Claremore’s Movie Theater Magic – Claremore’s Lyrical Lyric (1909) and Electrifying Electric (1910) Theatres – Reel 4
To rewind and read “Claremore’s Movie Theater Magic” – Reel 1, Reel 2, or Reel 3, please click the appropriate reel.
Experienced movie theater managers made it their business to understand their neighborhood communities and know what consumers wanted. The first mention of Claremore’s Lyric Theatre came in July 1909 with the Rev. Charlie Tillman preaching there one morning. The Claremore Messenger reported, “This place is now as popular as it could be… crowds growing every night.”[i] Local newspapers gave the Lyric glowing reports. “The Lyric gives its patrons the same high grade shows which the Tulsa and Oklahoma City people enjoy.”[ii]
Success in the movie theater business depended on pleasing the crowd and drawing paying customers. Several theatres played their final scene and faded out of existence. O.A. Neis’s Mystic, A.B. Fortner’s Palace, Mr. Jacob’s Pastime, and French and Johnson’s Mystic #2 had already appeared then vanished from Claremore’s entertainment treasury. Yet, the Lyric lingered.
As the curtain rose opening the new decade of 1910, Mr. Guy O. Vail was manager and Miss A.E. Crowe was owner of the Lyric Theatre located on the south side of the 500 block at 517 West Third Street (Will Rogers Boulevard, about where RCB Bank stands today).[iii] This theater replaced A.B. Fortner’s Palace Theatre formerly situated in the same space at the Boling building.
A refreshment of the room was completed when the new movie theatre moved in. Artist-designer “Mr. Fred H. Herbst, late of Los Angeles,” put his talents to work. [iv] “Nothing but the best” was made available “at the ever popular Lyric.”[v]
Loyalty incentives enticed patrons to attend the new Lyric Theatre with advertising directly targeting women. “Every lady visiting the Lyric this afternoon will receive a beautiful souvenir.”[vi]
The Lyric Theatre entered the new season with bravado.[vii] “Visit the Lyric Theatre for high-class motion pictures and illustrated songs,” advertised The Claremore Progress, with an “entire change of program daily.”[viii]
On Friday, February 4, 1910, movie house manager Guy Vail became a local hero with The Claremore Progress’s unexpected publicity inspired by the following story. “The six-year-old daughter of Mrs. F.L. Courier, of Webb City, Missouri, met with what came near being a serious accident at the Sequoyah hotel. She and two other little girls were playing. The little girl ran too near the fire and her clothes ignited. She ran into the hall where she was met by Guy O. Vail, manager of the Lyric Theatre and a Mr. Felix, of Parsons, who immediately rescued the little miss and subdued the flames. The burns on her body and arms were painful but at this writing she is getting well and, it is thought will heal without a scar.”[ix]
That July, not only heroics but change was in the air for Guy Vail, who opened a moving picture show north and east of Claremore, at Afton. The Rogers County News affirmed, “Mr. Vail is a square young business man and the people of Afton will do well to receive him into their midst.”[x]
This was also the summer that George Constant, “the efficient operator at the Lyric” and “one of the best in the state,” got married.[xi]
A talented multitasking movie operator (projectionist) was a necessity for a successful, well-run movie operation. “In many cases, the owner of a nickelodeon had started out as a one-man show, running the projection machine himself as well as collecting the nickels and delivering narrations for the films and singing between reels. But competition demanded something more of the performance. The operator had to crank the machine by hand all day long, keeping an eye on the varying speed, the focus, and the amount of light, and nurse the worn and torn perforations [of the film] through the [projection machine’s] sprockets. He had to trim his carbon lights, make repairs and cuts to the film, and display slides for the singer or the lecturer, or announcement slides, which he sometimes made himself. To be good at his profession, he needed to have an understanding of electricity and the laws of optics, and he needed to be a mechanic, in order to repair the projection machine when it broke down. Often he was expected to go and pick up the reels for each day’s show, either at the film exchange or at the railway station, returning the old ones already used, and he had to see that the day’s show was in good enough repair to go through the machine twenty or more times.”[xii]
Miss A.E. Crowe, continued as owner of the Lyric,[xiii] and Mr. Earl Holmes entertained as singer there.
