Tiffin Theatre
4045 W. North Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60639
4045 W. North Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60639
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 128 comments
NEWS, of sorts, about Pulaski & North Aves (the TIFFIN’s center-of-universe) here: the NorthEast corner of P&N now is demolished! That is, no more Ferndells Restaurant! They were still open for business there (in some form), but a few weeks back.
A few blocks west on North Ave, a Menards is now beginning construction where the old Helene Curtis factory bldg used to be (@ Kostner Ave). Do you remember when that place blew-up in the early ‘60s, shattering all local storefront windows?
The old Tiffin indeed appears to have been partially retained when the new Tiffin was built. The 1912-1922 version had a lobby at 4749 W North. It was a 700 seat house from architects Grossman and Proskauer. It might warrant its own entry here.
This was my childhood movie place prior to our family moving from Kedvale and Division.
My best memories were the summer nights that we’d walk down Karlov from Division (Kedvale was cut off by Division Street) to see movies at the Tiffin then walking back home.
Pulaski and North was a main shopping area and Grand Avenue also had major stores near Kostner where Grand and North crossed. Helene Curtis was also off the Kostner/Grand/North intersection and had an explosion in 1963. I was in school and recall hearing it.
The last time I was at the Tiffin was in the early 70s—while it was great to be back there, it certainly showed time had passed.
The other local movie places we’d go to were the Alamo on Chicago Avenue and the Rockne on Division. Otherwise it was the Tiffin!
I’m not saying anything new when I tell you the TIFFIN was the mainstay of the North/Pulaski Aves neighborhood—everyone around went there, always a good double-feature. The auditorium ceiling was kind’ve an illuminated ‘dome’, orange-green colored if memory serves. Remember seeing films like PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES, or KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, or CASINO ROYALE (the Ursula Andress one), or THEY CALL ME TRINITY there. CASINO sticks in my mind for a decidedly odd reason: the projectionist would’ve been a man after my own heart, because he ran it with the framing ‘low’ (potentially trimming head tops) which served to expose Ursula’s nipples at the very frame bottom in some bathtub scene (I kid you not)! My final visit there was late ‘70s for NURSE SHERRI & IN SEARCH OF DRACULA, but the latter title was cancelled because mgmnt said the film had split lengthwise! This once popular venue didn’t adapt well with the changing neighborhood, and I imagine real estate values & heating/AC costs made it necessary to sell off to the laundromat that’s on the site now.
Hey, Dean, a little off the subject, but I was a 5th grader at Stowe school and we could see the huge plumes of black smoke when Woolworth’s was burning. A day or so later (or maybe that night), my parents drove us past it and it was so sad. Huge icicles from the streetlights to the burned building – it was gutted. Wasn’t even boarded up at that point, it was just this frozen, burned scary looking structure. Moved shortly after that, but have many memories of the Tiffin and neighborhood in general. My mom didn’t drive at the time so we walked everywhere.
On 3/21/62, the feature at the Tiffin was “Question 7”, a film about East Germany and the Berlin Wall. The co-feature was Walt Disney’s “The Horse with the Flying Tail”. I’m not sure if the art film crowd sat with the kids through both features, or vice versa, but it was an interesting combination.
The address for the theater was given as 4059 W. North. The phone number was AL 2-7000.
I think that the original Tiffin was actually next to the new Tiffin. I think that the original Tiffin was converted to retail when the 1922 building opened for business. I remember being told that both were demolished at the same time in the 80’s.
I remember at the very end of it’s existance they would show spanish movies only. It must have changed hands by then? I remember standing in front of Ferndel’s watching Woolworth burn. The neighborhood was changing so much at that time.
My childhood theater. I grew up on Avers and North back in the 70’s early 80’s. I remember EVERY KID in the neighborhood walking down North Ave. while it was under major construction to see Star Wars. It was probably the first time my parents ever let me out late without them tagging along. The 80’s consisted of rats and gang bangers but what a treat it was to sit in the balcony as a small child.
There were movie listings for the Tiffin (second-run, not part of any big chain) in major papers into the 80’s. I’d put the Tiffin’s closing between 1982 and 1985 somewhere.
I used to go to the Tiffin every weekend it seemed from 1968 -1977.I stopped going after a very, very, very large rat ran across my feet.Then 20 minutes later, I saw a 6 -8 inch cockaroach on one of the walls. That was it for me.However, it was a special place growing up and they always played Tony Bennet over and over before the movies started.(I Left My Heart In San Francisco)They also had the best cheesecorn in the universe.My sister worked there thru High School and I also remember the regular customers and the Manager, Karl Korn.I miss it.
I remember going there as a kid; for Christmas parties every year in the 60’s. My mom use to bring us 6 kids hand to hand in the snow from the Cragin nieghborhood area; Grand Ave / Armitage Ave split. For a stocking full of candy and small toys ! I still live in the very mixed neighborhood. David D. Baker (www.imagesbydave.net)
Hi JBCDC What a surprise to find this website. The Tiffin Theatre played a big part in our lives. My husband was Captain of the Ushers in 1950 and 1951 and I was a candy girl. We met and fell in love there. It was a fun job and we have so many happy memories of our days there. Your dad, Mr. Clark had all of the employees at his house one time for a party, I think it was at Christmas time. We still remember all of the ushers, cashiers and candy girls, also the organist and managers. What is more interesting is that my parents also met at the Tiffin Theatre in the late 1920’s, so you can see why it was such an important part of our lives. What a shame it was demolished. The only pictures we have of it are of us at the side entrance door where Tiffin Theatre Corp. is on the window. Thanks for all the wonderful memories.
