theatre was listed in the 1912 Gazetteer, but as it wasn’t listed in 1914 it must have been a different house. Perhaps it was an earlier name for the Hawarden/Lyric Theatre.
700 might have been a mistake by the FDYs. The 1908 Polk Iowa Gazetteer lists the Buffalo Center Opera House with 400 seats. I’ve been unable to re-find the web page that said the museum was in the old Opera House. I didn’t check for a date on it, so the source might have been obsolete.
Sadly, the only theater I’ve been able to find mentioned at Estherville in the trade journals or the directories available online is the Grand. This other theater wasn’t there in 1914-1915 and was gone by 1926, and there aren’t any Estherville newspapers from that period online. For now, this house seems likely to remain nameless.
Tiny Buffalo Center had no fewer than four movie theaters listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory: the Dreamland Theatre, the Lyric Theatre, the Opera House, and the Star Theatre.
The Opera House building is still standing and now houses a museum. It operated as a movie house in the late 1920s, listed as the 700-seat Opera House in the 1926 FDY and as the 700-seat Community Theatre by 1929. The Community was listed as late as 1931, with an asterisk denoting it as a silent house, but in 1932 it is gone.
The July 26, 1932 Film Daily has this item: “Buffalo Center — New Iowa, sold to H. M. Johnson by R. M. Enders.” The house was double listed as both the New Iowa and the Regent in the 1931 FDY. Buffalo Center had not been listed at all in the 1930 FDY.
The house became merely the Iowa Theatre in its later years. The October 30, 1954 issue of Boxoffice said that Charles Recker had celebrated his 20th year running the Iowa Theatre at Buffalo Center on October 12, which was also his birthday.
The March 4, 1911 issue of The Motion Picture News mentioned the Gem in an item saying that the house had been sold to a Mr. Porterfield of Hubbard, Iowa, by a Mr. Bixby.
The Scenic was mentioned in the May, 1909 issue of The Nickelodeon: “Forest City, Iowa. — G. C. Sample, who formerly conducted the Scenic Electric Theater in this city, has opened a moving picture theater at Jackson, Minn.”
This house was still called the Lesden in 1954, when the September 4 issue of The Independent Film Journal listed it as one of seven houses in the region which had recently installed CinemaScope equipment and Stereophonic sound.
The March 11, 1911 issue of Nickelodeon had a brief item saying “Wright brothers are making arrangements to open a moving picture theater and vaudeville in Charles City.” An item datelined Charles City in the November 16, 1912 issue of Motion Picture News said that “[m]anager B. F. Wright sold the Gem Theatre to Misses Ella and Maud Spensley, of Independence”
The Gem was one of two movie houses listed at Charles City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The other was called the Lyric.
Although a Casino Theatre is listed at Charles City in the 1914 Polk Iowa State Gazetteer, it is not one of the two theater names listed there in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory (Gem and Lyric, neither with an address.) Most likely it’s the Directory’s error, as it is mentioned twice in Moving Picture World at least twice that year, once in May and once in June.
The Hildreth Opera House was showing movies at least as early as 1916. Several issue of Moving Picture World that year have items following the saga of the theater’s manager, William E. Waterhouse, who was repeatedly arrested for showing movies on Sunday, despite a recent city ordinance granting him permission to open the theater on Sunday afternoons. One item told how a judge fined the Sherriff, who was apparently under the influence of a group of local anti-movie preachers, $100 for creating a disturbance by making the arrests.
The Hildreth is listed in the FDY from 1928, but with no seating capacity given until 1931, when it is listed with 600. Competing house the Gem had 500 seats.
The October 30, 1908 issue of Moving Picture World has a brief item that might or might not be about this house: “… Charles City, Ia.-A. C. Tingerich and Oren Masters have sold their little playhouse, the Bijou, to J. A. Farrell, who has appointed A. T. Prescott to manage same.” I haven’t found any later references to the Bijou, or Messers Tingerich or Masters. Other J. A. Farrells referenced appear to be different guys, with no connections to Charles City. The only theaters listed at Charles City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Gem and the Lyric.
