Spectrum is correct. The Palace Drug Store was next door. The theatre and drug store were operating at the same time. There was also a restaurant next to the theatre on the other side. They had a griddle in the window with hot dogs on it all the time. Would stop for a dog or two. I saw Elvis Presley in “Love Me Tender” @ The Palace. It was a neighborhood theatre at the time for a working class area of Downtown Jersey City. The theatre was between Jersey Avenue and Eire Street.
Newark Avenue was a thrieving four or five block shopping area at the time. It boasted three different “Five and Dime” stores: F.W.Woolworths, H.L.Greens and W.T. Grants.
There was a small dep’t store called The Wonder Store. When Mussolini declared war on the USA, the owner fired all the Italian Americans employees. My mom was furious and told the owner. She never shopped there again. When we would pass by in the 50’s she would tell us the story. My mom was actually ashasmed of Mussolini. But, was annoyed that he did this to innocent Italian Americans. A phobia which was showing it’s ugly head at the time. In most cases this prejudice was metted out to Italian, German and Japanese American citizens.
The area suffered a downhill slide. In the late 50’s and 60’s. It is now a shadow of it’s former self.
Our family dentist was down the block Dr. S. Grochow DDS. He was a very nice and caring man. He treated us from children until adulthood when he retired. He saw my sister and I grow up. His office was on a triangle at Newark Ave and Eire St.
Here is somemore history of The Palace and it’s neighbors. I grew up on York Street about five blocks away.
Michael
In between being a legit theatre and a church it was an adult theatre. It was billed as “Jersey City’s most unusal theatre.” That started an uproar. The Catholic Church’s Legion of Decency went into action with pickets outside the theatre. Sermons were devoted to this Sodom and Gomorrah here in Jersey City(kind of ironic on two levels). No one was safe from this menance.
The City at behest of the Church would close it on some violation. It would reopen, be closed again and so on.
Around the corner on Communipauw Ave.was a police station. The two buildings were next to each other. They sometimes park would a police car in front of the theatre (in th bus stop)as an attempt to intimidate future patrons. When the #8 Jackson Ave. bus stopped in front. People would look away for fear of corruption and being turned into salt. Others would sneak a peek at it(myself included as a teen).
It was soft core porn, mild by today’s stndards. The ads in The Hudson Dispatch and The Jersey Journal were tame. No graphic pictures only a silhouette of a female form and some info about the film.
I any event it closed due to harrasement and lack of business. I was never inside since I was too young. Then it was converted to the church in the 80’s.
The area has seen better days. It was at one time a thrieving shopping area. There was also a nice mix of residential housing. The area has had bad times for over 30 years. It is a pity the City does nothing to revive the area. On the other hand, if they did do something; the theatre in all probability would be gone.
It is important that we preserve these gems. They each have a unique personality. They are part of our cinema history.
There was a sister theatre in Newark N.J. about 20 miles away. Same ads etc only a different name and city.
Michael
In the 1930’s and ‘40’s, my mother and grandmother used to go to the Tivoli. Their home was a few blocks away on Grand and State Streets. They owned a general store and were famous for making home made Italian ices. My grandmother brought the recipes frm Naples. I have them in a handwritten cookbook of my mom’s as my grandmother could not read nor write.
When I was young they would tell me stories of life in Jersey City and Italy. Children listen to the stories your elders tell you. When they die the chance to learn from them is lost. I benefited greatly from their stories and am sure there were many other things I could have learned from my relatives.
Back to the Tivoli. I remember the site as an empty lot. That was around the 1970’s and '80’s. I moved to San Francisco in 1985. The area was called “The Junction.” Because, six streets met at that intersection. On the corner of Ocean and Communipauw Avenues and Randolph Street was Brummers Ice Cream Parlor. It was across the street from The Tivoli. They made their own ice cream and chocolates. At Eastertime it was a chocolate fantasy land. I went there for bunnies etc. as Easter gifts.
After the movies, people would go to Brummers for a treat. Long after the Tivoli, Brummers still had a sundae called the 'Tivoli Flip" on their menu. It was a double sundae. I don’t remember what ingriedents went into it. Well, that is all I remember of te Tivoli.
Jersey City had a large number of theatres. I remember going to or knowing of the following houses. They were The Stanley, Lowe’s, State, Central, Pix, Palace, Majestic (burlesque), Monticello (later a straight porn theatre), Fulton and a square box duplex. In Jersey Cityese the Lowe’s was pronounced “Lo EEs”.
Michael
I knew the history of the Tivoli Theatre because I am a movie theatre buff. I started going to The Adonis soon after it reopened. Sometimes I would sit in the upstairs lobby and have a smoke. The former glory was still visible through all the grime.It was a grand place in it’s day.
My playtime was mostly during the winter and on rainy nights. I must say the place was always jumping.
One of the best places for favorite place for tricking with hotties was the tea rooms. There were always 20-30 guys in there. Any less and it was empty by my standards. I never saw a lady there. I am sure it happened on some occasions. Too bad, I didn’t think of that. Some of my female friends (fag hags) would have loved to go there with me. It could have been a gay porno field trip. What a hoot! Sometimes they would watch porn with me at my apt.. They liked hot guys as much as I do.
I would see bits and pieces of the film each time. It didn’t matter since no plot, no story only hot guys having hot sex.
When I ran into a friend there. The joke was it was research we were doing for our thesises. We were both doing the same research on our knees.
The place was a wreck. That plus progress in the area and the ugly face of AIDS led to it’s end.
I moved to San Francisco in the summer of ‘85. Good Bye Adonis.
