The "Movie Theaters Coming Full Circle" Story

It was an ordinary day!  Just got a message from my grandkids at the Jersey Shore telling me there was going to be a movie on the beach later in the evening.  Didn't know what movie, but they thought it was a neat idea.  Not sure how they were going to project it outside, but I'm certain it wouldn't be like it was back in 1894 when Charles Francis Jenkins projected a motion picture for the first time in the United States.  

Charles Francis Jenkins' Phantoscope.

He used something called a Phanto- scope to project his film which featured a vaudeville dancer performing a Butterfly Dance.  Jenkins and his partner Thomas Armat, who lived in Richmond, Indiana eventually modified the device to project films in a temporary theater at the Cotton States Exposition the following year.  The Phantoscope was purchased by Thomas Edison who changed the name of the device to the Vitascope.  

Edison's Vitascope.

With his new Vitascope he began to show his films in New York City in 1896.  Edison began to sell his Vitascope and on July 26 of the same year the first motion picture theater opened on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Three months later Mitchell Mark, who had purchased a Vitascope from Edison, opened Edison's Vitascope Theater in Buffalo, New York.  Admission to the 72-seat theater was three cents.  

Old-time movie theater.

In 1897 in Washington, Iowa the State Theater opened and still remains open today making it the oldest continuously operating movie theater in the world.  In 1903 The Great Train Robbery, which was 12 minutes in length, was one of the very first famous movies.  In 1905 a movie theater was opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania named the Nickelodean which set the style for thousands of Nichelodeons, Gems and Bijous across North America.  One of the first feature films, The Birth of a Nation, was shown in 1915 and forced theaters to increase their prices to ten cents.  Movie revenues increased tremendously in the next 10 years with larger theaters that had giant screens and stereophonic sound.  Movie chains developed and air conditioning was placed in theaters.  

Getting ready for a movie on the beach.

Most of the movie chains were connected to movie studios such as Paramount, Warmer, Loews, Fox and RKO.  Then in 1948 the chains were broken up by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an anti-trust case.  Starting in the 1940s and into the mid-50s when I was a teenager, the job as a movie usher was coveted.  Good wages and a chance to see all the latest movies was a big draw for being an usher.  Today's multi-screen theaters don't employ as many ushers, spending money instead on upgraded seating and equipment.  And now my grandkids tell me about sitting on the beach to watch a movie.  Wow, sounds like the movie theater has come full-circle.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Say It Ain't So! Story

The Young Republicans in 1957.  LDub can be seen in
middle row on far right.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading in the newspaper that the #1 sport for viewing in the United States is professional football.  That just can't be!  Can it?  I just assumed baseball was #1, but that's because I love baseball and grew up playing the sport.  Spent many a day on the grassy plot next to the Lancaster Train Station as well as the blacktop parking lot behind my house on North Queen Street playing baseball with my friends and my younger brother Steve.  

Grandson Caden making a delivery.

When I finally got to play organized ball at the age of 12 I never looked back.  Was fortunate enough to be on a team called the Young Republicans that captured the State Jr. Midget Title in 1957.  I began coaching baseball in the mid-1960s and coached a team that won our local Midget Tournament before I finally decided to sit back and watch other fathers enjoy what I had the chance to do for many years.  Today the sport in Lancaster is still just as popular with kids of all ages enjoying our National Pastime.  My grandson just finished his first year in the 14U (under 14 years old) and even though they weren't champs in their league, they still had a great season.  

Abner Doubleday.  Does this look like a person
who may have played baseball?  I think not!

It seems that everywhere you look in Lancaster there is a baseball field with kids playing on it.  It was said that Abner Doubleday invented the game in Cooperstown, New York in 1839, but it seems that is only a myth.  Seems that Mr. Doubleday was rather averse to out-door sports.  He really didn't even live in Cooperstown in 1839 when he was supposed to have invented the sport.  Didn't even mention it in any of his 67 diaries.  After some investigating, I was able to find that there wasn't just one person who invented the sport.  It seems to have evolved from a series of European stick ball games with the rules being changed over time to get what we know as baseball today.  

