From what I could tell by going through the Chicago Tribune Online Archives, the final ad I was able to find for the North Avenue Outdoor appeared on Sunday, October 28, 1973. “Adult Triple Feature” was playing, including “What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?”, “Love in New York” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The big marquee at the intersection of North Avenue and 5th Avenue remained for several years after the theater had closed, looking more and more ragged as time passed.
The last ad for the Village Theater (as it was later known) I was able to find in the Chicago Tribune Online Archives appeared on September 20, 1978. The films were ERUPTION and CHINA DESADE. Whether they continued to show films without running ads (or no longer running them in the Tribune) after that is anyone’s guess.
Whether it is the true opening date or not, the first ad for the Rush Theatre appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Friday, April 21, 1972. Featured movie was NICOLE, plus three featurettes and a cartoon.
Used to see newspaper ads for the Aardvark, Termite and all the other porno houses all the time in the mid 70s. Going through the movie ads in the Chicago Tribune online archives, I noticed the Aardvark occasionally showed movies under the “Barnyard Buddies” moniker; apparently these were bestiality flicks. An ad for “Linda Lovelace and Barnyard Buddy” (the film she says she never made) pretty much confirms my suspicions.
Aaron Gold led off his Tower Ticker column on Thursday, October 18, 1973 with “Another X-rated movie house bites the dust… the Town Theater on Armitage is being remodeled into a 500-seat dinner playhouse with projected mid-December opening date”. The last ad for the Town appeared in the Tribune three days earlier (October 15, 1973) and featured a triple bill of “Venice Nightmare”, “Virginia the Maid” and “The Pick-Off”. My last two times seeing concerts at the Park West were over 20 years ago (November 1995, Cathy Richardson Band cd release party and concert; November 1997, Paula Cole and Jennifer Trynin).
Does anyone remember the recorded messages from the late 1970s-early 1980s? You would call the phone number listed in the movie ad and you’d get the Oak Girl saying something like “Hello honey? I thought you’d never call! I’m at the Oak Theater… the show’s so good… I’ll be waiting honey!” and other messages to that effect. Apparently these were so popular that the tapes would wear out, and until the “Oak Girl” could record a new one, a man would give a general description of the theater and movies.
I remember they brought the “Open Letter to Jane Anders” ad campaign back when the adult CINDERELLA appeared at the Loop during the summer of 1977. If I remember correctly, one of the “letters” was from a woman who was unhappy with her banker husband because he spent too much time wrapped up in work and would not take her to the Loop Theater to see CINDERELLA. Jane Anders' response: “Tell him to leave you a loan.”
While it’s currently hard to tell this was once a movie theater, back in the 1970s this was home to Val’s Dance Studio, and the entrance was still reminiscent of what was once a theater. There were also black and white pictures featuring some of the students in the glass cases along the entrance.
The Milda was actually further down the block from the intersection of 31st and Halsted. David’s Restaurant and Governor’s Table were at the corner location for years before being destroyed by a fire sometime in the 1980s. The Dunkin Donuts mini strip mall was built there not long after that, but that’s also gone. A new police station is being built on that location (taking up most of the block).
I remember the electronics store that was there in the mid-late 70s, and I remember for a while they sold records there too (I think I still have some 45 rpms I bought there). If I remember correctly before the electronics store was there they also used the old vacant theater to sell live Christmas trees (I think my family got one there in 1970).
From what I could tell by going through the Chicago Tribune Online Archives, the final ad I was able to find for the North Avenue Outdoor appeared on Sunday, October 28, 1973. “Adult Triple Feature” was playing, including “What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?”, “Love in New York” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The big marquee at the intersection of North Avenue and 5th Avenue remained for several years after the theater had closed, looking more and more ragged as time passed.
The last ad for the Village Theater (as it was later known) I was able to find in the Chicago Tribune Online Archives appeared on September 20, 1978. The films were ERUPTION and CHINA DESADE. Whether they continued to show films without running ads (or no longer running them in the Tribune) after that is anyone’s guess.
Whether it is the true opening date or not, the first ad for the Rush Theatre appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Friday, April 21, 1972. Featured movie was NICOLE, plus three featurettes and a cartoon.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/04/21/
Used to see newspaper ads for the Aardvark, Termite and all the other porno houses all the time in the mid 70s. Going through the movie ads in the Chicago Tribune online archives, I noticed the Aardvark occasionally showed movies under the “Barnyard Buddies” moniker; apparently these were bestiality flicks. An ad for “Linda Lovelace and Barnyard Buddy” (the film she says she never made) pretty much confirms my suspicions.
Aaron Gold led off his Tower Ticker column on Thursday, October 18, 1973 with “Another X-rated movie house bites the dust… the Town Theater on Armitage is being remodeled into a 500-seat dinner playhouse with projected mid-December opening date”. The last ad for the Town appeared in the Tribune three days earlier (October 15, 1973) and featured a triple bill of “Venice Nightmare”, “Virginia the Maid” and “The Pick-Off”. My last two times seeing concerts at the Park West were over 20 years ago (November 1995, Cathy Richardson Band cd release party and concert; November 1997, Paula Cole and Jennifer Trynin).
Does anyone remember the recorded messages from the late 1970s-early 1980s? You would call the phone number listed in the movie ad and you’d get the Oak Girl saying something like “Hello honey? I thought you’d never call! I’m at the Oak Theater… the show’s so good… I’ll be waiting honey!” and other messages to that effect. Apparently these were so popular that the tapes would wear out, and until the “Oak Girl” could record a new one, a man would give a general description of the theater and movies.
I remember they brought the “Open Letter to Jane Anders” ad campaign back when the adult CINDERELLA appeared at the Loop during the summer of 1977. If I remember correctly, one of the “letters” was from a woman who was unhappy with her banker husband because he spent too much time wrapped up in work and would not take her to the Loop Theater to see CINDERELLA. Jane Anders' response: “Tell him to leave you a loan.”
While it’s currently hard to tell this was once a movie theater, back in the 1970s this was home to Val’s Dance Studio, and the entrance was still reminiscent of what was once a theater. There were also black and white pictures featuring some of the students in the glass cases along the entrance.
The Milda was actually further down the block from the intersection of 31st and Halsted. David’s Restaurant and Governor’s Table were at the corner location for years before being destroyed by a fire sometime in the 1980s. The Dunkin Donuts mini strip mall was built there not long after that, but that’s also gone. A new police station is being built on that location (taking up most of the block).
I remember the electronics store that was there in the mid-late 70s, and I remember for a while they sold records there too (I think I still have some 45 rpms I bought there). If I remember correctly before the electronics store was there they also used the old vacant theater to sell live Christmas trees (I think my family got one there in 1970).