Rapid (I almost wrote rabid) development engulfed Redwood City in recent years, and one building affected was that which once housed the original Sequoia Theatre. After sitting vacant for a decade, it was un-roofed and gutted, and a two-story commercial and office building was built in what remained of the shell, essentially leaving nothing of the original structure but the two side walls. The theater has been effectively, even if not yet utterly, demolished.
The only theater listed at Manly in the 1926 FDY is a 200-seat house called the Rex. The 1933 edition lists a 200-seat Princess Theatre, which was closed. The Princess appears again in 1934 but is now open. I haven’t checked other editions yet, but Rex and Princess must have been aka’s for the Lido. The Lido is listed with 250 seats in the 1950 FDY.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists two houses at Manly, the Star and the Lyric. The Star is accounted for, but I don’t know if Lyric was just another aka for the Lido or not.
The earliest mention of a movie theater in Northwood that I’ve found is in the October 7, 1916 Moving Picture World which has an item datelined Northwood and reading “[t]he Slosson theater is now owned and controlled by George Haight.” I’ve found no other mentions of a Slosson Theater at Northwood, but a G. L. Haight, probably George, appears as the owner of the Northwood Theatre in the January 2, 1932 Motion Picture Herald, which says he had closed the house due to “…poor returns at the box office over an extended period.” It must have reopened before the end of the year, though, as it is listed without any notations in the 1933 FDY. I’ve found no further mentions of Mr. Haight though.
The earliest mention of the name Northwood Theatre I’ve found is its listing in the 1926 FDY, which gives it a seating capacity of 300. After that it is mentioned a few times in trade journals, usually when it changes hand or a new manager is appointed. The most significant of these items is in the May 15, 1949 Boxoffice, which tells of a major remodeling and expansion planned for the house which will add 200 seats. The 1950 FDY lists the house with only 400 seats though, an increase of 100.
The Northwood is mentioned a few times in the 1950s, including a 1955 item about the installation of wide screen equipment. The last mention I’ve found is in the May 27, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor, which published a short letter from then-owner Charlie Jones, responding favorably to an editorial the journal had published.
The October 12, 1916 issue of Motography mentioned the Lyric and two Mr. Birums: “Claude Page has sold his interest in the Lyric Theater in Osage to A. G. Birum, father of Fred Birum, his partner.”
The November 4 issue of the same journal had information that might (or might not) shed a bit of light on the Lyric’s history: “Birum & Birum have opened the new Lyric Theatre at Osage.” New? A bit of a complication if we take that literally.
Then the November 11 issue had more news about Osage and Fred Birum: “Beginning November 1, the Sprague Theater in Osage will be under the management of Fred Birum, owner of the Lyric. Mr. Birum will operate both theaters, bringing the larger productions to the Sprague, as its seating accommodations are better.”
The “Theater Changes Reported By the Film Boards of Trade” section of the October 28, 1933 issue of Film Daily listed the Plaza Theatre at Brownsville as a new theater.
The “Theater Changes Reported By the Film Boards of Trade” section of the October 28, 1933 issue of Film Daily listed the Sylvan Theatre at Rutherfordton as a new theater.
The name Lyric Theatre goes back to at least as early as 1909 in Osage, when the May 15 issue of Moving Picture World said that H. E. Baumgartner had sold the Lyric Theater at Osage to W. L. Kennedy and H. G. Atherton. Mr. Baumgartner was back in the theater business at Osage with a house called the Lyric (maybe the same one, maybe a different one) by 1912, when the August 31 issue of MPW mentioned them.
In 1913, the July 12 issue of MPW reported that Mr. Baumgartner of the Lyric at Osage had been elected as a delegate to represent the Iowa Exhibitor’s League at a national convention in New York. The Lyric alone was mentioned in the March 14, 1916 issue ofMPW. In April, Mr. Baumgartner sold the Lyric to Fred Birum an Claude Page, according to MPW of April 29. The very last mention of the Lyric I’ve found is from the August 24, 1918 MPW.
I haven’t found the name Imperial Theatre connected with Osage in any of the trade journals, nor the name Guy Alchon, which I did find in his widow’s obituary from 1965, but that contains no mention of a theater. The NRHP registration form that mentions the Imperial and Alchon, oddly fails to mention the Lyric at all. The only theaters listed at Osage in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Bijou, no location given, the Sprague, which was the old Opera House, and the Lyric, listed at 7th and Main Streets.
