JustPlainBill- The very first time I went into the TransLux, circa 1960, just to see the interior, there was a b&w movie playing which was about a girls volleyball team which played its games and its practise sessions naked. It wasn’t a xxx porno film. The poster you linked to is very typical of the posters for this type of movie at that time.
The Bambino Musical site which Ed Findlay linked to above has an interesting copy of the program cover from Nov. 1897 of the Austin and Stone’s Museum in Scollay Square, Boston. The illustration of the exterior may be somewhat exaggerated, as I don’t think it was quite that wide. To the right-rear can be seen the peaked roof of the Old Howard Theatre. Austin & Stone’s was a very popular attraction in its day and contained a theater, either on the ground floor, or upstairs. I believe it had over 400 seats. Early movies may have been presented there, in addition to the Vaude shows, during the places’s final decade, after 1900.
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Wed April 20 had an article “Stoughton Projects get a Closer Look” about a meeting which took place on Tuesday covering the reopening of the State Theatre and the reopening of the closed-up Stoughton railroad station. Those at the meeting were able to tour the theater. The article states that the STARS group is “using the theater and staging productions there now.” I don’t know how true that statement is.
In the 1950s there was a Boston-area theater historian named Joe Cifre. He ran a theatrical supply business and had been working in Boston theaters since 1905. He said that the Hub started showing early movies back when it was still the Grand. He believed that it was the first regular theater in Boston to offer programs which were 100% film.
Yes, the building on the left, containing Harry the Greek’s clothing store, is almost certainly the same one which shows up in the Google Street View. But I’m not so sure it’s the old Hub Theatre/Williams Market building from 1850.
Here’s some more history: When it was renamed Windsor Theatre, it was under first-class management and they presented plays there which would normally have performed in theaters downtown. It was a smaller house with probably less than 1,000 seats. After 1882, it was managed by that great character of New England theater, George “Doc” Lothrop.
In 1888, the Williams Market closed, so the ground floor became available. A curio hall was installed there and the place renamed New Grand Museum (sometimes called Grand Dime Museum). The theater continued operating on the second floor. In 1896, it became the Grand Theatre. With the ground floor vacant again, at some point the building was apparently reconstructed so that the theater was now on the ground floor. In August 1903, it reopened as the Hub Theatre, managed by Stair & Wilbur.
Yes, there was a Scenic Temple in Revere. But Fred Allen in his book makes it clear that he was talking about this one, in East Boston. It’s possible that he took a trolley from the ferry slip to the theater because he had to lug 2 suitcases with him to work.
Prior to the opening of Chickering Hall on Huntington Avenue in 1901, there was an earlier, smaller Chickering Hall downtown. It was located, as of 1884, at 151 Tremont Street. I’m not sure if it was on the ground floor or upstairs. It had about 450 seats,with a balcony. Down at the right front, next to the stage, there was an exit out to Mason Street in back. An old seating chart says it was at 151 Tremont in the same building as the Chickering Piano sales showroom; but elsewhere on the chart it says “251 Tremont” which cannot be accurate if Mason Street was in back.
Correction to my correction above of 3-26-11: there was indeed a Scenic Temple in Quincy MA. It was open as of 1906 presenting movies and vaudeville and was located in a former skating rink/dancehall on Upland Road, near Quincy center.
It seems that there are 2 theaters in this complex. The larger seats 225 and is the one most often used for the movie shows. The smaller seats 125 and is sometimes used for the movies. Total, 350 seats. They are not both used simultaneously for movies, as in a twin cinema. They are both capable of showing the orientation movie which is presented several times daily when the complex is open to visitors.
The Hub Theatre was in a rectangular building with the facade on Washington Street and the long left side on Dover Street (today’s East Berkeley St.) After 1901, there was an elevated railway (“el”) station right in front of the theater. The railway, which went out to Forest Hills, later bacame the MBTA’s first Orange Line. The building dated to the mid-19th Century and contained a produce market called Williams Market. On the second floor was a function hall called Williams Hall. It was later rebuilt into the Williams Theatre. In Dec. 1879 it became the Novelty Theatre, then it operated as Hooley’s Theatre for the 1880-81 season before becoming the Novelty briefly before being renovated into the Windsor Theatre.
The comedian Fred Allen, in his autobiography, mentions this theater since he hung out in Scollay Square as a youth and young performer, 1912-14. He says that admission was a nickle, but the show cost an extra dime; and he points out that the theater was “upstairs” and not on the ground floor. He says that one of the girls in the girly show on stage also acted as stage hand, and was paid extra. The chief attractions in the complex were the penny arcade and the shooting gallery; (may have had a pool hall, too).
We associate the name “Nickleodeon” with the early years of film exhibition. Yet, this theater used that name a decade prior to the coming of commercial movies.
