Arcade Theater

remkoolhaas on January 5, 2019 at 10:22 pm

Dear Theater & Film Friends,

My name is Matthew Glass and I am in the midst of writing a book called “Images of America: Historic Miami Theaters” it will be published by Arcadia Publishing /The History Press. It is a tribute to historic film and theater houses and even more to Miami.

I am writing to request pictures you might have of any older theater structures in your collection. The images can be black & white, color, with family or friends or shots of various parts of the Theaters. The books covers these spaces from 1880 to the present. I have many images but I still am missing some pictures of several Theaters.

The The Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed so much.

I am also looking to firm up the cover in the next week or so. You might have it sitting in your photo album now. You will be fully credited, acknowledged and receive a free copy of the book if the image can be used.

Aye, here’s the rub! The images, if digital have to be a 2400 dpi x any dimension in order to meet the publishing house specifications.

So here is how you can help:

 1. Email me any images you might have that meet these specifications. 
                 2. Scan the original at 1200 or higher dpi and email me the image. 
                 3. Mail me the image and I’ll scan it appropriately and I’ll  send it back in perfect 
                     condition in February when I submit the final proof. 
                

Don’t freak, If you have any questions on how to scan , you may email me or call and I’ll talk you through the scanning process. I just ask that you submit the year, photographer or collection it came from.

If it can be used, I’ll send a simple photo release paper for you to sign.

I am looking especially for interiors, and images of the following theaters: WIGWAM, PARAMOUNT, STATE, KELLEY, SHERIDAN, FLAMINGO, CARIB, BEACH, MIRACLE, MINI ART, GABLES TRIPLE, ROOSEVELT, RITZ, ESSEX, and BILTMORE, to name a few of the 273 theaters we have had since the minstrel shows of the 1800’s.

This is a scholarly publication. I am requesting nonexclusive world rights in English for this volume only. I wont be getting it rich as half the proceeds will go back to South Florida Theaters. I make 2 dollars a book sold, and a portion is going back into Miami Theater Non Profits.

Thank You Kindly,
Matthew Glass

P.S. I am including marine stadiums, sporting arenas, music halls, supper clubs, out door venues, concert hall too. . Sadly I have very little on “blacks only”, yiddish and spaces by the indigenous tribes that Flagler discovered.

Yours sincerely,
Matthew Glass

David_Schneider on February 10, 2017 at 11:46 am

Check out the complete text of the “Development of Miami’s Theaters” chapter of Isidor Cohen’s book.

There are a few more theatres in there that came and went that are not listed on Cinema Treasures but there might not be much information about them outside of being mentioned therein.

I enjoy the part that says, after Kelly’s Theatre drove the Alcazar out of business, “Noting the victor’s apparent prosperity, one of our pioneer boys, Henry Chase (recently elected sheriff of Dade County), opened a movie theater in an old shack which stood on North First Avenue, where now stands the First Trust and Savings Bank building. That caricature of a theater served as a retreat for somnambulists and victims of insomnia.”

Here’s a link to the article “Miami Avenue & Flagler Street in 1913” on the miami-history.com website.

Compare the historic photo to the present day Street View image for a look at now versus the 1910’s, with the Burdine’s/Macy’s building still present.

Cinema Treasures page for the other Air Domes.

An article in the January 27, 1975 issue of Box Office: “Nickel Shows, Live Music, Tents: Miami’s Early Film Days Recalled”