June 2004                                                    The Megaphone                                                        Page 8

The Theatres of Elwood

by Nancy Sumner

Recently there has been a lot of talk of the theatres of Elwood and where they were located in our fair city. As an employee of the public library, I have access to books and files of early Elwood. I have made a search of the City Directories of Elwood back to 1916 and made a listing of "what and where." Also, it should be noted that all years of the directories are not available. Theatres may have come and gone in the years between the listing of missing dates. Then I looked in our file cabinet of mainly newspaper articles and found a discrepancy of what was listed in the directories! So, I’ll let you be the judge! I’ll just report what I found.

City Directorys of Elwood

1916   Alhambra Theatre               1426 Main St .

            Superba Theatre                 1524 Main St.

            Lyric Theatre                        1529 Main St.

            Princess Theatre                 112 So. Anderson St .          

            Majestic Theatre                  202 So. Anderson St .

            Grand Opera House            302 So. Anderson St .

1925   Alhambra Theatre                 1426 Main St .

            Baby Grand                           1524 Main St .

            Princess Theatre                   112 So. Anderson St .

1929   Alhambra Theatre                  1426 Main St .

            Mack Theatre                         1526 – 1528 Main St .

            Princess Theatre                   112 So. Anderson St .

1935   Alhambra Theatre                  1426 Main St .

            Elwood Theatre                     1528 Main St.

            Princess Theatre                   112 So. Anderson St .

1941 – 1953

            Vogue Theatre                       1426 Main St.

            Elwood Theatre                      1526 Main St.

1954   Vogue Theatre                       1426 Main St .

            Elwood Theatre                     1526 Main St.

            Elwood Drive-In                      ST RD 28

1959 – 1981

            Elwood Theatre                      1526 Main St.

            Elwood Drive-In                     ST RD 28

                (also called Elwood Cinemas East and West)

1981 – 1987

            Elwood Drive-In                     ST RD 28  

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The Elwood Call-Leader

February 24, 2000

A millennium moment

Several Movie Houses Were Open In The 20s

Submitted to the Call-Leader by Bill Thumma  

Before television, when even radio was struggling with a number of problems, there were movies – silent ones. Elwood, in the 20s was “blessed” with several movie houses – The Princess, The Baby Grand, The Colonial, The Alhambra (later the Vogue) and the Mack (later the Elwood theatre.)

The Mack was the deluxe establishment with upholstered seats and an orchestra pit. With the projector clicking and with sub titles on the screen, providing dialogue, it seemed appropriate to provide background music. Some large theaters, in that period, used pipe organs for that purpose. Two of Elwood’s musical Foland family joined with violinist, Paul Unger, to form a piano, violin and cello trio. Their music enhanced the enjoyment of the movie.

The Princess was operated by Ike Brisco. It has special appeal to the young people (young at that time.) It featured our great western heroes such as Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Tom Tyler and Bob Steele. There was usually a short comedy as well as an extra serial film. Each serial except the last one, left our hero (or heroine) struggling with a most distressing situation.

The Princess had other features – a player piano down in front, popcorn and candy sales and a special low admission price. Some of the time, we could clip a coupon from The Elwood Call-Leader and obtain two admissions for five cents. That was for Saturday afternoon – when it counted. In order to obtain those choice seats (in the front row) it was necessary to arrive well before the movie began. It was not unheard of for youngsters in these seats to shoot paper wads at the villain and to express a general distaste for him and his high handed methods.

Toward the end of the 20s, movies began to talk (and sing). At first, some difficulty was experienced with synchronization (or lack of it.) Movies in color followed. The entire entertainment field was raised to a new level.

Locations: Mack and Baby Grand – north side of Main the 1500 block; Colonial – south side of Main in the 1500 block; Alhambra – north side of Main in the 1400 block; and Princess – west side of South Anderson in the 100 block.

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ELWOOD -- A Pictorial History

by Betty Caldwell & Shawn Heaton

Theatres (page 71)

Throughout its history, Elwood has had many theatres. The Opera House was in the building which stands on the southwest corner of South Anderson and A streets, and was owned by Gustave Kramer. In 1905, Kramer built the Kramer Grand, one block south on the southwest corner of South Anderson and B streets. Good road shows, all the home talent shows, later moving picture shows, the high school’s May Festivals and commencements, all were held there until it burned in 1919.

