THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 30, Number 45 Thursday, November 13, 2014 At the Movies MICHIGAN CITY ONCE WAS HOME TO GRAND VENUES By William Halliar Editor’s note — This week, we resume our series exploring the history behind key locations along Michigan City’s North End. Happy children mug for the camera at the Liberty Theater in 1948. Photo from “Michigan City: The First 150 Years.” Old movie houses of Memories of an after- Franklin Street’s heyday. noon at the movies. Their names bring back Lido Tivoli Liberty Motion pictures have memories of so many hours been part of the fabric of spent with family and our lives for more than 100 friends, of sharing stories years. We grew up under of thrilling adventures, exploration and love. Eating their spell, as did our parents. We can’t escape their hot buttered popcorn and holding hands with your infl uence in our culture. best girl, laughing and sobbing with your favorite What is this great fascination? It is all about hero or heroine. Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 November 13, 2014 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Eastman’s newly developed celluloid fi lm instead Movies Continued from Page 1 of individual glass plates. Edison ordered some of Eastman’s new fi lm and had it cut into strips. A storytelling, and who doesn’t like a good story? We sprocket drive system moved the fi lm past a lens especially enjoy a tale well told, well crafted, pre- to expose each frame in turn. He called this new in- sented by a storyteller who can hold us in rapt at- vention a kinetograph. To view the fi nished product, tention, make us laugh, shed a tear, feel intense another invention, the Kinetoscope, was born. patriotism or remorse, even be afraid. A good sto- Viewing parlors where Kinetoscopes were set ryteller can transport us through time and space to up side by side popped up in cities across America, another time and place, right in the middle of the starting in 1894 with the fi rst that opened in New action. York City. The viewer would peer into the machine Technology has advanced through the ages, but while turning a crank to see the action. Here, for a it was the story itself that demanded fresh ways of nickel, patrons could watch short fi lms that lasted being told. only a few seconds each of circus performers, danc- In 1878, the English- ers or animals. man Eadweard Muy- bridge set up a series of 700 glass-plate cameras to capture horse trot- Edison’s ting, the goal being to Projectoscope, discover whether all four forerunner of modern movie of a horse’s hoofs left the theater projectors ground while running or trotting. The shut- ter of each camera was attached to a thin cord tripped by the horse’s legs as it passed. The re- sulting images were copied to a disc and viewed in series by a machine he invented. In 1895 in France, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere invented a projector that could show a movie on a screen, and could be viewed by many people simultaneously. Edison also developed a projector and built the fi rst movie studio on the grounds of his laboratory in West Orange, N.J. The studio was dubbed the “Black Maria” and built on a turntable so it could capture the natural light of the sun for fi lming. In 1913, Edison introduced the fi rst talking picture, even a fi lm in color, with each frame handpainted. An industry was born, and the art of storytell- Thus, the concept for pictures in motion began. If ing was advanced to a new age. Movie theaters and photos captured still images, this compilation of 700 showplaces began to pop up in every city of any size consecutive images truly was the fi rst “movie.” across America. Today, according to the National As- Thomas Edison took up the process where Muy- sociation of Theater Owners, there are 5,317 indoor bridge left off, inventing a camera using George theaters and 366 outdoor theaters, with 36,662 to- THE November 13, 2014 Page 3 tal screens for showing movies in the United States. Michigan City, being progressive, had its share of theaters over the years. Is Your Furnace Winter-Ready? From the 1920s through the 1950s, a regular trip to the local theater was a way of life for many peo- With colder temperatures approaching, it ple, something eagerly anticipated all week. There pays to have your heating system checked was no TV for most of that time, and an evening at the theater was a time away from the hustle and during the fall before temperatures plunge. bustle of daily life. The last thing you want is to be caught The early 20th century also saw the birth of the unprepared with a furnace that doesn’t grand movie palace. An evening’s entertainment function properly. A pre-season tune-up at such an establishment can only be imagined by can help determine the condition of your young folks of today. People from Michigan City in furnace after it’s been idle all summer and their 50s or older fondly recall many hours spent enraptured by the stories and stars on the silver alert you to any potential repairs. screen. These grand buildings, these palaces, the products of the age, were designed to make the av- erage citizen feel like royalty. A $149 For a small price, sometimes as little as a dime, a $79 Tune Up with Value theatergoer could enter a world of extravagance in sights, smells and sounds. You did not simply go to FREE Carbon Monoxide Testing see a movie as we do today, but went for an entire experience in a venue decorated with gold, velvet of the air in your home and jewels, all designed to take the patron on a jour- ney far from mundane troubles at home. For a small Offer good through 11/30/2014. Offer excludes hot water or steam boiler systems, Not valid with other offers or on price, you could watch the world fl ash by in a news prior service. Please present coupon at time of service reel and thrill to a serial featuring the Lone Ranger or the Perils of Pauline, even a double feature. Michigan City had three such movie palaces, all Receive Up To within walking distance of each other. $1,700.00 Rebate With The Purchase Of A Qualifying Lennox Home Comfort System OR Special Financing Available Offers expire 11/28/2014. *System rebate offers range from $300 to $1,700. See your local Lennox Dealer for details. © 2014 Lennox Industries Inc. Lennox dealers include independently owned and operated businesses. One offer available per qualifying purchase. 219-874-2454 800-789-2210 The Tivoli also was home to Miss Indiana pageants. Photo from “Michigan City: The First 150 Years.” www.MichianaMechanical.com Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 November 13, 2014 fi nest of its kind in this section.” Movies Continued from Page 3 According to an advertisement of the day, the Starland “will have a change of its vaudeville pro- The Lido at 814 Franklin St., named for the town gram each Monday and Thursday and in the list of of Lido, a fashionable resort community near Venice attractions are found many of the very fi nest enter- Italy, opened in 1940. It was the newest and most tainers in the business, which will run in conjunc- modern of the three, boasting 853 seats. tion with moving pictures.” Imagine, a live stage show and a movie, all for the price of a single ticket. The Starland also boasted “a fi ne $5,000 pipe organ and piano.” The Starland Theater circa 1920, before it became the Liberty Theater. Photo from “Michigan City: The First 150 Years.” In 1931, the Starland was remodeled and re- named the Lake Theater after a contest was held for that purpose. A $5 prize was awarded to Mrs. Robert Donnely by a panel of judges that chose her suggestion from hundreds of others submitted. As well as a name change, the building was com- pletely remodeled inside and out. According to one contemporary account, “Every detail of the building is in the modernistic style of decoration, which is The Lido Theater. Photo from “Michigan City: The First 150 Years.” now so popular. Bright colors with red, blue, black The Tivoli at 514 Franklin St. was named for a and silver predominating, make the theater an un- city in central Italy known for its Roman ruins and usually colorful and pleasant place.” The Michigan waterfalls. It had 1,300 seats and was designed in City News on Oct. 22, 1931, proclaimed that “those Neoclassical style. The façade was covered in white who have inspected it inside and out are unanimous terra-cotta. It was built in 1922 on the site of Mich- in their praise of its attractiveness.” igan City’s Grand Opera House, renamed the Or- In 1947, the old Starland again had a name pheum Theater, and later christened the Garden change and was recrowned Liberty.” A copy of the Theater, a vaudeville and silent movie venue that Feb.