Well done! It’s always sad to see a dying profession. When I worked at the Colonial Twin, we didn’t even have a projectionist. We threaded the projectors ourselves. A sign of things to come, I guess.
We sure did. I can honestly say, after all these years, I still consider it the best job I ever had. Even though we were earning minimum wage. But then again, if you factor in all the googing off we did, we were probably grossly OVERPAID!!!
Hi There. I worked at the Colonial Twin back in 1992-1993. I found some old newspaper pages from the Trends, dated Sunday, September 16th 1973, The pages were commemorating the theater’s 6oth anniversary. From the articles printed in that paper, I learned the following interesting facts about the old Colonial Theater:
* It opened September 20, 1913 as Cowdry’s Playhouse, which in addition to “flickers,” catered to mostly stage plays. It also featured stock shows, minstrels, & Vaudville.
* In 1925, the Colonial was the first theater in the East to install the new RCA sound system.
* In 1945, the Colonial was remodeled, with the seating capacity increased from 525 to 1,100 seats.
* Famous boxer Joe Lewis would frequent the Colonial to watch films of his opponents before fights.
* Babe Ruth also frequented the Colonial, according to Harold Alward, the theaters projectionist since 1917.
The Colonial was turned into a twin in the early 1980’s and closed it’s doors in 1996. The last movie to ever play there, was “In and Out” which ironically was shot at the Pompton Lakes High School right behind the theater!!! How’s that for a coincidence???
Well done! It’s always sad to see a dying profession. When I worked at the Colonial Twin, we didn’t even have a projectionist. We threaded the projectors ourselves. A sign of things to come, I guess.
Did I say googing off? I meant to say goofing off!
We sure did. I can honestly say, after all these years, I still consider it the best job I ever had. Even though we were earning minimum wage. But then again, if you factor in all the googing off we did, we were probably grossly OVERPAID!!!
Good point! Instead of cleaning up the place, we were busy making a video!
Hi There. I worked at the Colonial Twin back in 1992-1993. I found some old newspaper pages from the Trends, dated Sunday, September 16th 1973, The pages were commemorating the theater’s 6oth anniversary. From the articles printed in that paper, I learned the following interesting facts about the old Colonial Theater:
* It opened September 20, 1913 as Cowdry’s Playhouse, which in addition to “flickers,” catered to mostly stage plays. It also featured stock shows, minstrels, & Vaudville.
* In 1925, the Colonial was the first theater in the East to install the new RCA sound system.
* In 1945, the Colonial was remodeled, with the seating capacity increased from 525 to 1,100 seats.
* Famous boxer Joe Lewis would frequent the Colonial to watch films of his opponents before fights.
* Babe Ruth also frequented the Colonial, according to Harold Alward, the theaters projectionist since 1917.
The Colonial was turned into a twin in the early 1980’s and closed it’s doors in 1996. The last movie to ever play there, was “In and Out” which ironically was shot at the Pompton Lakes High School right behind the theater!!! How’s that for a coincidence???