The photo which DonMcKinnon has posted is very definitely the same theater as pictured on the MGM Theatre Report (photo taken in April 1941). That photo is a tighter shot mostly showing the entrance, but it is the same building, with the same marquee.
This notice is overdue – it should remain posted for awhile. Fortunately, there are not that many antagonistic comments and some visitors to the site may never encounter any. I know that a week or so ago there was a nasty exchange which had to be deleted because of guys acting like 12-year-olds.
In the CardCow photo of the front of the theater which Joe Vogel has found, the appearance of all of the signage is the same as when the theater opened, except that the huge oval “M&C” sign has replaced the huge oval “KEITH’S” sign. Joe is correct: in these old days, it was not uncommon for a performer to later become a theater operator.
When it opened the theater had a vertical sign out front which spelled out “Hathaway’s”. There was no marquee or even a rain canopy over the sidewalk. Over the entrance there was a flat lighted sign which said “Hathaway’s” and above that a huge flat lighted sign which said “Keith’s”. The latter was much larger than the other signs which indicates the importance and prestige of being able to say that they presented Keith vaudeville.
There are 2 theaters listed for Albany in the 1897-98 edition of the Juilus Cahn Official Theatrical Guide: the Leland Opera House, and “Harmanu’s Bleecker Hall”. The listing says that the hall had 2,985 seats; ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50. It was managed by Woodward & Voyer. It had electric illumination; the proscenium opening was 48' 8" wide X 41' 6" high; the stage was 50 feet deep. The auditorium was on the ground floor and there were 8 players in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Albany was 100,000 plus 40,000 additional in suburban areas.
Sometime recently the Vernon Theatre made it into the on-line Worcester business directory which would seem to indicate that there must be something going on there in terms of re-use.
When it opened ticket prices ranged from 10 cents to 75 cents. There was one balcony, with a row of 4 boxes along each side wall, plus orchestra boxes directly below them. There were 13 rows of seats in the balcony, the last 5 rows being wood benches. It was very common in 19th Century American theaters to have backless hard wood benches in the top balcony.
The folks interested in re-using this theater space estimated that it had about 200 seats. There is a possibility that there was a small balcony up in front of the projection booth. The booth is empty but intact. On one wall is an electrical switchboard and the labels are still affixed above the switches: “Stage”, “Piano”, etc.
The Vernon was one of 4 small cinemas in the area. The others were the Columbia, Bijou and Gem. I have heard of the Gem and the Bijou, but not the Vernon and the Columbia. Supposedly, the opening of the Rialto on Millbury Street spelled doom for these 4 houses. I believe that the people running the Bijou went over to the Rialto.
There was a 2-page article about Hathaway’s Theatre in Brockton in Marquee Magazine, 4th Quarter 1978. The article was written by Harry L. Lichtenbaum. While visiting Cape Cod, he went to a local flea market and found there a 6-panel promotional folder published by the theater when it was new. There was one exterior photo, and 4 interior. The author then did some research thru the Brockton Enterprise newspaper. From the photos, I estimate that the theater had about 770 seats, so, although very attractive inside, it was not very large.
The “Previous names” above list “Academy of Music”, although that previous name is not mentioned on the theater website. There is an Academy of Music listed for Sumter in the 1892-93 Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Abe Ryttenberg was Mgr., seating listed as 800. The proscenium opening was 28 feet wide X 22 feet high, and the stage was 42 feet deep. The house had electric illumination, and it was located up on the second floor. The 1892 population of Sumter was 7,000.
Beside the Wollaston Theatre and school auditoriums, the only other theater in Quincy now is the Masonic Auditorium, located on Hancock St. in Quincy Center and very near the Quincy Center MBTA station. It was ruined by a massive fire today, 9-30-2013.
My posting of Sept 14, 2009 displays faulty memory. I said that the post theater at Ft Devens in the 1950s-60s period was located to one’s left if you stood with your back to the main gate. Wrong. Up to the left was a bachelor officers quarters and beyond it a PX – Post Exchange store. The theater was off to the right, not the left; I believe that it faced the Parade Ground green area. There is a nice color postcard of that theater posted (incorrectly) to the CT Page for the US Army Fort Devens Hodges Theatre (CT 41578). CT Page 41655 US Army Ft Devens Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Theatre is the one in the color postcard.
I don’t know what happened to the Liberty Theatre, but there were a number of warehouses at Fort Devens when I was there. They were large, old wood-frame buildings painted white or pale yellow, and the Liberty could have been converted into one of them.
Ridgewoodken- See the posting above of April 21,2011. The larger auditorium, the Linn Theatre – the one mostly often used for movies, seats 225.
I am surprised to hear that your comments have been disappearing from the site. Several years back, they had a problem wherein all comments on a theater’s Page would suddenly disappear. That happened a number of times, reasons unknown. But I haven’t seen that happen in awhile now. It most often happened on Pages that only had a few comments.
As the Bijou, this theater is listed under Binghamton in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. A. Fennyvessy was Mgr. 800 seats, theater was on first floor. Had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 25 feet wide X 17.5 feet high, the stage was 23 feet deep. Another theater in Binghamton was the Stone Opera House. The 1897 population of Binghamton was 45,000.