It might be that Mr. Alchon never operated the Imperial himself, but was only the owner of the building, and it became the second location of the Lyric by 1912. That would not speak very well for the researches who put together the NRHP registration form, but I’ve found that errors and omissions are, sadly, not a rare failing in such publications.
This web page from the City of Norfolk says that the Rosna Theatre building has been acquired by the City and is to be renovated for use as a specialized gymnasium for Team Norfolk Boxing. The former lobby will become a community meeting room, and the commercial space in the building will house a restaurant. It’s not a theater, but at least the building is being saved for public use, and the marquee is to be restored.
Opera House is the name of the only theater listed at Garner in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but the November 9, 1918 Moving Picture World mentions a house called the Garner Theatre. I haven’t found the name Electric Theatre associated with Garner in the trade journals. The 1926 FDY lists a 190-seat house called the Lyric Theatre. No clue yet if Garner and/or Lyric were aka’s for the Opera House.
The Sun Theatre at Woodward, Iowa had installed new projection and sound equipment, according to an item in <em<Boxoffice of October 16, 1948. Improvements scheduled for the near future by owner Lorena Hanson included a new canopy, new carpeting, new lighting throughout the building, and the addition of 30 more seats on each side of the balcony.
An interesting item appeared in Boxoffice on October 16, 1948. It said that the old Congregational Church in Mundelein had been converted into a theater. It didn’t give the theater’s name, but said that it seated 100, so it was quite small. I suppose there is a fitting symmetry to Mundelein’s later theater becoming a church.
What Cheer’s theatrical history appears to be richer and more complex than even local people remember. An article datelined What Cheer and headed “What Cheer is Rebuilt and Renamed Tic-Toc” appeared in Boxoffice March 20, 1948. The article said that the theater had been destroyed by a fire on November 6, 1947, but the building had been renovated and the theater and would soon open with 300 new seats, new carpeting, and new sound equipment, plus a nursery for children.
It was to be called the Tic-Toc Theatre and would be operated by the son and daughter-in-law of Mrs. Dorothy Fritz, who had operated the What Cheer for the previous eleven years. The FDY continued to list the What Cheer Theatre, with 225 seats, in its 1949 and 1950 editions, but the name Tic-Toc appears in a few items in trade journals over the years, the last being an item about the closing of the house which was published in the May 22, 1978 issue of Boxoffice. That means the Tic-Toc had a run of thirty years, on top of whatever time it spent as the What Cheer Theatre. One particularly interesting item, in The Exhibitor of November 7, 1951, said “Richard Fritz, owner, Tic-Toc, What Cheer, Ia., purchased the Masonic, What Cheer.” Mr. and Mrs. Fritz still owned the Tic Toc when it closed in 1978.
The history on the Opera House web site doesn’t mention a 1947 fire, or any alternate names for that theater, saying only that it operated as a movie house from sometime in the silent era until 1953. It seems strange that a town as small as What Cheer would have had two movie theaters in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but that’s what the evidence so far seems to be pointing to to: the Masonic Opera House and the What Cheer/Tic Toc were two different theaters.
This house opened on June 27, 1940, and the theater’s advertisements and the newspaper headlines about the event used the spelling Hazle Theatre. This was apparently the correct spelling, despite the variant sometimes used by the FDY.
While the Hawarden Theatre is listed (without an address) in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, Polk’s 1914 Iowa Gazetteer lists only one movie theater (the Lyric) and the opera house (Brunskill Opera House, David Brunskill, propr.) at Hawarden. Items in theater industry trade journals indicate that Lyric was a new name for the Hawarden Theatre, but not in 1914. The earliest mention of the Lyric in Hawarden I’ve found in the trades is from Moving Picture World of March 6, 1915, which says that the Hawarden Theatre had recently changed hands and would be renamed the Lyric. But I do wonder how a name change from 1915 ended up in the 1914 Gazetteer?
