anaside- I notice above that you use the term “Ozoner” for Drive-in. This is an old expression used in the “Variety” theatrical trade paper back in the 1950s and probably earlier. Another name was “Passion Pit” because of all the “making out” which took place in cars parked to the rear of the theatre. Being a fan of theater buildings I actually preferred to attend movies inside rather than at drive-ins.
Perhaps the 2 women mentioned above were not typical of the drive-in era. One was a professional photographer who was married to a college professor and had the cutest daughter. She lived near an airfield as a girl so that’s how she developed an interest in aviation. The other gal, with the motor scooter, was a speech therapist working on her doctorate who had 8 kids! I don’t know where she learned to fly. The mother of a good friend of mine also drove and took her 2 boys everwhere, including to movie theatres and possibly to drive-ins as well. She was a teacher. When my friend turned 16 he got a drivers license and an old car. In the 1950s, one could drive at age 16 in MA and at age 14 in GA (I think). Another Drive-in memory- some of the venues charged admission per carload, but others charged for each person in the car. This led to kids hiding in the trunks of cars and under blankets on the floor of the back seat! Of course, I never engaged in such skullduggery! In my class in driving school when I was 17 or so, there were 7 or 8 boys but only one girl. So I would say that the girls of that era were a little slower to take driving lessons than the boys.
I can’t say that I recall any staff members directing cars at the drive-in, or performing service on the cars. That’s not to say that it didn’t take place somewhere at some drive-ins. My memory is that we drove up to the ticket booth, near the street, and then found a parking spot ourselves. In the early drive-ins (1930s), there were 2 kinds of spots- “drive in” and “drive over”. When leaving a “drive in” spot, you had to back your car out. When leaving a “drive over” spot, you drove forward. The latter was the standard. Near the rear of the property was located the projection booth, which usually also had a refreshment stand, plus restrooms. As for women drivers, I would say in the 1950s there were more men than women who drove, but it was by no means rare for a woman to drive. The mothers of 2 of my girlfriends in the mid-1950s not only had drivers licenses, but one of them also drove a motor scooter, and both of them had airplane pilot’s licenses ! Offhand, I can’t now recall seeing a woman drving a car at the drive-in, but they undoubtedly were there. I knew someone who managed 2 drive-ins in the south and west suburbs of Washington DC in the late-1940s and early-1950s (now deceased) who told me that at one of these venues local black families who lived nearby would come on foot and sit at the rear of the property and when he noticed this he arranged to set up a speaker back there for them. He felt it was good “public relations” since they were his neighbors. He actually lived on site in a tiny apartment built into the base of the screen.
The reason there were few “Single Moms” in the time period you reference, anaside, is because it was considered scandalous and disgraceful if a young, unmarried girl got pregnant. She wasn’t supposed to be Single and a Mom!! That thinking changed because of the social upheavals of the 1960s. However, I do think that she and her kid(s) would have been able to attend a drive-in with no problems in my area at the time (eastern-MA).
anaside- I attended movies at drive-ins a very few times circa late-1940s, early & mid-1950s when I was a teen in the inner suburban area just south and south-east of Boston MA. There were many women who drove in that era although offhand I can’t recall if I ever saw one at the drive-in. The area was nearly 100% white, with just a handful of Asians. If a black family drove up to the ticket booth I can’t imagine that they would have been refused admission. We didn’t have “single moms” in those days (that’s a contempo phrase). There were young widows with kids, and widowers too. Maybe a few divorcees. It seems likely that a drive-in movie would have been suitable entertainment for them. We had immigrants, mostly from Europe and not very many. I don’t think that any of the “special-interest groups” that you mention would have had any reason to hesitate to go to the drive-ins that I attended in that time period.
According to Gerald Bordman’s “American Musical Theatre” (Oxford,2001), “Excelsior” opened in New York at Niblo’s Garden on August 21 1883 and ran until Dec. 15th. The Kiralfy Brothers imported the show from Paris. It was a ballet-pantomime with no spoken dialog. Haniola, Imre and Arnold Kiralfy were immigrants from Hungary who began their American careers as dancers but later became prolific producers of stage spectaculars such as “Excelsior” at the McVickers.
“Someone Who Was There” tells me that as of a few years ago at least, the Orient Palace was still intact and not in really bad condition inside, and was being used for commercial storage space.