The current issue of Marquee Magazine, quarterly journal of the Theatre Historical Society, has a feature article “The Movie Palaces of Athol, Massachusetts” by CT member Jonathan A. Boschen. Several photos are included. It covers the Capitol and the York theaters.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Bath Opera House was listed as part of the Mullin & Pinanski (M&P) circuit of Boston, an affiliate of Paramount Theatres. M&P also ran the Uptown Theatre in Bath at that time.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Capitol in Sanford is listed as part of the E.M. Loew theater circuit of Boston. EML also ran the State Theatre in Sanford at that time.
alberwi is correct: the opening day ad is for the Scollay Square Olympia, not this theater. Back when they were in operation, they were known as the “Washington Street Olympia” and the “Scollay Square Olympia”; later the “Pilgrim” and the “Scollay Square”. Although similar in size and both run by Nathan Gordon, they were not identical twins. The Scollay Square Theatre closed long before the Pilgrim.
This cinema has been taken over by South Shore Cinemas which runs the Cameo in South Weymouth and the Mill Wharf Cinema in Scituate. I don’t know when the take-over took place. They list it at 5 screens.
The Academy of Music is listed under Milwaukee in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide but there is almost no information. It says: “Academy of Music – E.L. Webster & Co., Mgrs.
Continuous Performances” The latter comment seems to suggest that it was a variety theater, with Vaudeville, minstrel shows, etc. The 1897 population of Milwaukee was 275,000.
Under What Cheer, Iowa in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide is the “New Masonic Opera House”. Peter Flaherty was Mgr; there were 850 seats. The proscenium opening was 24 feet square, and the stage was 24 feet deep. The theater was on the ground floor. There were 3 weekly newspapers, and the hotels for show folk were the Smith and the Lydell. The 1897 population of What Cheer was 5,000.
The City Theatre is the only entry under Brockton in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. W.B. Cross was Mgr. Ticket prices from 25 cents to $1. 1,736 seats. Electric illumination; 8 members of the house orchestra. Theater was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 36 feet square, and the stage was 45 feet deep. Newspapers were the Enterprise and the Times. Hotels for show folk were Belmont, Metropolitan and the Keswick. Railroad was the New Haven RR. The 1897 population of Brockton was 35,000.
The photo which DonMcKinnon has posted is very definitely the same theater as pictured on the MGM Theatre Report (photo taken in April 1941). That photo is a tighter shot mostly showing the entrance, but it is the same building, with the same marquee.
This notice is overdue – it should remain posted for awhile. Fortunately, there are not that many antagonistic comments and some visitors to the site may never encounter any. I know that a week or so ago there was a nasty exchange which had to be deleted because of guys acting like 12-year-olds.
In the CardCow photo of the front of the theater which Joe Vogel has found, the appearance of all of the signage is the same as when the theater opened, except that the huge oval “M&C” sign has replaced the huge oval “KEITH’S” sign. Joe is correct: in these old days, it was not uncommon for a performer to later become a theater operator.
When it opened the theater had a vertical sign out front which spelled out “Hathaway’s”. There was no marquee or even a rain canopy over the sidewalk. Over the entrance there was a flat lighted sign which said “Hathaway’s” and above that a huge flat lighted sign which said “Keith’s”. The latter was much larger than the other signs which indicates the importance and prestige of being able to say that they presented Keith vaudeville.
There are 2 theaters listed for Albany in the 1897-98 edition of the Juilus Cahn Official Theatrical Guide: the Leland Opera House, and “Harmanu’s Bleecker Hall”. The listing says that the hall had 2,985 seats; ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50. It was managed by Woodward & Voyer. It had electric illumination; the proscenium opening was 48' 8" wide X 41' 6" high; the stage was 50 feet deep. The auditorium was on the ground floor and there were 8 players in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Albany was 100,000 plus 40,000 additional in suburban areas.
Sometime recently the Vernon Theatre made it into the on-line Worcester business directory which would seem to indicate that there must be something going on there in terms of re-use.
When it opened ticket prices ranged from 10 cents to 75 cents. There was one balcony, with a row of 4 boxes along each side wall, plus orchestra boxes directly below them. There were 13 rows of seats in the balcony, the last 5 rows being wood benches. It was very common in 19th Century American theaters to have backless hard wood benches in the top balcony.
The folks interested in re-using this theater space estimated that it had about 200 seats. There is a possibility that there was a small balcony up in front of the projection booth. The booth is empty but intact. On one wall is an electrical switchboard and the labels are still affixed above the switches: “Stage”, “Piano”, etc.
The Vernon was one of 4 small cinemas in the area. The others were the Columbia, Bijou and Gem. I have heard of the Gem and the Bijou, but not the Vernon and the Columbia. Supposedly, the opening of the Rialto on Millbury Street spelled doom for these 4 houses. I believe that the people running the Bijou went over to the Rialto.