Bob- the Narrow Gauge ferry ran from a ferry slip on Atlantic Ave. not far north of South Station. It ran across to the eastern portion of East Boston where you connected from the boat to the trains of the “Narrow Gauge”, the 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn RR. The trains went up to Revere Beach and then on to downtown Lynn, with a branch to Winthrop. Electrified in 1928 and abandoned in 1940. The trains ran frequently except in the wee hours, so could be used to get to theaters. Part of the MBTA’s Blue Line today runs over a portion of the Narrow Gauge.
This was a honky-tonk operation. I don’t know if it was all-new construction when it opened, or if it went into a remodelled structure (probably the latter). I also don’t know what happened to it after it closed. It’s very possible that the building remained right into the early-1960s when the entire area was bulldozed.
The site today is occupied by the rear (low-rise) wing of the JFK Building in the Government Center.
Neighborhood theaters like this one, with low admission, were very popular in their day. The comedian Fred Allen in his autobiography relates that he played in small-time vaudeville at the Scenic Temple in 1913. He was trying to establish himself as a performer. He says that there were 3 stage shows a day there: at 230PM, 7PM and 9PM. Since there were only 3 or 4 acts and each act was on stage for only 10 – 15 minutes, the stage show was not very long. Movies were presented between each live show. He lived in Dorchester at the time and he got to the Scenic Temple by riding the East Boston ferry. (Not to be confused with the Narrow Gauge ferry further east). It ran to a ferry slip near Maverick Square. It left from a ferry slip on Atlantic Avenue/ Commercial Street not far to the south of the Coast Guard Station. The service lasted until 1952 and the empty ferry slip remained at least into the 1960s.
It was located on Meridian Street near Eutaw St., not far from Maverick Square. It was listed in the 1918 city directory, but was gone from the 1921 edition. Probably a victim of newer and better theaters. I don’t know the seating capacity.
Ed- No, not that book, which is a Dover Publ., and which I have. This was a different book, which came out in the 1980s and was very interesting, but when I Xeroxed a few photos from it, I failed to note the title, author, and date published. After copying the photos, I must have sold the book.
We talked about the Hub Theatre a couple years ago on the Wang Theatre’s page. It was located on Washington Street at Dover Street just north of the Grand Opera House in the South End.
I finally found the “Then and Now” photos I mentioned above. I can’t believe I copied photos from this book and did not record the title and year of the book, which was a treatise on Boston architecture, back “then”, and “now” (1980s?) It has a circa-1910 photo looking across at the big Columbia Square Building with the Winthrop Hall just to its left. The WH was 5 stories high. The theater entrance may have been on the left end of the facade, at the base of the tower. The second photo is the same scene as of 1982 or so. The WH building has been chopped down to 3 stories, containing a bank, behind a new facade. It’s difficult to tell if the buildings next to it are the same ones there when the Uphams Theatre opened in 1941. They may be.
Joe, I knew about the Scenic Temple in Cambridge, but not about the one in Chelsea. And I’ve always assumed that these “Scenic Temples” showed films only, and am surprised to learn that they had active stages, too.
He began performing, as a comedy juggler, “The World’s Worst Juggler”, at Amateur Nights when he was in his late-teens. This was in 1912-1914. He played the Superb/Plaza in Roxbury, the Roxbury Theatre, the National, the Scenic Temple in East Boston and the one in the South End; The Dreamland/Cobb; the Dreamland in Beverly, the Princess in Wakefield; Hamilton Hall and Winthrop Hall in Dorchester, Imperial in South Boston; Dream theaters in Winthrop and in Revere; the Star/Rialto in Scollay Sq.; the Hub Theatre. Very late in 1914/early 1915 he played the St. James/Uptown, and the Loew’s Orpheum by which time he was an established performer. I should point out that when he played the Old South, it was the first Old South, not the second one.
The comedian Fred Allen says in his autobiography that he played in small-time vaudeville at the Scenic Temple in Sept. 1914. However, he says it was on “Clarendon Street” when in reality it was one block away on Berkeley Street. I had no idea that there was anything but film entertainment at these Scenic Temple theaters.
In his autobiography, the comedian Fred Allen states that he played in vaudeville at the Old South Theatre for a full week in May, 1914. He was struggling to establish himself as a Vaude performer, and he says that getting booked into the Old South was key to getting better bookings later. I never realized that the Old South offered anything but movies. But the early chapters of his book mention his stage engagements at other Boston-area theaters which I always thought were film houses only.
When it was the Star Theatre in 1913-14, the comedian Fred Allen appeared there in small-time vaudeville, according to his autobiography. I always assumed that it offered only film entertainment.