In any case, after that March 6, 1915 item, Lyric is the only theater name I’ve found associated with Hawarden in the trade journals for the next few years, and the last of those mention, in MPW of January 4, 1919, says that the Lyric had “…burned to the ground….” Is there any indication of the building at 804 Central having burned? It most likely would have been only whatever was between the brick side walls. Roof and floors were usually built of wood in those old commercial buildings.
Polk’s 1914 Iowa Gazetteer lists only one movie theater (the Lyric) and the opera house (Brunskill Opera House, David Brunskill, propr.) at Hawarden. Items in theater industry trade journals indicate that Lyric was a new name for the Hawarden Theatre, but not until early 1915, so I don’t know how it got named in the 1914 Gazetteer.
This house at 906 Central might not have opened until after the 1914 Gazetteer went to press, so didn’t get listed that year, but this might be the house called the Electric Theatre that was listed (along with the Lyric) in the 1918 Gazetteer. An Electric Theatre was listed in the 1912 Gazetteer, but as it wasn’t listed in 1914 it must have been a different house. Perhaps it was an earlier name for the Hawarden/Lyric Theatre.
700 might have been a mistake by the FDYs. The 1908 Polk Iowa Gazetteer lists the Buffalo Center Opera House with 400 seats. I’ve been unable to re-find the web page that said the museum was in the old Opera House. I didn’t check for a date on it, so the source might have been obsolete.
Sadly, the only theater I’ve been able to find mentioned at Estherville in the trade journals or the directories available online is the Grand. This other theater wasn’t there in 1914-1915 and was gone by 1926, and there aren’t any Estherville newspapers from that period online. For now, this house seems likely to remain nameless.
Tiny Buffalo Center had no fewer than four movie theaters listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory: the Dreamland Theatre, the Lyric Theatre, the Opera House, and the Star Theatre.
The Opera House building is still standing and now houses a museum. It operated as a movie house in the late 1920s, listed as the 700-seat Opera House in the 1926 FDY and as the 700-seat Community Theatre by 1929. The Community was listed as late as 1931, with an asterisk denoting it as a silent house, but in 1932 it is gone.
The July 26, 1932 Film Daily has this item: “Buffalo Center — New Iowa, sold to H. M. Johnson by R. M. Enders.” The house was double listed as both the New Iowa and the Regent in the 1931 FDY. Buffalo Center had not been listed at all in the 1930 FDY.
The house became merely the Iowa Theatre in its later years. The October 30, 1954 issue of Boxoffice said that Charles Recker had celebrated his 20th year running the Iowa Theatre at Buffalo Center on October 12, which was also his birthday.
The March 4, 1911 issue of The Motion Picture News mentioned the Gem in an item saying that the house had been sold to a Mr. Porterfield of Hubbard, Iowa, by a Mr. Bixby.
The Scenic was mentioned in the May, 1909 issue of The Nickelodeon: “Forest City, Iowa. — G. C. Sample, who formerly conducted the Scenic Electric Theater in this city, has opened a moving picture theater at Jackson, Minn.”
This house was still called the Lesden in 1954, when the September 4 issue of The Independent Film Journal listed it as one of seven houses in the region which had recently installed CinemaScope equipment and Stereophonic sound.
The March 11, 1911 issue of Nickelodeon had a brief item saying “Wright brothers are making arrangements to open a moving picture theater and vaudeville in Charles City.” An item datelined Charles City in the November 16, 1912 issue of Motion Picture News said that “[m]anager B. F. Wright sold the Gem Theatre to Misses Ella and Maud Spensley, of Independence”
The Gem was one of two movie houses listed at Charles City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The other was called the Lyric.
Although a Casino Theatre is listed at Charles City in the 1914 Polk Iowa State Gazetteer, it is not one of the two theater names listed there in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory (Gem and Lyric, neither with an address.) Most likely it’s the Directory’s error, as it is mentioned twice in Moving Picture World at least twice that year, once in May and once in June.
The Hildreth Opera House was showing movies at least as early as 1916. Several issue of Moving Picture World that year have items following the saga of the theater’s manager, William E. Waterhouse, who was repeatedly arrested for showing movies on Sunday, despite a recent city ordinance granting him permission to open the theater on Sunday afternoons. One item told how a judge fined the Sherriff, who was apparently under the influence of a group of local anti-movie preachers, $100 for creating a disturbance by making the arrests.