There was a 2-page article about Hathaway’s Theatre in Brockton in Marquee Magazine, 4th Quarter 1978. The article was written by Harry L. Lichtenbaum. While visiting Cape Cod, he went to a local flea market and found there a 6-panel promotional folder published by the theater when it was new. There was one exterior photo, and 4 interior. The author then did some research thru the Brockton Enterprise newspaper. From the photos, I estimate that the theater had about 770 seats, so, although very attractive inside, it was not very large.
The “Previous names” above list “Academy of Music”, although that previous name is not mentioned on the theater website. There is an Academy of Music listed for Sumter in the 1892-93 Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Abe Ryttenberg was Mgr., seating listed as 800. The proscenium opening was 28 feet wide X 22 feet high, and the stage was 42 feet deep. The house had electric illumination, and it was located up on the second floor. The 1892 population of Sumter was 7,000.
Beside the Wollaston Theatre and school auditoriums, the only other theater in Quincy now is the Masonic Auditorium, located on Hancock St. in Quincy Center and very near the Quincy Center MBTA station. It was ruined by a massive fire today, 9-30-2013.
My posting of Sept 14, 2009 displays faulty memory. I said that the post theater at Ft Devens in the 1950s-60s period was located to one’s left if you stood with your back to the main gate. Wrong. Up to the left was a bachelor officers quarters and beyond it a PX – Post Exchange store. The theater was off to the right, not the left; I believe that it faced the Parade Ground green area. There is a nice color postcard of that theater posted (incorrectly) to the CT Page for the US Army Fort Devens Hodges Theatre (CT 41578). CT Page 41655 US Army Ft Devens Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Theatre is the one in the color postcard.
I don’t know what happened to the Liberty Theatre, but there were a number of warehouses at Fort Devens when I was there. They were large, old wood-frame buildings painted white or pale yellow, and the Liberty could have been converted into one of them.
Ridgewoodken- See the posting above of April 21,2011. The larger auditorium, the Linn Theatre – the one mostly often used for movies, seats 225.
I am surprised to hear that your comments have been disappearing from the site. Several years back, they had a problem wherein all comments on a theater’s Page would suddenly disappear. That happened a number of times, reasons unknown. But I haven’t seen that happen in awhile now. It most often happened on Pages that only had a few comments.
chuck1231 – It’s lonely out here! I wish that more people would find the CT website so we would see more comments here, and for other theaters, too.
As the Bijou, this theater is listed under Binghamton in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. A. Fennyvessy was Mgr. 800 seats, theater was on first floor. Had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 25 feet wide X 17.5 feet high, the stage was 23 feet deep. Another theater in Binghamton was the Stone Opera House. The 1897 population of Binghamton was 45,000.
The current issue of Marquee Magazine, quarterly journal of the Theatre Historical Society, has a feature article “The Movie Palaces of Athol, Massachusetts” by CT member Jonathan A. Boschen. Several photos are included. It covers the Capitol and the York theaters.
As of 1942, the Uptown Th. in Bath was run by the M&P Circuit of Boston, an affiliate of Paramount Theatres.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Bath Opera House was listed as part of the Mullin & Pinanski (M&P) circuit of Boston, an affiliate of Paramount Theatres. M&P also ran the Uptown Theatre in Bath at that time.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Capitol in Sanford is listed as part of the E.M. Loew theater circuit of Boston. EML also ran the State Theatre in Sanford at that time.
alberwi is correct: the opening day ad is for the Scollay Square Olympia, not this theater. Back when they were in operation, they were known as the “Washington Street Olympia” and the “Scollay Square Olympia”; later the “Pilgrim” and the “Scollay Square”. Although similar in size and both run by Nathan Gordon, they were not identical twins. The Scollay Square Theatre closed long before the Pilgrim.
This cinema has been taken over by South Shore Cinemas which runs the Cameo in South Weymouth and the Mill Wharf Cinema in Scituate. I don’t know when the take-over took place. They list it at 5 screens.
The Academy of Music is listed under Milwaukee in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide but there is almost no information. It says: “Academy of Music – E.L. Webster & Co., Mgrs. Continuous Performances” The latter comment seems to suggest that it was a variety theater, with Vaudeville, minstrel shows, etc. The 1897 population of Milwaukee was 275,000.
Under What Cheer, Iowa in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide is the “New Masonic Opera House”. Peter Flaherty was Mgr; there were 850 seats. The proscenium opening was 24 feet square, and the stage was 24 feet deep. The theater was on the ground floor. There were 3 weekly newspapers, and the hotels for show folk were the Smith and the Lydell. The 1897 population of What Cheer was 5,000.
The City Theatre is the only entry under Brockton in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. W.B. Cross was Mgr. Ticket prices from 25 cents to $1. 1,736 seats. Electric illumination; 8 members of the house orchestra. Theater was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 36 feet square, and the stage was 45 feet deep. Newspapers were the Enterprise and the Times. Hotels for show folk were Belmont, Metropolitan and the Keswick. Railroad was the New Haven RR. The 1897 population of Brockton was 35,000.
The City Theatre is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook as having 1600 seats and open 6 days per week. Brockton’s population in 1927 was 66,000.