Carol Maturo September 19, 2005
The Tiffin Theater brings back a lot of happy memories. I do remember the owner, but I didn’t know his name until I read the post from his daughter. He was a nice man. I also remember some of the ushers, especially this cute blonde guy of Polish descent who ended up becoming a Chicago police officer. Back then, Jack Clark looked like such an older man to me, but I imagine he really wasn’t that old at that time—that was just my perspective as an 8 to 15 year old kid. I would have been 10 years old in 1962, and I remember in the late 50’s and early 60’s seeing Psycho, Hard Day’s Night (my friend and I arrived at 6am in the morning to be the first in line so we could get a front seat for that Beatle movie), Godzilla, Abbot and Costello Meet…..Whoever (Maybe the Werewolf?), and many other movies. We always looked forward to the Tom and Jerry cartoons before the main feature. I remember the music that was played before the screen even lit up—some classical music (I remember the tune, but don’t know who the composer was). I remember the Nonparels, Jujubees and Boston Baked Beans candy. Didn’t we see Dave Clark 5 and Connie Stevens appear there in person? To Jack Clark’s daughter, was your Dad aware that there was an access door to the ladies' restroom from the inside of the soda fountain shop located on the corner of North and Karlov? streets, just west of the Tiffin theater. One time we found and descended some stairs in the rear of the soda shop, opened an unlocked door, and found ourselves in the ladies' restroom of the theater. That meant no admission charge, but we never mentioned this secret entryway to anyone. Sorry to you and your Dad that we did this! I wonder now if your Dad was ever aware of this means of entry into the theater. I sincerely thank Jack Clark and daughter, JBCDC, for all the great movies and memories!
I saw the movie “Sink the Bismark” at the Tiffin. I remember how “cool” the seats were because they moved or slid foward and back.
PeterB, now that you mention it, I remember the Grand being kinda junky. That’s why we went to the Tiffin.
Jayne2, in the late ‘50s, I remember seeing a live stage show at the Grand before the movie. I think it was someone named Atomic Bob or something like that. He was dressed like a pig and he acted out a story with the moral of you can clean up a pig but he’ll still play in the mud. The owner would walk around and talk to the kids and have them sit on his lap. Creepy today, but OK then. We would watch a double feature matinee over and over again until about 5 in the afternoon. We lived about 3 blocks away on Homan and Beach. I remember that the screen was in tatters from the flying popcorn boxes. I don’t remember much about the architecture.
PeterB, what do you remember about the Grand?
Hi JBCDC, I was 10 years old in 1960. Every Saturday morning my six year old brother, my friend Ernie, and me would walk the mile from Homan Ave. to the Tiffin, taking in all the sights along the way…hobby shop, toy store, photo shop, restaurants, etc. We could have gone to the Grand, but we could go there any time. Going to the Tiffin was an adventure we looked forward to all week. We saw every horror movie that was made in those years until we moved in 1962. The Saturday morning Tiffin adventures were a huge part of my childhood.
When they were tearing down the theater to build a laundromat, the brick wall of the buidling standing on the east side was exposed. Obivously, it had been covered over during the Tiffin’s construction. Still painted on the wall and fresh in appearance was an ancient advertisement for Quaker Oats cereal, at only 5 cents a serving! Kinda neat.
I took dancing lessons in the studio above the Tiffin in 1953 at Mrs Marches' Dance Studio—Tap, Ballet and Acrobatic. Her son played the piano for the classes, and later went on to be a stage actor in musicals.
I remember the Tiffin, was there several times as a child. It was BEAUTIFUL inside. I vaguely remember a lot of gold furnishings, but maybe I’m wrong. It was much nicer than the Grand which was right in my neighborhood in Humboldt Park/Logan Square area. We hardly went to the Grand, instead, my mom used to take us on the bus to the Tiffin for matinee’s. I also remember the sign – you could see it from many blocks away! Lived in that area until I was 10. Yes, the neighborhood was getting kinda seedy, changing at that time, but the theater was very nice. Once the Woolworth’s nearby burned down, and then I believe Walgreens moved out, the neighborhood changed for the worst.
For those looking for photos of the TIFFIN and most any other theatre, your best bet is always to contact the largest repository of theatre photos in the nation: The Theatre Historical Soc. of America via their web site: www.HistoricTheatres.org
My sole memory of The Tiffen is from 1977 when I was a freshman in high-school and living near Addison & Western,was of going to see Taxi Driver/Death Wish double feature real cheap,from a search through the Chicago Tribune’s movie ads and taking the long bus ride down Western to North & North west. I remember being pretty scarred about the neiborhood from my view off the bus,it seemed rather seedy to me even as a innocent kid,they were the old CTA busses with opening slide windows. The clearest and most jotful memory is seeing the huge TIFFEN lighted sign/marquee from as much as 10 blocks + down North Ave. The inside I barely remember,just dark and sticky floors.
Hi JBCDC, I was in the Tiffin many times during the early 60’s and saw many of those awful Elvis movies (Elvis even hated making most of them) there. I can’t remember much of the interior so if you could jog my memory it’d be wonderful. I know it was closed a number of years before it was demoslished, do you know the dates? Do you have any interior or exterior photos of the theatre? If so please let me know and I’ll post my email address. I’m in the process of setting up a links for all the theatres for which I have pictures. I know many would enjoy seeing the Tiffin again. It’s begining to look as if Cinema Treasures photo submissions is a thing of the past.