The start of baseball years ago.

If you wanted to give credit to one person for the game of baseball, Albert Cartwright could be known as the "Father of Baseball" since he drafted a set of rules in 1845 that became the basis for the modern game.  The first recorded game was played on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey.  Mr. Cartwright's New York Knickerbockers defeated the New York Nine 23-1.  It wasn't until the 1920's that baseball became a popular spectator sport when Babe Ruth starred for the New York Yankees.  

Waxed stithes on a baseball.

Other stars such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and my all-time favorite Willie Mays followed and a national pastime was born.  Perhaps the reason baseball is no longer #1 in some people's eyes is the fact that baseball is becoming more a science, with sabermetrics, defensive switches and exit velocity on most every play.  Stats and data are killing the game.  I did find a few interesting stats I thought I would share with you:  6'11" is the height of the tallest player in pro baseball history (Jon Rauch who was a pitcher and played for seven teams from 2002 to 2013); 108 being the number of stitches in every baseball; 88 inches of waxed thread used to stitch each ball; 768 is the combined number of career home runs for Tommie and Hank Aaron who hold the record for most homers between brothers;

Grandson Caden and son Derek, player
and coach, follow the ball.

June  6, 1939 was the date of the first recorded Little League game when Lundy Lumber beat Lycoming Dairy 23-8 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and one more interesting fact that baseballs are rubbed with Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud before being put into play in Major League baseball games.  A few people who played Little League Baseball whom you might know are Joe Biden, George W. Bush, Kevin Costner, Steve Carell, Danny DeVito, Rudy Giuliani, John Grisham, Mark Harmon, Kurt Russell, Tom Selleck, Dick Vitale and even Julia Stiles.  Hey, I do like to watch football and even basketball, but to me Baseball will always be #1 to me.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Show Must Go On!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Viewing the Facebook page "The Lancastrian" and came across an old photo taken in 1915 of a building located on West King Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  A small sign above the main door says "Family Theatre With The Best and Latest Moving Pictures."  

In the left corner of the photograph can be seen the date that
the photograph was taken; 1915.  The location says West King
and Water Streets, but I believe the building fronted on King St.

A few Facebook comments all said they never knew the place existed in downtown Lancaster.  I too never knew of this theatre on West King Street.  I became more interested in the photograph when I Googled the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus that was advertised on many signs in front of the theatre.  I assume that the circus was appearing in the theatre and all those outside the entrance were either gathering to see the circus or perhaps protesting against the circus being in town.  More and more people added comments to the photo on Facebook with one interesting post a map of the downtown area showing where the Family Theatre was actually located.  It was billed as the Family Theatre - Biograph & Vaudeville.  Biograph referred to a motion picture company founded in 1895 that was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition releasing over 3,000 short films and 12 feature films during the silent film era.  Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish and Lionel Barrymore were a few of their most prominent actors.  

The Family Theatre can be seen on the far left.  The far
right would be Water Street where the railroad traveled.

The theatre was located, according to the map, from 222-226 West King Street.  I was born 29 years after the photograph was taken and I do not remember ever seeing the Family Theatre.  I was interested in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and after Googling it found that the circus began as the "Carl Hagenbeck Circus" in 1844 and in  1907 was purchased by Benjamin Wallace.  Hagenback was an animal trainer who used the rewards-based animal training method instead of the fear-based training method to train his circus animals.  Wallace was a livery stable owner who eventually bought out Hagenback's circus.  Two years before the photograph was taken the circus lost 8 elephants, 21 lions and tigers and 8 performing horses in the Great Flood of 1913.  

Poster from the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.