On Monday, March 10 there was a memorial ceremony at Brockton City Hall in remembrance of the firefighters who were killed at the Strand Theatre in 1941. It was announced that a granite and bronze memorial marker will be unveiled on May 10th but I don’t know where in Brockton it will be sited.
The Seville sits on a prime real estate parcel and it’s a wonder that it has not been subjected to a redevelopment proposal before now. One can only wonder what the auditorium must look like today after 30 years of neglect.
In the entertainment section of today’s Boston Herald there is an article “Ghost tale will take ‘Shining’ to theater” by Jenna Scherer which concerns the Huntington Theatre Company’s new play “Shining City” by Conor McPherson. According to Ms. Scherer, the spirit which haunts the play is not the only ghostly spirit residing in the Boston University Theatre. It seems that Henry Jewett, the Australian actor who opened the BU Theatre (as the Repertory Theatre in 1925), died under “murky” circumstances in 1930. He is believed to have been a suicide in the space under the stage. Over the years, there have been numerous creepy happenings in the theater. In addition to “Hank the Ghost” there is also a female spirit.
I snapped a photo of the Old Colony’s facade on Saturday afternoon, July 9, 1983. The theater was in good condition externally but it was closed with no sign of life. I can’t recall if I ever heard of any attractions playing there after that.
There is a Woodstock Opera House listed under Woodstock ON in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The manager was Charles A. Pyne, the theater had 1,200 seats and ticket prices of 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 27 feet wide and the stage was 24 feet deep. There were 8 members of the house orchestra. Local newspapers were the Sentinel, Review, and Times. Hotels for show folk were the Oxford, Royal and Commercial, and the local railways were CPR and Grand Trunk. The 1897 population of Woodstock was 10,000.
Yes. Not long ago there were posts for almost every news item. Now it’s common to see no posts at all. I have also noted a drop in the number of people posting comments to theater pages in my area (Boston and eastern MA). But it’s good to know that CT has reached 20,000 theaters !
Ken- I recall that the tram tunnel portal, complete with tracks, was still in place when I looked for it circa-1990. Another classic London theatre which I “just missed” in 1959 was the second Gaiety Theatre near Charing Cross Station. Site of many a famous musical, I later learned that it was razed about 1957 after standing vacant for a long while. The Stoll really was a splendid gem of a building !
The Stoll had a very long and elegant facade. I saw a photo once of the interior, taken from a balcony and looking toward the stage. Very nice ! When I sailed to England for the first time, as a youth in 1959, I went looking for the Stoll and was disappointed to learn that it had recently been demolished. Close to it was a tunnel portal for tram cars and I learned that the trams had also recently gone. So I “batted zero” that afternoon !
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Strand in Rutland is listed under M&P Theatres of Boston (Mullin & Pinanski, a Paramount affiliate). M&P also ran the Paramount and Grand theaters in Rutland.
A convention group from the Theatre Historical Society of America visited Tuckerman Hall in Worcester one afternoon in late-June 2006. The auditorium, recently refurbished, is very attractive, and the manager lowered their ancient movie screen for the group.
The 6 PM local news, Wed. Feb. 27, on Boston’s WBZ-TV (Ch. 4) had a feature about the Hanover Theatre. Video shot in Sept. 2006 was contrasted with recent video. There were shots of the foyer, balcony, proscenium, stage, etc. The theater looks great! It was said that they expect to open on schedule in mid-March.
Under Batavia NY in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide there is a Dillinger Opera House. Is it this theater? Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in the Cahn guide. The theater had 925 seats, was run by E.J. Dillinger, had both gas and electric illumination and charged admission prices of 25 cents to 75 cents. The proscenium opening was 35 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. The auditorium was on the second floor.
Thanks Bob D. How about posting your memories directly on the pages for the Madison and the Egleston -anything and everything you can remember. There is very little posted there so far, especially for the Madison.
Lost- thanks for finding the postings- you are a true web navigator!It’s annoying to go to a theater’s page here in CT and find that all of the postings are gone. It’s happened to me about 10 times now.
anaside- I notice above that you use the term “Ozoner” for Drive-in. This is an old expression used in the “Variety” theatrical trade paper back in the 1950s and probably earlier. Another name was “Passion Pit” because of all the “making out” which took place in cars parked to the rear of the theatre. Being a fan of theater buildings I actually preferred to attend movies inside rather than at drive-ins.