The Hildreth is listed in the FDY from 1928, but with no seating capacity given until 1931, when it is listed with 600. Competing house the Gem had 500 seats.
The October 30, 1908 issue of Moving Picture World has a brief item that might or might not be about this house: “… Charles City, Ia.-A. C. Tingerich and Oren Masters have sold their little playhouse, the Bijou, to J. A. Farrell, who has appointed A. T. Prescott to manage same.” I haven’t found any later references to the Bijou, or Messers Tingerich or Masters. Other J. A. Farrells referenced appear to be different guys, with no connections to Charles City. The only theaters listed at Charles City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Gem and the Lyric.
Rapid (I almost wrote rabid) development engulfed Redwood City in recent years, and one building affected was that which once housed the original Sequoia Theatre. After sitting vacant for a decade, it was un-roofed and gutted, and a two-story commercial and office building was built in what remained of the shell, essentially leaving nothing of the original structure but the two side walls. The theater has been effectively, even if not yet utterly, demolished.
The only theater listed at Manly in the 1926 FDY is a 200-seat house called the Rex. The 1933 edition lists a 200-seat Princess Theatre, which was closed. The Princess appears again in 1934 but is now open. I haven’t checked other editions yet, but Rex and Princess must have been aka’s for the Lido. The Lido is listed with 250 seats in the 1950 FDY.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists two houses at Manly, the Star and the Lyric. The Star is accounted for, but I don’t know if Lyric was just another aka for the Lido or not.
The earliest mention of a movie theater in Northwood that I’ve found is in the October 7, 1916 Moving Picture World which has an item datelined Northwood and reading “[t]he Slosson theater is now owned and controlled by George Haight.” I’ve found no other mentions of a Slosson Theater at Northwood, but a G. L. Haight, probably George, appears as the owner of the Northwood Theatre in the January 2, 1932 Motion Picture Herald, which says he had closed the house due to “…poor returns at the box office over an extended period.” It must have reopened before the end of the year, though, as it is listed without any notations in the 1933 FDY. I’ve found no further mentions of Mr. Haight though.
The earliest mention of the name Northwood Theatre I’ve found is its listing in the 1926 FDY, which gives it a seating capacity of 300. After that it is mentioned a few times in trade journals, usually when it changes hand or a new manager is appointed. The most significant of these items is in the May 15, 1949 Boxoffice, which tells of a major remodeling and expansion planned for the house which will add 200 seats. The 1950 FDY lists the house with only 400 seats though, an increase of 100.
The Northwood is mentioned a few times in the 1950s, including a 1955 item about the installation of wide screen equipment. The last mention I’ve found is in the May 27, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor, which published a short letter from then-owner Charlie Jones, responding favorably to an editorial the journal had published.
The October 12, 1916 issue of Motography mentioned the Lyric and two Mr. Birums: “Claude Page has sold his interest in the Lyric Theater in Osage to A. G. Birum, father of Fred Birum, his partner.”
The November 4 issue of the same journal had information that might (or might not) shed a bit of light on the Lyric’s history: “Birum & Birum have opened the new Lyric Theatre at Osage.” New? A bit of a complication if we take that literally.
Then the November 11 issue had more news about Osage and Fred Birum: “Beginning November 1, the Sprague Theater in Osage will be under the management of Fred Birum, owner of the Lyric. Mr. Birum will operate both theaters, bringing the larger productions to the Sprague, as its seating accommodations are better.”
The “Theater Changes Reported By the Film Boards of Trade” section of the October 28, 1933 issue of Film Daily listed the Plaza Theatre at Brownsville as a new theater.
The “Theater Changes Reported By the Film Boards of Trade” section of the October 28, 1933 issue of Film Daily listed the Sylvan Theatre at Rutherfordton as a new theater.
The name Lyric Theatre goes back to at least as early as 1909 in Osage, when the May 15 issue of Moving Picture World said that H. E. Baumgartner had sold the Lyric Theater at Osage to W. L. Kennedy and H. G. Atherton. Mr. Baumgartner was back in the theater business at Osage with a house called the Lyric (maybe the same one, maybe a different one) by 1912, when the August 31 issue of MPW mentioned them.