Then a few years after the circus appeared in Lancaster, tragedy struck again when an empty troop train collided with the circus train causing a fire to break out due to the kerosene lamps on the circus train.  An engineer on the troop train had fallen asleep and ran into the rear of the circus train.  86 people died and another 127 injured.  Ringling Bros. as well as Barnum & Bailey lent equipment and performers to Hagenbeck-Wallace so "the show could go on."  A few famous performers in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were Joe Skelton, father of Red Skelton, Emmett Kelly the famous clown and Hoot Gibson, a famous rodeo performer.  I seem to find out more and more about the town in which I live that I never knew existed in the past.  Fun to discover more about the history of the town of Lancaster which was the largest inland city at one time in the United States.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Vignettes From The Past" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Surfing the web when I came across the Parade Magazine site that had, as one of their featured stories, "Unedited photos captured from the past."  Interesting photos that after seeing all of them thought I would share some of my favorites with you.  I have chosen only those photos that are old enough to no longer have copyright protection.  The photographs are interesting and probably never seen before, but should be.  A great way to explore our past, visit with icons of pop culture and gain insight into old practises and important historical events.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Norma Jeane, aka Marilyn Monroe, in 1943.  She is 17-years-old in this photograph.  She was highly insecure even though she was a sex and beauty icon.  She was a life-long stutterer.

The last male Northern White Rhino on earth.  His name is Sudan and his forlorn look is due to the fact that he probably knows he is the last of his species.

19th century shoe making.  Once upon a time shoes were made by hand and one at a time.  A shoemaker was a valued member of the community.  How many shoemakers are left in your town?  

This poor little girl was a sideshow act in a circus when she was 13-years-old.  She was known as the "Four-Legged Girl from Texas".  She was born a dipygus which means her body axis split while it was developing and she grew two separate pelvises positioned side by side.  She had four legs.  How sad to think this nice young girl had to be a side show in a circus.  She might have been your child had she been born at another time in history.

1900 Soldiers.  From left to right they come from: Britain, USA, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria, Italy and Japan.  

A real entrepreneur!  A young man selling lemonade in Berlin, Germany.  He had made a portable dispenser.  Not something you would picture taking place in the 1930s, but kids were innovative in every era.

I love this photograph of Albert Einstein holding an Albert Einstein puppet in 1931.  I'd love to have a puppet of myself!

Just a beautiful sepia photograph of a young girl in Italy taken by photographer Domenico Riccardo Peretti Griva in 1920.  He was a leading photographer in the pictorial movement.

1935 train workshop.  Steam locomotives were first developed in Great Britain during the early 19th century.

The 1916 U.S.S. Franklin which was used as a training ship.  It shares its name with a fictional starship in the film Star Trek Beyond (2016).

This guy is a professional "rat catcher."  They scoured the sewers of Europe in search of vermin and received money for each rat killed.  Today we have pest control companies, but this is a bit neater.

This was an early dating site.  These bachelors of the 1800s are looking for a very special lady to make their own.  Photo was taken in Montana.  How might they do it today in Montana?

These women were not to messed with in 1889.  They may be pioneer women or the precursor to Annie Oakley.

Any idea who these four gentlemen may be?  They are John, Paul, George and Ringo on holiday in 1963 while still in England.

A beautiful garden portraiture of a Parisian woman enjoying a special moment.  May be because of the several cannabis plants growing in the background.  This photograph was taken in 1910.

A Polynesian girl surfing in Hawaii.  Photo taken in 1967.

Roller skating in Berlin in 1910.  Roller skates made their debut in a Berlin ballet performance in 1818.  They were patented the following year by a Frenchman named M. Petitbled.  It wasn't until over 50 years later that roller skating became popular.

You have to recognize his guy as Alfred Hitchcock.  Here he is serving tea to Grace Kelly on the set of "Dial M for Murder" in 1954.  The next year she met Prince Rainier of Monaco and became his bride.  Can you imagine leaving Alfred for him!

The "Gunzenhauser Bakery: Part II: From Bread To The Arts" Story

April Koppenhaver as seen on her business card.

