State Theatre

Joe Vogel on August 27, 2016 at 10:16 am

Typos were not unusual in the trade journals of that period, though in this case it is rather disappointing that Hippie wasn’t the real name.

Joe Vogel on November 1, 2010 at 11:51 am

I couldn’t make this stuff up, and if I could I’m sure readers would find it too contrived.

The Bijou Theatre began operating in February, 1908, said a brief article in a 1913 issue of The Moving Picture Age. The building had been the city’s opera house prior to its conversion into a combination movie and vaudeville theater by the new operator, Mr. J.E. Hippie. Mr. Hippie, a man clearly ahead of his time, was a former postmaster of Pierre, and editor and publisher of a daily newspaper. The article included this passage about the aptly named exhibitor:

“Mr. Hippie… let it be made known that he is the man who made the successful fight for the Sunday opening of picture shows in that city. Mr. Hippie in a letter to the Moving Picture World says that he is going to look after the interests of the exhibition business at the next legislature, as some local ministers and other persons are contemplating the introduction of bills looking toward a state censorship and other interferences with the picture industry.”

As for the Bijou itself, the article said that it seated 606 patrons in an area 40x97 feet, and that the stage was 16x40 feet. The house was steam-heated, had both alternating current from the city and direct current from its own power plant, and featured such amenities as “…a sanitary drinking fountain, checking rooms, and retiring rooms.”

Ken Roe on March 15, 2005 at 10:00 am

The Film Daily Yearbook. 1950 gives a seating capacity for the State Theatre as 420.