Palm Theatre
Main Street,
Bayard,
NE
69334
Main Street,
Bayard,
NE
69334
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Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Rodgers opened the new-build, New Ideal Theatre which launched on September 5, 1918. It was operated by Jim. I Zimmerman and Thomas Ishmael. In 1919, the operator of the Star Theatre took on the Ideal relegating the Star to Saturday night only operation. It was then sold to Ishmael who operated it for a short period and closed the Star.
On September 3, 1927, the Rodgers took control back over the Ideal operation and renamed it the Palm Theatre likely for its new owners. Sallow & Hughes Circuit ran the venture followed by at least four other operators.
The Palm Theatre dates back to at least 1918, and was originally called the Ideal Theatre. In 1927, two movie theaters were in operation at Bayard, the Ideal and the Rialto. The July 1, 1927, issue of The Film Daily reported that Jim Hughes had bought both houses. My guess would be that Hughes bought only the businesses and not the buildings in which they were located, as he apparently closed the Ideal, and the landlord subsequently found another operator for it, or perhaps decided to operate it himself. The September 23 issue of the Daily ran this item:
The following year, this notice appeared in the October 6, 1928, issue of Motion Picture News:Sallow and Hughes might have saved themselves some expense by keeping the Ideal open, instead of buying it twice. The Ideal was probably the older of the two houses, as the opening of a house called the New Ideal Theatre at Bayard is mentioned in the November 9, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World. The name suggests that an earlier Ideal Theatre had operated in Bayard, and had either moved to a new building or had at least been substantially rebuilt in its original location.