Ritz Theatre

Joe Vogel on January 8, 2024 at 3:13 am

Here is a preview of the significant points in this rather long comment: The earliest instance of the name Pastime Theater being associated with Mapleton that I’ve yet found dates from June, 1919, but the house might have opened as early as 1916, under this or another name. It was still listed as the Pastime in 1938, by which time its seating capacity had been increased to 325. The name had been changed to Ritz Theater by Christmas, 1939 at the latest. The building was of brick, two stories, and had apartments above the theater. I’ve been unable to discover its correct address, its closing date, or its fate.

The only theater listed at Mapleton in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was called the Starland. In 1916, the May 20 issue of Moving Picture World had this item, which might have been about the Pastime: “MAPLETON, MINN.-A new moving picture house has been opened by C. L. Sellers.”

The next mention of Mapleton I’ve found in the trade journals, and the first which mentions the Pastime by name, is from Film Daily of July 21, 1919, which says “Mapleton, Minn.—O. D. Benjamin in charge of Pastime.” A few months later there is a capsule movie review in the April 3, 1920 issue of Exhibitors Herald submitted by “Kenneth Snyder, Pastime theatre, Mapleton, Minn.”

A May 28, 1949 Boxoffice item said that Harry Blubaugh had sold the Ritz Theater at Mapleton, Minnesota, after having operated it for twelve years. It was described as a two-story brick building with apartments. The earliest mention of Harry Blubaugh I’ve found is in the October 9, 1937 issue of Film Daily, which said that Western Theatre Supply of Omaha had installed a Da-Lite screen in “…Harry D. Blubaugh’s Mapleton, Mapleton, Minn.” The theater name Mapleton was probably an error, as the 1938 FDY still listed the house as the Pastime, though its seating capacity had been increased to 325.

In any case, the house had become the Ritz by late 1939 at the latest, as a capsule review of “The Wizard of Oz” attributed to Harry Blubaugh of the Ritz, Mapleton, published in Motion Picture Herald in early 1940 said that attendance at the film had been only fair, due to the Christmas date.

Incidentally, if we ever find that the Opera House at Mapleton ran movies, and it gets listed here, the March 7, 1903 issue of The Improvement Bulletin had this item about it: “Mapleton, Minn.-Otto Schweer has concluded to erect an opera house, from plans by H. C. Gerlach, architect, of Mankato, Minn. Cost $10,000.” The Billboard of September 5, 1908 lists the Mapleton Opera House, managed by Otto Schweer, with 500 seats.