Family Theatre

5118 Shaw Avenue,
St. Louis, MO 63110

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FamilyHistory
FamilyHistory on March 8, 2018 at 8:35 pm

In 1912 the Family Theatre 5318 Shaw Ave was purchased one-half interest for $50 by John B. Lueken. Assets consisted of a couple hundred folding chairs, a cannon stove and a projector. Film was rented from Charley and Sam Werner for 50 cents and 75 cents a reel, which ran from 7 to 10 minutes. Show consisted of 3 subjects and admission was 5 cents. The owner sold the building and the new owner wanted to operate the theatre himself. Mr Lueken sold it for $2000 in approximately 1920. —from my family history.

SethG
SethG on April 17, 2016 at 2:28 pm

It’s now a meat packing operation, or it was in 2010. I visited for some work with the USDA inspector, and the interior is completely gutted.

JAlex
JAlex on January 20, 2014 at 11:14 am

The St. Louis Star in 1927 listed the Family as having 682 seats.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 19, 2014 at 5:09 pm

The Lange-Family Theatre was mentioned in the February 21, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal, though with its name misspelled:

“J. Bucklin has taken over the management of the Lang Family Theatre, 5118 Shaw avenue, St. Louis. He formerly was manager of the St. Louis Exhibitors Supply Company.”
Property Shark says the building was built in 1914. That could be about right. The style of the building fits the period. It’s even possible that it was built as a movie theater, though I’ve been unable to find any references to it in the early trade journals.