Thank you for posting the links and information regarding this theatre. The New Brighton Theatre was originally built by David L. Robinson I think in 1909. David L. Robinson died around 1913. My great grandfather John G. Cavanagh (Honest John), an orphan who as a child sold pencils at the racetrack and who later worked at the Brooklyn Eagle, at some point became president of the Robinson Amusement Company. David’s brother George L. Robinson became manager and John Walters became I think treasurer. All three were well known men of the time. John Walters and John Cavanagh were engaged in horse racing, John G. Cavanagh as arbiter of betting, and George Robinson had profitable concessions in Coney Island and Prospect Park. Very famous performers at the theatre; Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Buster Keaton (still researching the one newspaper reference I found for Buster), Mae West, Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys, Eddie Cantor, etc. Cavanagh, Robinson, and Walters owned the theatre until about 1930. I believe they also owned the Brighton Beach Casino but I need to research this further. Interestingly, Dodge & Morrison were the architects of my great grandfather’s residence at Ocean Parkway and Avenue I built around 1907.
Boo, very cool that your dad owned N.E. Tell’s Bakery. You could join the Facebook group Old School Cortelyou. There are people who went to PS 179 and PS 139 etc. we have talked about missing your bakery in different threads.
Thank you for posting the links and information regarding this theatre. The New Brighton Theatre was originally built by David L. Robinson I think in 1909. David L. Robinson died around 1913. My great grandfather John G. Cavanagh (Honest John), an orphan who as a child sold pencils at the racetrack and who later worked at the Brooklyn Eagle, at some point became president of the Robinson Amusement Company. David’s brother George L. Robinson became manager and John Walters became I think treasurer. All three were well known men of the time. John Walters and John Cavanagh were engaged in horse racing, John G. Cavanagh as arbiter of betting, and George Robinson had profitable concessions in Coney Island and Prospect Park. Very famous performers at the theatre; Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Buster Keaton (still researching the one newspaper reference I found for Buster), Mae West, Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys, Eddie Cantor, etc. Cavanagh, Robinson, and Walters owned the theatre until about 1930. I believe they also owned the Brighton Beach Casino but I need to research this further. Interestingly, Dodge & Morrison were the architects of my great grandfather’s residence at Ocean Parkway and Avenue I built around 1907.
Boo, very cool that your dad owned N.E. Tell’s Bakery. You could join the Facebook group Old School Cortelyou. There are people who went to PS 179 and PS 139 etc. we have talked about missing your bakery in different threads.