Apparently there were 2 separate Gane’s theaters, the first one being located at 33rd and 6th Ave, across from Greeley Sq. in what had previously been the “Standard Theater”. According to IBDB, the “Standard” was a legit theater that operated up until 1907 when it switched over to showing films. It remained standing until 1909 when it was razed as mentioned in Joe’s article. The main photo shown on this page for this theater is actually that of this 6th Ave / 33rd St. structure. One can make out the 1902 Sak’s department store building which sat at the opposite corner of 33rd in the background along with the 6th Ave elevated rail.
Once the 1st Gane’s theater was razed in 1909, the 2nd Gane’s theater was apparently built at the new location on the corner of Broadway and 31st. Even though the street address given here is an even number indicating it was on the east side of Broadway, there is some photo evidence to suggest it was actually on the SW cor of 31st & Broadway, on the same block as the Bijou Theater of about the same time.
Not sure if there may have been 2 Globe Theaters since this 5901 Market Street address doesn’t appear to match up with the corresponding photos and other documents which show a Globe Theater at the NE corner of Market & Juniper (the 1300 block of Market) directly across from City Hall in Center City.
The Gem is directly below the Coca-Cola sign in the background. If you zoom in close enough you will see a small sign saying “GEM” with the letter “E” obscured by a utility pole. The word Theatre appears underneath as well.
Apparently there were 2 separate Gane’s theaters, the first one being located at 33rd and 6th Ave, across from Greeley Sq. in what had previously been the “Standard Theater”. According to IBDB, the “Standard” was a legit theater that operated up until 1907 when it switched over to showing films. It remained standing until 1909 when it was razed as mentioned in Joe’s article. The main photo shown on this page for this theater is actually that of this 6th Ave / 33rd St. structure. One can make out the 1902 Sak’s department store building which sat at the opposite corner of 33rd in the background along with the 6th Ave elevated rail.
Once the 1st Gane’s theater was razed in 1909, the 2nd Gane’s theater was apparently built at the new location on the corner of Broadway and 31st. Even though the street address given here is an even number indicating it was on the east side of Broadway, there is some photo evidence to suggest it was actually on the SW cor of 31st & Broadway, on the same block as the Bijou Theater of about the same time.
Not sure if there may have been 2 Globe Theaters since this 5901 Market Street address doesn’t appear to match up with the corresponding photos and other documents which show a Globe Theater at the NE corner of Market & Juniper (the 1300 block of Market) directly across from City Hall in Center City.
Here is a link to a night time photo showing the huge electrical sign above the theater.
Here’s a great color shot from the 50’s taken from the Huntington Library site:
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15150coll2/id/8656/rec/1
Here is a shot of the Gem from the Pneumonic Plague Outbreak of 1924-25 Archives at UC-Berkeley.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf3z09p3qm/?brand=oac4
The Gem is directly below the Coca-Cola sign in the background. If you zoom in close enough you will see a small sign saying “GEM” with the letter “E” obscured by a utility pole. The word Theatre appears underneath as well.