Perhaps the 2 women mentioned above were not typical of the drive-in era. One was a professional photographer who was married to a college professor and had the cutest daughter. She lived near an airfield as a girl so that’s how she developed an interest in aviation. The other gal, with the motor scooter, was a speech therapist working on her doctorate who had 8 kids! I don’t know where she learned to fly. The mother of a good friend of mine also drove and took her 2 boys everwhere, including to movie theatres and possibly to drive-ins as well. She was a teacher. When my friend turned 16 he got a drivers license and an old car. In the 1950s, one could drive at age 16 in MA and at age 14 in GA (I think). Another Drive-in memory- some of the venues charged admission per carload, but others charged for each person in the car. This led to kids hiding in the trunks of cars and under blankets on the floor of the back seat! Of course, I never engaged in such skullduggery! In my class in driving school when I was 17 or so, there were 7 or 8 boys but only one girl. So I would say that the girls of that era were a little slower to take driving lessons than the boys.
I can’t say that I recall any staff members directing cars at the drive-in, or performing service on the cars. That’s not to say that it didn’t take place somewhere at some drive-ins. My memory is that we drove up to the ticket booth, near the street, and then found a parking spot ourselves. In the early drive-ins (1930s), there were 2 kinds of spots- “drive in” and “drive over”. When leaving a “drive in” spot, you had to back your car out. When leaving a “drive over” spot, you drove forward. The latter was the standard. Near the rear of the property was located the projection booth, which usually also had a refreshment stand, plus restrooms. As for women drivers, I would say in the 1950s there were more men than women who drove, but it was by no means rare for a woman to drive. The mothers of 2 of my girlfriends in the mid-1950s not only had drivers licenses, but one of them also drove a motor scooter, and both of them had airplane pilot’s licenses ! Offhand, I can’t now recall seeing a woman drving a car at the drive-in, but they undoubtedly were there. I knew someone who managed 2 drive-ins in the south and west suburbs of Washington DC in the late-1940s and early-1950s (now deceased) who told me that at one of these venues local black families who lived nearby would come on foot and sit at the rear of the property and when he noticed this he arranged to set up a speaker back there for them. He felt it was good “public relations” since they were his neighbors. He actually lived on site in a tiny apartment built into the base of the screen.
The reason there were few “Single Moms” in the time period you reference, anaside, is because it was considered scandalous and disgraceful if a young, unmarried girl got pregnant. She wasn’t supposed to be Single and a Mom!! That thinking changed because of the social upheavals of the 1960s. However, I do think that she and her kid(s) would have been able to attend a drive-in with no problems in my area at the time (eastern-MA).
anaside- I attended movies at drive-ins a very few times circa late-1940s, early & mid-1950s when I was a teen in the inner suburban area just south and south-east of Boston MA. There were many women who drove in that era although offhand I can’t recall if I ever saw one at the drive-in. The area was nearly 100% white, with just a handful of Asians. If a black family drove up to the ticket booth I can’t imagine that they would have been refused admission. We didn’t have “single moms” in those days (that’s a contempo phrase). There were young widows with kids, and widowers too. Maybe a few divorcees. It seems likely that a drive-in movie would have been suitable entertainment for them. We had immigrants, mostly from Europe and not very many. I don’t think that any of the “special-interest groups” that you mention would have had any reason to hesitate to go to the drive-ins that I attended in that time period.
According to Gerald Bordman’s “American Musical Theatre” (Oxford,2001), “Excelsior” opened in New York at Niblo’s Garden on August 21 1883 and ran until Dec. 15th. The Kiralfy Brothers imported the show from Paris. It was a ballet-pantomime with no spoken dialog. Haniola, Imre and Arnold Kiralfy were immigrants from Hungary who began their American careers as dancers but later became prolific producers of stage spectaculars such as “Excelsior” at the McVickers.
To Father Nature et. al. – please consider creating a page here in CT for the Stoneham Cinema, if you have enough info for the basics.
“Someone Who Was There” tells me that as of a few years ago at least, the Orient Palace was still intact and not in really bad condition inside, and was being used for commercial storage space.