It was an ordinary day.  April Koppenhaver is standing with me in one of the many rooms of Mulberry Art Studios at 19-21 N. Mulberry Street in downtown Lancaster, PA.  We are talking about days past when she first opened her gallery and art studio in the old Gunzenhauser Bakery building on Mulberry Street.  On Wednesday, March 30, 1988 there was a photo of her in the Lancaster New Era standing in front of a city warehouse that she hoped to convert into an art center.  She was hoping to convert the warehouse at 19 N. Mulberry St. into studios and gallery space for about 48 artists.  The warehouse was at one time home to the Gunzenhauser Bakery and later Harold's Furniture warehouse.  

Newspaper photo showing April in
front of 19 N. Mulberry Street.

It was in need of new heating, electrical wiring, plumbing and security system before she could open it to the public.  She had figured it would cost close to $600,000 for the repairs and she was hoping for investors to assist her.  She was preparing for a mixture of artists if and when she could open the studio.  There was about 18,000 square feet of space that would be dedicated for the arts.  The 16 foot high ceilings and hardwood floors made for an ideal art center.  She chose Lancaster for her project or vision since it has an abundance of talented artists as well as residents who love the arts.  Her vision eventually came to fruition and for years was home of the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards.  I helped with the judging and setting up of the Scholastic Arts show for many years when I was teaching Graphic Arts and Photography Arts at Manheim Township High School.  

19-21 N. Mulberry St. as seen today.

I remem- bered the kind woman who would help in any way she could to make the show a top notch draw for the students in Lancaster County.  That happens to be the same woman whom I am standing next to today.  The Mulberry Art Studios has come a long way from what it was in 1988.  It now is not only a top-notch place to display artwork, but a beautiful and unique environment for weddings and like events.  

Mulberry Art Studio's new plaque.

April showed me a plaque that she had just received  for the Award of Achievement from the Lancaster City Alliance marking her 30th Anniversary for Mulberry Art Studios.   The building we are standing in has also come a long way over the past century.  To celebrate that event there is a display of Gunzenhauser Bakery memorability in one of the galleries of Mulberry Art Studios.  My day was a success getting to meet April once again as well as catching up on past history of the city of Lancaster.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Gunzenhauser Bakery: Part 1: The Life Of A Successful Immigrant" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with a woman named April who was standing with me in what at one time was the Gunzenhauser Bakery on North Mulberry Street in downtown Lancaster, PA.  Today's story will give you an idea of what it might have been like to be an immigrant in the late 1800's and through hard work and perhaps a bit of good luck, make it in The United States of America.  Christian Gunzenhauser was born in Germany in 1857.  His father died when he was a year old and his mother died when he was twelve.  He lived with his sister two years and came to America at the age of fourteen.  He knew that many of his countrymen were in Lancaster, so he headed in that direction.  Worked at odd jobs for two years and then got a job at the bakery of Lawrence Goos, learning the bakery trade.  He then worked in the bakery of George Goebel before leaving for Philadelphia two years later to learn baking and mixing techniques.  After 10 years he opened his own bakery in Lock Haven, PA where he stayed for two years before returning to Lancaster where he bought the Goebel bakery which was located at 231 West King Street.  

Gunzenhauser's first building he built on Mulberry St.

In the early 1900s he moved to a new three story brick building on North Mulberry Street.  By now he had a wife with whom he had four children.   During the next ten years he added an addition to the building which is where I am now standing.  Over the years the third story was removed.  He took pride in his business and offered a high class of healthful and most attractive breads, pastries and cakes.  

One of the original ovens he used on Mulberry St.

Christian had 12 delivery wagons which delivered his goods to various parts of the city and county.  In 1911 he had architect Charles Balderson design and build a new bakery at 801 North Prince Street on the north side of the city.  Due to his success he had renowned architect C. Emlen Urban design a home for he and his family at 250 W. Orange Street in downtown Lancaster.  The three-story home is a unique blend of Georgian, French and Italian Renaissance Revival styles. In 1970, production was moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.  Its best known product was Holsum bread and rolls.  In 1974 the bakery site on the corner of West Clay and North Prince went from wheat to waste.  