The Theatorium was started by John D. Kiefer around 1903 at 1417 Main St . This theatre ran one-reel pictures of fifteen minute lengths, sometimes featuring as many as 17 shows on a given Saturday.

The Coney Island Theatre was started as an open air theatre and ran summertime shows from 1911 to 1913.

Other theatres include the Crystal Vaudeville House, Airdome, Princess Theatre, Nickelodian, Star, Superba, Alhambra Vogue, and Mack Theatre .

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ELWOOD , INDIANA SESQUICENTENNIAL -- "Our Story Through Pictures"

Theaters (pages 54 & 55)

In the early 1900’s, 5 cent motion pictures became very popular in most cities with a population of 5, 000 or more.

In 1907, the Theatorium, which was located at 1415 Main Street where the Eagles Lodge now stands, began. It had 100 folding chairs, a cheaply constructed front and a second rate projector. Business it not do well, so the owner ran a string of lights from the building to Anderson Street to attract attention. This did not help the business, so the following year, the first Airdome Theater in this part of the state was built. At the location where the Elwood Call-Leader now stands, an 8-foot board wall was built around the lot. Bleachers that would seat 1,000 people were erected, and the large semi-circle front was illuminated by 200 electric lights.

The first year, only 5-cent motion pictures were shown. The second year, vaudeville was added to the ticket so a large stage was built and a roof added over one half the theater.

During the third year, stock companies who had repertoires of plays, operas and musical comedies were booked in for one week at a time with a different program every night.

By the beginning of WWI the building was being used as headquarters for the Union Delivery business and soon after the end of the war, the state fire marshal declared the site a fire hazard, and the walls and building were razed.

The Kramer Grand Opera House was built in 1902 at South Anderson Street (SW corner of B and Anderson Streets). This building probably hastened the demise of the Airdome since it was used in similar ways and was more comfortable for the patrons. It was destroyed by fire in 1918. It remained an eyesore until 1935 when the Sinclair Refining Co. cleared the brick walls and built a service station at the location.

The Princess Theater at 112 South Anderson Street , opened its doors in 1907: and although, it ownership changed hands several times, it remained open until 1938.

In 1916, there were six theaters located in uptown Elwood. The Alhambra at 1426 Main (this would in later years become the Vogue), the Grand Opera House at 302 South Anderson Street, the Majestic Theater at 202  South Anderson Street with the Opera House above it, the Princess Theater, the Lyric Theater and the Superba Theater at 1524 Main Street.

In 1909, the Lyric Theater opened at 1528 Main Street . The Johnny Mack Theater was at this site in the mid 1920’s as well as the Classic Theater and by 1936, the Elwood was located at this site where it would stay until it closed in 1981.

Around 1940, the Alhambra became the Vogue, and the Elwood and Vogue Theaters were the “only shows in town”. In the late 11940’s the Main Theater was started at 106 South Anderson where the H&R Block Tax office is now located, but by 1950, only the Vogue and Elwood Theaters remained in town. The Vogue closed its doors in the late 1950’s, but the Elwood Drive-In Theater came to be around 1954 and filled this void. The drive-in theater was located on St. Rd. 28 east of town near the present site of McDonalds.

By the fall of 1981, the last remaining theater, the Elwood Theater, was closed and the drive-in theater soon closed in the mid 1980’s.

The theaters would often give coupons for admissions to groups of young people in Elwood. This was a cheap way to enjoy popular entertainment during the early 1900’s since admission would range from 1 penny to a nickel.

The rise of the theaters here in Elwood coincided with the gas boom and the rise of population and businesses. The workers from the factories and on the gas lines were the main users of early theaters such as the Airdome. After the end of the gas boom, the theaters decreased in number as the population decreased. By the 1950’s the decline of the theaters coincided with the advent of TV and during the next decade or so, the theaters lost the battle of the “Entertainment War.” These businesses could not compete with the home venue of television and most of the theaters in small town across the country shut their doors.

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*As you can see, there are variations from one source to another. I’ll let you and your families memories guide you in your own recollections. If there should be another subject that you are interested in, please contact me at either of the two email addresses, and I’ll be more than happy to do the searching. I'd request that you put in the subject line, Panther Den or Elwood, so you don’t get deleted as spam!!

Thank You and enjoy June!

Sincerely,

Nancy Sumner, EHS/FHS ‘66

nsumner@elwood.lib.in.us   or   nancysumner@sbcglobal.net

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