JustPlainBill- The very first time I went into the TransLux, circa 1960, just to see the interior, there was a b&w movie playing which was about a girls volleyball team which played its games and its practise sessions naked. It wasn’t a xxx porno film. The poster you linked to is very typical of the posters for this type of movie at that time.
The Bambino Musical site which Ed Findlay linked to above has an interesting copy of the program cover from Nov. 1897 of the Austin and Stone’s Museum in Scollay Square, Boston. The illustration of the exterior may be somewhat exaggerated, as I don’t think it was quite that wide. To the right-rear can be seen the peaked roof of the Old Howard Theatre. Austin & Stone’s was a very popular attraction in its day and contained a theater, either on the ground floor, or upstairs. I believe it had over 400 seats. Early movies may have been presented there, in addition to the Vaude shows, during the places’s final decade, after 1900.
The Quincy Patriot Ledger of Wed April 20 had an article “Stoughton Projects get a Closer Look” about a meeting which took place on Tuesday covering the reopening of the State Theatre and the reopening of the closed-up Stoughton railroad station. Those at the meeting were able to tour the theater. The article states that the STARS group is “using the theater and staging productions there now.” I don’t know how true that statement is.
In the 1950s there was a Boston-area theater historian named Joe Cifre. He ran a theatrical supply business and had been working in Boston theaters since 1905. He said that the Hub started showing early movies back when it was still the Grand. He believed that it was the first regular theater in Boston to offer programs which were 100% film.
Yes, the building on the left, containing Harry the Greek’s clothing store, is almost certainly the same one which shows up in the Google Street View. But I’m not so sure it’s the old Hub Theatre/Williams Market building from 1850.
Here’s some more history: When it was renamed Windsor Theatre, it was under first-class management and they presented plays there which would normally have performed in theaters downtown. It was a smaller house with probably less than 1,000 seats. After 1882, it was managed by that great character of New England theater, George “Doc” Lothrop.
In 1888, the Williams Market closed, so the ground floor became available. A curio hall was installed there and the place renamed New Grand Museum (sometimes called Grand Dime Museum). The theater continued operating on the second floor. In 1896, it became the Grand Theatre. With the ground floor vacant again, at some point the building was apparently reconstructed so that the theater was now on the ground floor. In August 1903, it reopened as the Hub Theatre, managed by Stair & Wilbur.
Yes, there was a Scenic Temple in Revere. But Fred Allen in his book makes it clear that he was talking about this one, in East Boston. It’s possible that he took a trolley from the ferry slip to the theater because he had to lug 2 suitcases with him to work.
Prior to the opening of Chickering Hall on Huntington Avenue in 1901, there was an earlier, smaller Chickering Hall downtown. It was located, as of 1884, at 151 Tremont Street. I’m not sure if it was on the ground floor or upstairs. It had about 450 seats,with a balcony. Down at the right front, next to the stage, there was an exit out to Mason Street in back. An old seating chart says it was at 151 Tremont in the same building as the Chickering Piano sales showroom; but elsewhere on the chart it says “251 Tremont” which cannot be accurate if Mason Street was in back.
There was indeed a Norfolk Theatre in North Quincy. It was located at 17 Billings Road as of 1918.
Correction to my correction above of 3-26-11: there was indeed a Scenic Temple in Quincy MA. It was open as of 1906 presenting movies and vaudeville and was located in a former skating rink/dancehall on Upland Road, near Quincy center.
It seems that there are 2 theaters in this complex. The larger seats 225 and is the one most often used for the movie shows. The smaller seats 125 and is sometimes used for the movies. Total, 350 seats. They are not both used simultaneously for movies, as in a twin cinema. They are both capable of showing the orientation movie which is presented several times daily when the complex is open to visitors.
The Hub Theatre was in a rectangular building with the facade on Washington Street and the long left side on Dover Street (today’s East Berkeley St.) After 1901, there was an elevated railway (“el”) station right in front of the theater. The railway, which went out to Forest Hills, later bacame the MBTA’s first Orange Line. The building dated to the mid-19th Century and contained a produce market called Williams Market. On the second floor was a function hall called Williams Hall. It was later rebuilt into the Williams Theatre. In Dec. 1879 it became the Novelty Theatre, then it operated as Hooley’s Theatre for the 1880-81 season before becoming the Novelty briefly before being renovated into the Windsor Theatre.
The comedian Fred Allen, in his autobiography, mentions this theater since he hung out in Scollay Square as a youth and young performer, 1912-14. He says that admission was a nickle, but the show cost an extra dime; and he points out that the theater was “upstairs” and not on the ground floor. He says that one of the girls in the girly show on stage also acted as stage hand, and was paid extra. The chief attractions in the complex were the penny arcade and the shooting gallery; (may have had a pool hall, too).