The Rogers County News announce that the Lyric theater would offer the proceeds of one night to the Episcopal church as a benefit.[xiv] Supporting community events was good business practice. The wise theater owner gladly made such civic contributions that engender the good will of customers.
By 1911, Mr. Charles Roaten became operator at the Lyric[xv] as the News explained, Mr. and Mrs. George Constant left for Denton, Texas. “George has been, for some time, operator at the Lyric, but has resigned to open a Lyric for himself at Denton.”[xvi] Then, that February, “Mr. Port, an able electrician of St. Louis, Missouri,… accepted a position as operator at the Lyric Theatre.”[xvii]
A change occurred at the Lyric in April 1911 when Dick Kern became singer.[xviii] The announcement was made, Welch Blackburn “bought the moving picture machine of the Lyric Theatre.”[xix] What did this mean for the Lyric’s future? Only that later that year, the Lyric acquired some new movie theatre competition.
Owned by A.T. Holsburg and opened sometime in late 1910, the existence of a new movie establishment was advertised by the News in February 1911. “Electric Theatre Tonight – The Vows, Drama. The Necklace of the Dead, Drama. The Broken Melody, Drama. Matinee Every Day 2:30 P.M.”[xx] News of the Electric continued with the announcement that “Mrs. Henderson is yet unable to resume her duties as singer at the Electric Theatre. Miss Peggy Hart, of Keifer, is taking her place this week.”[xxi]
Nothing stays the same except change in the movie industry. April 1911, it was announced that William Webber bought the Electric Theatre when The Rogers County News reported, “William Webber purchased of A.T. Holsburg the Electric Theater [located] in the Johnson-Gorey block. Mr. Holsburg, seven months ago, opened this theater here, and has enjoyed a prosperous business all along, and we have found him to be an upright business man. Mr. Webber has been connected for some time with the Glasgow Hardware Co., and he has made many friends by his social and courteous disposition. We believe that the Electric will be even more prosperous under Mr. Webber’s management.”[xxii] Claremore’s own Claud Chambers, who had performed at the Palace theatre, was hired that spring for singing at the Electric.[xxiii]
Built by developers William S. Johnson and Richard M. Gorey, the Johnson-Gorey building was located on the north side of Third Street’s (Will Rogers Boulevard) 400 block, between Missouri and Cherokee avenues. The June 1911 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Claremore, Oklahoma, places this theater, “Motion Pictures, Photo 2nd,” on the second floor of 404 West Third Street,[xxiv] the present home of Rhodes Printing. [xxv]
Being a movie operator could become a dangerous occupation. The nitrate film used in the early days of movie making, with its “combustion point of only 284 degrees Fahrenheit,” [xxvi] “was notoriously flammable, and fires in cinemas in the years 1905 – 1907 probably numbered thousands, although the trade press was at pains to underplay the dangers. Many of these fires were small and restricted to the projection box: it was indeed miraculous that there were not more big and fatal conflagrations.”[xxvii] “Fires had been a problem since the beginning of cinema, but the nickelodeon boom turned it into a crisis. Theater owners often lacked the expertise or financial resources to make their theaters safe, and the large number of inexperienced operators created by the rapid spread of nickelodeons further increased the likelihood of disaster.” [xxviii]
Therefore, it was not completely surprising when The Claremore Progress informed the community, “On account of a fire at Keifer burning up the reels intended for the Electric Theatre Monday night, the management had to scrape up the best kind of a show possible under the circumstances which was hardly up to the standard.”[xxix]
A man of ingenuity, “Wm. Webber, manager of the Electric Theatre,” it was announced, “is making improvements so that in a short time he will be able to give the public vaudeville attractions as well as pictures.”[xxx] Just in time for the summer heat, Mr. Webber also “installed six 16-inch oscillating fans at the Electric Theatre which [made] that popular theatre one of the cool places of the city.”[xxxi] Then, The Electric Theatre “installed a new piano for the benefit of the music loving patrons.”[xxxii]
By September 1911, it was the Lyric that was “becoming quite popular for line parties [a special occasion when a number of young people gathered to attend the movies together]. Two were seen there Saturday night.”[xxxiii]