Building he built on corner of W. Clay and N. Prince.  You
could look in the windows and watch the bread being made.
Their motto was "Made in sight by men in white."

It was used a few years as a location for cleaning contamin- ated steel barrel drums by the Miller Barrel Works until a massive fire in 1999 gutted the building.  Four years later another fire damaged the property further.  The fires left the contaminated site with hazardous waste.  It was eventually cleaned and may sometime in the future be used for office or residentual use.  I lived about two blocks from the bakery for close to 20 years and made many stops at the place for pastries and donuts.  I'm sure I purchased bread their also, but for some reason only remember the pastries and donuts.  Needless to say I never had the chance to meet Mr. Gunzenhauser.  An exhibit of many of Gunzenhauser memorabilia is part of a display at the original North Mulberry St. site.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Clay Street view of Gunzenhauser Bakery.

The bakery as it appears today.

Looking at the rear of the bakery today.  To the far left is Lancaster's Clipper Stadium, home of the Lancaster Barnstormers.

An original bread display case.

Newspaper advertisement for Gunzenhauser.

An ad from 1927.

Another advertisement for Gunzenhauser.

A display of old Gunzenhauser memorabilia.

Early delivery wagon and truck.

The "Where Iced Tea Got It's Start...And Maybe End" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Craving a glass of Turkey Hill orange iced tea, but know I can't drink one or I may develop kidney stones once again.  A few years ago my son had a kidney stone and was if terrible pain when my wife and I went to visit with him.  He said his doctor told him he probably got the kidney stone by drinking the iced tea that is sooooo good and made in Lancaster County, a few miles from his home in western Lancaster County.  You'd of thought I would had taken his doctor's warning, but I didn't.  I continued to drink the best tasting stuff made in Lancaster County.  And then one morning I arose with this awful pain in my groin.  I had a kidney stone.  No, I actually had a few kidney stones connected like a barbell.  Tough to pass so after two trips to the emergency room I opted to have them removed by surgery.  I still crave the sugary treat, but my mind reminds me to never drink the iced tea again.  I tell you this because many people do drink iced tea all the time.  Tea has been sipped hot in the United States since Colonial times, but when an entrepreneur in a northern state started shipping blocks of ice down South and to the Caribbean in the 19th century, they found they could drink their tea cold.  Tea had been used for years in alcoholic punches, but the origin of early nonalcoholic recipes can be traced to 1876.  A few years years after that sweet tea began to take hold in the South.  

1904 World's Fair opening.

Then in 1904 the World's Fair was held in St. Louis and the world took notice of this new and tasty drink.  Not only was iced tea a big seller at the fair, but it was said that the ice cream cone was born on the Pike at the fair.  The Pike was a mile long midway featuring rides, amusements and fantastic attractions.   Prohibition began in 1918 and since more people had home refrigerators with freezers, iced tea was here to stay.  Today 84% of all tea consumed is of the cold or iced variety.  Sales of iced tea in ready-to-drink containers of all sized is 15 times higher today than 10 years ago.  Today it is a $5.2 billion business.  

Cool glass of iced tea.

What's more, 87% of millennials drink iced tea.  And, the pre-made iced tea which I grew to love is so easy to find and buy.  But, I have decided to never drink the stuff again.  My wife drinks close to two quarts of iced tea daily, but she makes her own...sort of.  

Carol's ice tea.

She takes a two quart container, places a pitcher pack of Crystal Light Lemon Decaf Ice Tea mix in it, places a handful of fresh mint in the container and mixes it with a a small amount of hot water to dissolve the mix and fills with filtered water.  I just haven't developed a taste for it after drinking the Turkey Hill for so long, but if I ever begin to drink iced tea again, I guess it will be what she has.  So far she hasn't suffered any ill effects from the mixture.  I have gone back to my old favorite of lemonade in all flavors.  That is until something else happens to me and they tell me its because I drink lemonade.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.