Terminal Theatre

Here is an item from Boxoffice magazine, May 1950;

A tieup with the local Packard dealer helped “Cinderella” for Ben Adelman, manager of the Terminal Theater, Chicago. The promotion was tied in on the “Cinderella chooses a Packard because it rides like magic” slogan.

The dealer provided a new car bannered with a 17-foot sign and lettered with the slogan and playdates, which was driven around the city four days prior to opening. The Packard drove to schools in the immediate neighborhood where “Cinderella” distributed program announcements to youngsters.

Was about ten when I realized the second meaning of the word ‘terminal’. With that flash of insight, I began noticing the peeling paint on the theater’s impossibly high domed ceiling. My tiny but enlightened mind connected it to a recent story about people dying in another theater somewhere in America when the roof collapsed.

Symbolically I knew that the golden age of cinema was ending, but even a crumbling ceiling in a theater named for death couldn’t keep me from the movies.

Such is the magic of light and shadows.

• Arye Michael Bender

In trying to revisit the world of the 1940’s and 1950’s, and looking for a photo of the old Albany Branch Library near Central Park and on Lawrence, I tumbled across this fascinating nostalgic tsimis. However, I’m appalled that the theme stresses Von Steuben. This former Rough Rider must insert into the recollections of 1952, that Roosevelt won the City Basketball Championship, and undoubtedly, many a student celebrated along Lawrence Avenue. The Terminal was the class of the neighborhood and the air conditioning, if I recall, made for many a tolerable summer afternoon, if one could tolerate the fusillade coming from the balcony. The wonderful scent of Karmelkorn and the candy stores along Lawrence. Those were the days! Wish we’d taken photos of what seemed to be the permanent icons of their day, like the cream and red streetcars of the CSL.

When the backwards entry Metro closed, around 1952, even as a kid I knew it was the increasing dominance of TV. I remember the marquee: ‘losed for Repairs. Will Re-open Soon’. I waited so long that the letters, one by one, fell off the sigh. The repairs were never made, and the theater never reopened. It was my first sense of nostalgia, recognizing that an era was ending. I was ten.

Shortly thereafter, I began haunting the television studios of WENR, which shortly became WBKB. Everything was so new that even a precocious kid could gain access to that magical world.

Always a pleasure to share good images, mental and otherwise.

The Balaban family certainly did a lot for the entertainment sector
of Chicago! I’ll have to keep my eyes open for the book.

I may be wrong, but I believe I read that Bob Balaban is involved
in some way with the history and redtoration of some B&K theaters.
Bob is an actor (Close Encounters is the only role I can remember)
but I believe he switched careers a while back.

Mike

Nothing like Chicago-style hot dogs and deep-dish pizza. ;–) Mutt and Jeff’s, Maury’s, and so many others. I can still smell them.

I loved the old B&K theaters in the Chicago area… so ornate, so
plush and beautiful. I used to see films at the Terminal, Uptown,
Riviera, Granada, Woods, Oriental, Century, and so many others.
That era, sadly, is gone. Now we have the megaplexes… so sterile,
so small. Fortunately, there are people who are trying to reopen
the Uptown, but it takes scads of money, and few want to contribute.

Mike

You bring back memories. I still remember seeing House on Haunted
Hill" at the Terminal in ‘58(?). They had a string run from the
balcony to the screen somehow, and at a particular time in the film
the skeleton traveled down the string. Scared the bejeepers out of
us kids. ;–)

I just had my 40th HS reunion 2 weeks ago, and some of us hopped in
our cars and toured Lawrence ave. Wow, has it changed!

Mike

I don’t remember a Mrs. Schwabble, although I do remember a dozen of
my other teachers from that era.

The main building of the Chicago Parental School, as it was called,
looked like something out of a Hitchcock film. Very creepy! I think
most of the land the school sat on is now owned by Northeastern IL.
University.

Mike

I went to Hibbard through 6th grade, and was one of the first to
be moved to Von for “Upper Grade” (7th and 8th) along with the 7th
and 8th graders from Solomon and Peterson schools (‘61). Only coach
I remember was Mr. Harris, a very tall balding fellow. Terminal: 15
cents was for PLAIN popcorn. 10 cents more for the butter. After the
the movie, we’d walk over to Andes Candies for ice cream. The wooden
“squiggly-back” seats, always really cold in there.
I was sitting at the Terminal Grill at 4811 Kimball at 2AM on the
Saturday night they bulldozed the old L station. Woke up the next
morning, 6 hours later, and it was gone. I was probably the last one
to see it before its demise. ;..–( — Mike

Visit Von Steuben High on Kimball and look at the fantastic painting
of that scene, looking east to Kedzie, from the “L”, just like the pic whose URL is posted here. It was done by a 50s grad, but the Von
folks, including the head of their alumni club, say they don’t know where the artist lives. They want to protect his privacy, which is
good; but I want a print of that work! Very detailed and accurate!
I also remember the Saturday AM kids' show. 25c for 2 films and 20 cartoons. Kept us out of trouble for hours! The parental school kids
were CHAINED together and led down Lawrence ave. Scary.
— Mike W., Roosevelt ‘67

The best photo I’ve ever seen was hanging in a little deli on Clark Street, near the Century. It closed in 1988 or 89, and I was too late finding someone who could help me get the photo. I think it was from the Chicago Hisytaorical Society, or perhaps the old Bettman Archives. I’ve been trying to track it down ever since. Good luck!