Spectrum is correct. The Palace Drug Store was next door. The theatre and drug store were operating at the same time. There was also a restaurant next to the theatre on the other side. They had a griddle in the window with hot dogs on it all the time. Would stop for a dog or two. I saw Elvis Presley in “Love Me Tender” @ The Palace. It was a neighborhood theatre at the time for a working class area of Downtown Jersey City. The theatre was between Jersey Avenue and Eire Street. Newark Avenue was a thrieving four or five block shopping area at the time. It boasted three different “Five and Dime” stores: F.W.Woolworths, H.L.Greens and W.T. Grants. There was a small dep’t store called The Wonder Store. When Mussolini declared war on the USA, the owner fired all the Italian Americans employees. My mom was furious and told the owner. She never shopped there again. When we would pass by in the 50’s she would tell us the story. My mom was actually ashasmed of Mussolini. But, was annoyed that he did this to innocent Italian Americans. A phobia which was showing it’s ugly head at the time. In most cases this prejudice was metted out to Italian, German and Japanese American citizens.
The area suffered a downhill slide. In the late 50’s and 60’s. It is now a shadow of it’s former self. Our family dentist was down the block Dr. S. Grochow DDS. He was a very nice and caring man. He treated us from children until adulthood when he retired. He saw my sister and I grow up. His office was on a triangle at Newark Ave and Eire St. Here is somemore history of The Palace and it’s neighbors. I grew up on York Street about five blocks away. Michael
In between being a legit theatre and a church it was an adult theatre. It was billed as “Jersey City’s most unusal theatre.” That started an uproar. The Catholic Church’s Legion of Decency went into action with pickets outside the theatre. Sermons were devoted to this Sodom and Gomorrah here in Jersey City(kind of ironic on two levels). No one was safe from this menance.
The City at behest of the Church would close it on some violation. It would reopen, be closed again and so on.
Around the corner on Communipauw Ave.was a police station. The two buildings were next to each other. They sometimes park would a police car in front of the theatre (in th bus stop)as an attempt to intimidate future patrons. When the #8 Jackson Ave. bus stopped in front. People would look away for fear of corruption and being turned into salt. Others would sneak a peek at it(myself included as a teen).
It was soft core porn, mild by today’s stndards. The ads in The Hudson Dispatch and The Jersey Journal were tame. No graphic pictures only a silhouette of a female form and some info about the film.
I any event it closed due to harrasement and lack of business. I was never inside since I was too young. Then it was converted to the church in the 80’s.
The area has seen better days. It was at one time a thrieving shopping area. There was also a nice mix of residential housing. The area has had bad times for over 30 years. It is a pity the City does nothing to revive the area. On the other hand, if they did do something; the theatre in all probability would be gone.
It is important that we preserve these gems. They each have a unique personality. They are part of our cinema history.
There was a sister theatre in Newark N.J. about 20 miles away. Same ads etc only a different name and city.
Michael
In the 1930’s and ‘40’s, my mother and grandmother used to go to the Tivoli. Their home was a few blocks away on Grand and State Streets. They owned a general store and were famous for making home made Italian ices. My grandmother brought the recipes frm Naples. I have them in a handwritten cookbook of my mom’s as my grandmother could not read nor write.
When I was young they would tell me stories of life in Jersey City and Italy. Children listen to the stories your elders tell you. When they die the chance to learn from them is lost. I benefited greatly from their stories and am sure there were many other things I could have learned from my relatives.
Back to the Tivoli. I remember the site as an empty lot. That was around the 1970’s and '80’s. I moved to San Francisco in 1985. The area was called “The Junction.” Because, six streets met at that intersection. On the corner of Ocean and Communipauw Avenues and Randolph Street was Brummers Ice Cream Parlor. It was across the street from The Tivoli. They made their own ice cream and chocolates. At Eastertime it was a chocolate fantasy land. I went there for bunnies etc. as Easter gifts.
After the movies, people would go to Brummers for a treat. Long after the Tivoli, Brummers still had a sundae called the 'Tivoli Flip" on their menu. It was a double sundae. I don’t remember what ingriedents went into it. Well, that is all I remember of te Tivoli.
Jersey City had a large number of theatres. I remember going to or knowing of the following houses. They were The Stanley, Lowe’s, State, Central, Pix, Palace, Majestic (burlesque), Monticello (later a straight porn theatre), Fulton and a square box duplex. In Jersey Cityese the Lowe’s was pronounced “Lo EEs”.
Michael
I knew the history of the Tivoli Theatre because I am a movie theatre buff. I started going to The Adonis soon after it reopened. Sometimes I would sit in the upstairs lobby and have a smoke. The former glory was still visible through all the grime.It was a grand place in it’s day.
My playtime was mostly during the winter and on rainy nights. I must say the place was always jumping.
One of the best places for favorite place for tricking with hotties was the tea rooms. There were always 20-30 guys in there. Any less and it was empty by my standards. I never saw a lady there. I am sure it happened on some occasions. Too bad, I didn’t think of that. Some of my female friends (fag hags) would have loved to go there with me. It could have been a gay porno field trip. What a hoot! Sometimes they would watch porn with me at my apt.. They liked hot guys as much as I do.
I would see bits and pieces of the film each time. It didn’t matter since no plot, no story only hot guys having hot sex.
When I ran into a friend there. The joke was it was research we were doing for our thesises. We were both doing the same research on our knees.
The place was a wreck. That plus progress in the area and the ugly face of AIDS led to it’s end.
I moved to San Francisco in the summer of ‘85. Good Bye Adonis.