On Monday, March 10 there was a memorial ceremony at Brockton City Hall in remembrance of the firefighters who were killed at the Strand Theatre in 1941. It was announced that a granite and bronze memorial marker will be unveiled on May 10th but I don’t know where in Brockton it will be sited.
The Seville sits on a prime real estate parcel and it’s a wonder that it has not been subjected to a redevelopment proposal before now. One can only wonder what the auditorium must look like today after 30 years of neglect.
In the entertainment section of today’s Boston Herald there is an article “Ghost tale will take ‘Shining’ to theater” by Jenna Scherer which concerns the Huntington Theatre Company’s new play “Shining City” by Conor McPherson. According to Ms. Scherer, the spirit which haunts the play is not the only ghostly spirit residing in the Boston University Theatre. It seems that Henry Jewett, the Australian actor who opened the BU Theatre (as the Repertory Theatre in 1925), died under “murky” circumstances in 1930. He is believed to have been a suicide in the space under the stage. Over the years, there have been numerous creepy happenings in the theater. In addition to “Hank the Ghost” there is also a female spirit.
I snapped a photo of the Old Colony’s facade on Saturday afternoon, July 9, 1983. The theater was in good condition externally but it was closed with no sign of life. I can’t recall if I ever heard of any attractions playing there after that.
There is a Woodstock Opera House listed under Woodstock ON in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The manager was Charles A. Pyne, the theater had 1,200 seats and ticket prices of 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 27 feet wide and the stage was 24 feet deep. There were 8 members of the house orchestra. Local newspapers were the Sentinel, Review, and Times. Hotels for show folk were the Oxford, Royal and Commercial, and the local railways were CPR and Grand Trunk. The 1897 population of Woodstock was 10,000.
Yes. Not long ago there were posts for almost every news item. Now it’s common to see no posts at all. I have also noted a drop in the number of people posting comments to theater pages in my area (Boston and eastern MA). But it’s good to know that CT has reached 20,000 theaters !
Egad, Sir! I must mount my silver steed and gallop to the defense of the Kodak Theatre, which I like and do not think is “phony”.
Ken- I recall that the tram tunnel portal, complete with tracks, was still in place when I looked for it circa-1990. Another classic London theatre which I “just missed” in 1959 was the second Gaiety Theatre near Charing Cross Station. Site of many a famous musical, I later learned that it was razed about 1957 after standing vacant for a long while. The Stoll really was a splendid gem of a building !
The Stoll had a very long and elegant facade. I saw a photo once of the interior, taken from a balcony and looking toward the stage. Very nice ! When I sailed to England for the first time, as a youth in 1959, I went looking for the Stoll and was disappointed to learn that it had recently been demolished. Close to it was a tunnel portal for tram cars and I learned that the trams had also recently gone. So I “batted zero” that afternoon !
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Strand in Rutland is listed under M&P Theatres of Boston (Mullin & Pinanski, a Paramount affiliate). M&P also ran the Paramount and Grand theaters in Rutland.
A convention group from the Theatre Historical Society of America visited Tuckerman Hall in Worcester one afternoon in late-June 2006. The auditorium, recently refurbished, is very attractive, and the manager lowered their ancient movie screen for the group.
The 6 PM local news, Wed. Feb. 27, on Boston’s WBZ-TV (Ch. 4) had a feature about the Hanover Theatre. Video shot in Sept. 2006 was contrasted with recent video. There were shots of the foyer, balcony, proscenium, stage, etc. The theater looks great! It was said that they expect to open on schedule in mid-March.
Restoration work, which began in October, is now well underway and it is hoped that all work will be completed in September 2008.
Under Batavia NY in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide there is a Dillinger Opera House. Is it this theater? Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in the Cahn guide. The theater had 925 seats, was run by E.J. Dillinger, had both gas and electric illumination and charged admission prices of 25 cents to 75 cents. The proscenium opening was 35 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. The auditorium was on the second floor.
Thanks Bob D. How about posting your memories directly on the pages for the Madison and the Egleston -anything and everything you can remember. There is very little posted there so far, especially for the Madison.
Lost- thanks for finding the postings- you are a true web navigator!It’s annoying to go to a theater’s page here in CT and find that all of the postings are gone. It’s happened to me about 10 times now.
Roger- I looked at your color photo of the building in Cinema Tours and it’s definitely the same, although a little plainer looking today.