Rex Theatre

Joe Vogel on May 12, 2016 at 2:02 pm

Minden’s theater history is a bit muddled and the sources have some conflicting (and probably some erroneous) information, but this web page says that the Rex Theatre on Pearl Street was the first house of that name in Minden, not the second, and that it was taken over by Joy Houck, remodeled, and renamed the Joy Theatre. The page says this happened in the 1940s, but the move of the Rex name had to have been in the 1930s. There are multiple sources indicating that the second Rex was operating by the later 1930s. I’m not sure when the first Rex became the Joy. The house might have been closed for some time before being remodeled and reopened.

Comparing various vintage photos with modern Google street views, I’m sure the page is correct that the Rex and the Joy were the same house, and I believe the correct address of the theaters is 114 Pearl Street (we have the Joy listed at 112, and the Rex at 116.) The vintage photo of the Rex at the top of this page shows that the theater was in a building adjacent to the building in which the historical museum is now located. Though many Internet sources say that the museum is in the Rex building, that is clearly not the case. The subsequent photo on the museum’s web page shows that the museum entrance is in the space that in the vintage photo is occupied by a dry cleaning establishment.

This web page has a ca.1951 photo of the joy and shows that there was a building to the right of it. That was the building at 112 Pearl, which ends at an alley and never had an adjacent building on that side. This web page has a photo of the Joy taken at the same time from a different angle, and the brick pier of the museum building can be dimly seen at left.

The museum’s own web site says that in the 1950s the Joy was next door to the building now occupied by the museum. The building has been remodeled, and the streamline modern front of the Joy replaced by a brick facade. I have no doubt that the Rex and the Joy were the same theater, and their address is 114 Pearl Street. Our pages for the two theaters should be combined.

Also, our vintage photo of the Rex displays advertising for the 1934 Shirley Temple movie Baby Take a Bow, so the Rex was still operating at this location at least that late.