But it was the following month that big movie theater news was announced in the Claremore Messenger. “The Lyric Theatre has been sold to a gentleman named R.B. Collins who hails from Illinois. He is a very agreeable and business-like gentleman.”[xxxiv] The Claremore Progress added the following details to this news flash. “Business Change. The Lyric Theatre, the oldest picture house in the city, has changed hands. Miss A.E. Crowe, the founder of the business having sold to Mr. R.B. Collins, of Illinois. The new manager comes highly recommended as a business man and a gentleman, and proposes to give the public the same high class pictures always furnished by this popular place of amusement. Miss Crowe has not fully decided just what she will do, but will spend some time visiting in this city and with relatives at Tulsa.”
What would be the fate of the Lyric? So often when movie houses were sold, their assets were liquidated and the movie venue disappeared from the Claremore movie theatre scene. Just like the old time movie seriels, we’ll have to wait till Reel 5 to find out.
Click the link to read Reel 5: Claremore’s Movie Theatre Magic – Claremore’s Lyrical Lyric (1909) and Electrifying Electric (1910) Theatres, Part 2.
By Christa Rice, Claremore History Explorer
Sources:
Oklahoma newspapers are sourced through The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.
[i] Smith, Clark. Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, July 16, 1909.
[ii] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, July 23, 1909.
[iii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, February 18, 1910.
[iv] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, August 6, 1909.
[v] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, August 20, 1909.
[vi] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, September 24, 1909.
[vii] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, January 14, 1910.
[viii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, May 13, 1910.
[ix] Harper, W. R. Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, February 4, 1910.
[x] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 21, 1910.
[xi] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, June 17, 1910.
[xii] Bowser, Eileen. The Transformation of Cinema, 1907 – 1915, Volume 2, Part 2. Berkley: University of California Press. c. 1990. p.12.
[xiii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, October 14, 1910.
[xiv] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 15, 1910.
[xv] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, January 6, 1911.
[xvi] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 26, 1911.
[xvii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, February 3, 1911.
[xviii] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 13, 1911.
[xix] Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, April 7, 1911.
[xx] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 16, 1911.
[xxi] Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, March 3, 1911.
[xxii] Larner, J. H. The Rogers County News (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 20, 1911.
[xxiii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1911.
[xxiv] Library of Congress. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Claremore, Oklahoma, June 1911, Sheet 4. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4024cm.07040007/?sp=12
[xxv] Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Claremore, Rogers County, Oklahoma. Sanborn Map Company, Jun, 1911. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn07040_007/.
[xxvi] Musser, Charles. The Emergence of Cinema: The American Cinema to 1907, edited by Charles Harpole, Vol. 1, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1990, p. 443.
[xxvii] Robinson, David. From Peep Show to Palace 0 The Birth of American Film. New York: Columbia University Press. 1996. p. 98.
[xxviii] Musser, Charles. The Emergence of Cinema: The American Cinema to 1907, edited by Charles Harpole, Vol. 1, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1990, p. 443.
[xxix] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, May 19, 1911.
[xxx] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, May 19, 1911.
[xxxi] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, June 2, 1911.
[xxxii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, June 9, 1911.
[xxxiii] Claremore Progress. And Rogers County Democrat (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 19, No. 31, Ed. 1 Friday, September 1, 1911.
[xxxiv] Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 48, Ed. 1 Friday, November 3, 1911.
Explore Claremore History 
You must be logged in to post a comment.