We associate the name “Nickleodeon” with the early years of film exhibition. Yet, this theater used that name a decade prior to the coming of commercial movies.
Bob- the Narrow Gauge ferry ran from a ferry slip on Atlantic Ave. not far north of South Station. It ran across to the eastern portion of East Boston where you connected from the boat to the trains of the “Narrow Gauge”, the 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn RR. The trains went up to Revere Beach and then on to downtown Lynn, with a branch to Winthrop. Electrified in 1928 and abandoned in 1940. The trains ran frequently except in the wee hours, so could be used to get to theaters. Part of the MBTA’s Blue Line today runs over a portion of the Narrow Gauge.
This was a honky-tonk operation. I don’t know if it was all-new construction when it opened, or if it went into a remodelled structure (probably the latter). I also don’t know what happened to it after it closed. It’s very possible that the building remained right into the early-1960s when the entire area was bulldozed.
The site today is occupied by the rear (low-rise) wing of the JFK Building in the Government Center.
Neighborhood theaters like this one, with low admission, were very popular in their day. The comedian Fred Allen in his autobiography relates that he played in small-time vaudeville at the Scenic Temple in 1913. He was trying to establish himself as a performer. He says that there were 3 stage shows a day there: at 230PM, 7PM and 9PM. Since there were only 3 or 4 acts and each act was on stage for only 10 – 15 minutes, the stage show was not very long. Movies were presented between each live show. He lived in Dorchester at the time and he got to the Scenic Temple by riding the East Boston ferry. (Not to be confused with the Narrow Gauge ferry further east). It ran to a ferry slip near Maverick Square. It left from a ferry slip on Atlantic Avenue/ Commercial Street not far to the south of the Coast Guard Station. The service lasted until 1952 and the empty ferry slip remained at least into the 1960s.
It was located on Meridian Street near Eutaw St., not far from Maverick Square. It was listed in the 1918 city directory, but was gone from the 1921 edition. Probably a victim of newer and better theaters. I don’t know the seating capacity.
Ed- No, not that book, which is a Dover Publ., and which I have. This was a different book, which came out in the 1980s and was very interesting, but when I Xeroxed a few photos from it, I failed to note the title, author, and date published. After copying the photos, I must have sold the book.
We talked about the Hub Theatre a couple years ago on the Wang Theatre’s page. It was located on Washington Street at Dover Street just north of the Grand Opera House in the South End.
I finally found the “Then and Now” photos I mentioned above. I can’t believe I copied photos from this book and did not record the title and year of the book, which was a treatise on Boston architecture, back “then”, and “now” (1980s?) It has a circa-1910 photo looking across at the big Columbia Square Building with the Winthrop Hall just to its left. The WH was 5 stories high. The theater entrance may have been on the left end of the facade, at the base of the tower. The second photo is the same scene as of 1982 or so. The WH building has been chopped down to 3 stories, containing a bank, behind a new facade. It’s difficult to tell if the buildings next to it are the same ones there when the Uphams Theatre opened in 1941. They may be.
Joe, I knew about the Scenic Temple in Cambridge, but not about the one in Chelsea. And I’ve always assumed that these “Scenic Temples” showed films only, and am surprised to learn that they had active stages, too.
He began performing, as a comedy juggler, “The World’s Worst Juggler”, at Amateur Nights when he was in his late-teens. This was in 1912-1914. He played the Superb/Plaza in Roxbury, the Roxbury Theatre, the National, the Scenic Temple in East Boston and the one in the South End; The Dreamland/Cobb; the Dreamland in Beverly, the Princess in Wakefield; Hamilton Hall and Winthrop Hall in Dorchester, Imperial in South Boston; Dream theaters in Winthrop and in Revere; the Star/Rialto in Scollay Sq.; the Hub Theatre. Very late in 1914/early 1915 he played the St. James/Uptown, and the Loew’s Orpheum by which time he was an established performer. I should point out that when he played the Old South, it was the first Old South, not the second one.
The comedian Fred Allen says in his autobiography that he played in small-time vaudeville at the Scenic Temple in Sept. 1914. However, he says it was on “Clarendon Street” when in reality it was one block away on Berkeley Street. I had no idea that there was anything but film entertainment at these Scenic Temple theaters.
In his autobiography, the comedian Fred Allen states that he played in vaudeville at the Old South Theatre for a full week in May, 1914. He was struggling to establish himself as a Vaude performer, and he says that getting booked into the Old South was key to getting better bookings later. I never realized that the Old South offered anything but movies. But the early chapters of his book mention his stage engagements at other Boston-area theaters which I always thought were film houses only.
When it was the Star Theatre in 1913-14, the comedian Fred Allen appeared there in small-time vaudeville, according to his autobiography. I always assumed that it offered only film entertainment.