In 1913, the July 12 issue of MPW reported that Mr. Baumgartner of the Lyric at Osage had been elected as a delegate to represent the Iowa Exhibitor’s League at a national convention in New York. The Lyric alone was mentioned in the March 14, 1916 issue ofMPW. In April, Mr. Baumgartner sold the Lyric to Fred Birum an Claude Page, according to MPW of April 29. The very last mention of the Lyric I’ve found is from the August 24, 1918 MPW.
I haven’t found the name Imperial Theatre connected with Osage in any of the trade journals, nor the name Guy Alchon, which I did find in his widow’s obituary from 1965, but that contains no mention of a theater. The NRHP registration form that mentions the Imperial and Alchon, oddly fails to mention the Lyric at all. The only theaters listed at Osage in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Bijou, no location given, the Sprague, which was the old Opera House, and the Lyric, listed at 7th and Main Streets.
It might be that Mr. Alchon never operated the Imperial himself, but was only the owner of the building, and it became the second location of the Lyric by 1912. That would not speak very well for the researches who put together the NRHP registration form, but I’ve found that errors and omissions are, sadly, not a rare failing in such publications.
This web page from the City of Norfolk says that the Rosna Theatre building has been acquired by the City and is to be renovated for use as a specialized gymnasium for Team Norfolk Boxing. The former lobby will become a community meeting room, and the commercial space in the building will house a restaurant. It’s not a theater, but at least the building is being saved for public use, and the marquee is to be restored.
Opera House is the name of the only theater listed at Garner in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but the November 9, 1918 Moving Picture World mentions a house called the Garner Theatre. I haven’t found the name Electric Theatre associated with Garner in the trade journals. The 1926 FDY lists a 190-seat house called the Lyric Theatre. No clue yet if Garner and/or Lyric were aka’s for the Opera House.
The Sun Theatre at Woodward, Iowa had installed new projection and sound equipment, according to an item in <em<Boxoffice of October 16, 1948. Improvements scheduled for the near future by owner Lorena Hanson included a new canopy, new carpeting, new lighting throughout the building, and the addition of 30 more seats on each side of the balcony.
An interesting item appeared in Boxoffice on October 16, 1948. It said that the old Congregational Church in Mundelein had been converted into a theater. It didn’t give the theater’s name, but said that it seated 100, so it was quite small. I suppose there is a fitting symmetry to Mundelein’s later theater becoming a church.
What Cheer’s theatrical history appears to be richer and more complex than even local people remember. An article datelined What Cheer and headed “What Cheer is Rebuilt and Renamed Tic-Toc” appeared in Boxoffice March 20, 1948. The article said that the theater had been destroyed by a fire on November 6, 1947, but the building had been renovated and the theater and would soon open with 300 new seats, new carpeting, and new sound equipment, plus a nursery for children.
It was to be called the Tic-Toc Theatre and would be operated by the son and daughter-in-law of Mrs. Dorothy Fritz, who had operated the What Cheer for the previous eleven years. The FDY continued to list the What Cheer Theatre, with 225 seats, in its 1949 and 1950 editions, but the name Tic-Toc appears in a few items in trade journals over the years, the last being an item about the closing of the house which was published in the May 22, 1978 issue of Boxoffice. That means the Tic-Toc had a run of thirty years, on top of whatever time it spent as the What Cheer Theatre. One particularly interesting item, in The Exhibitor of November 7, 1951, said “Richard Fritz, owner, Tic-Toc, What Cheer, Ia., purchased the Masonic, What Cheer.” Mr. and Mrs. Fritz still owned the Tic Toc when it closed in 1978.
The history on the Opera House web site doesn’t mention a 1947 fire, or any alternate names for that theater, saying only that it operated as a movie house from sometime in the silent era until 1953. It seems strange that a town as small as What Cheer would have had two movie theaters in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but that’s what the evidence so far seems to be pointing to to: the Masonic Opera House and the What Cheer/Tic Toc were two different theaters.
This house opened on June 27, 1940, and the theater’s advertisements and the newspaper headlines about the event used the spelling Hazle Theatre. This was apparently the correct spelling, despite the variant sometimes used by the FDY.