Park Theatre
255 Washington Street,
East Walpole,
MA
02032
255 Washington Street,
East Walpole,
MA
02032
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I lived at 16 June St., across from the Park Theater from the autumn of 1949 until June of 1955. I saw movies at the Park Theater, often twice a week. The cafe attached to the theater was called the Snack Bar. My mother worked there behind the long counter with stools for the customers. She made hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and the best chocolate milkshakes with real ice cream. The Snack Bar had a big juke box and a magazine rack of magazines. Mom let me read all the comic books for free.
The walls of the theater beneath the marquee displayed posters for current and upcoming films.
Us kids used to stand along the left wall of the entrance under the marquee, until they started selling tickets. The right side of the lobby of the theater had a counter where we bought candy (the Necco Wafers were my favorite because they lasted a long time. Sugar Daddy’s were good too). They had fresh popcorn and I can still smell it 70 years later. After we got our candy, we would run down the aisle to get seats in the middle of the front row. The seats felt so big and comfortable to little kids.
They showed previews of coming attractions, a cartoon and a first run movie for twenty cents. I was a little shocked when they raised the ticket price to 25 cents (early 1950’s inflation ;>)
After the movie we would leave the theater via a door to the left of the screen out to the parking lot on June Street. Sometimes the “bad boys” would open the exit door as the movie began so their friends could sneak in for free.
The projection room was upstairs and had little openings for the projector and another one for the projectionist. I remember the beam of light that the projector made from the opening to the screen. Sometimes the film would jam and the heat from the projector would melt the film. For a second the melting film projected onto the big screen and looked so cool.
They say you can never really go home again, because time changes home and your relationship with it. But I remember the Park Theater as vividly as the day before yesterday.
We bought our tickets at the entrance to the lobby
The Park must have opened after 1941 because it’s not listed in the MGM Theatre reports. There was an earlier movie operation in East Walpole which is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook. It was Bird’s Hall, address not given, 200 seats, open 2 days per week.
The building was not actually demolished as is stated above.
The bakery operated out of it beginning in 1962, shortly after it closed. (I watched 101 Dalmatians there in 1961)
In 1964, there was an attempt to destroy the building resulting in a great deal of damage, but the building was rebuilt and expanded out the back. There are accounts that imply the entire building was destroyed or demolished but that was not the case. In fact, the theatre facade with the masks of tragedy and comedy above the door was still visible for many years and well into the 1970’s if memory serves. A luncheonette operated out of the left side with the glass block windows well into the late 60’s eventually closing and becoming part of the bakery. The building was expanded and a second floor added, and eventually a new facade was erected covering over the remainder of the front. If you pass, you will still see the basic shape of the double doors on the right side of the building. One of the offices is in what was once the projection booth.