Old Howard Theatre
Court Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
Court Street,
Boston,
MA
02108
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That’s good to know! I wonder how it got to the BPL – I had feared that it had ended up in a dumpster. Warning to all elderly would-be authors: get your work finished and printed – tomorrow may be too late !
The manuscript entitled
Memoirs of a movie theatre manager, or, “Crapcans and palaces”
is available on the General Reference shelves in the Washington Room of the Boston Public Library.
The late Donald C. King, author of a recent history of Boston theatres, wrote two other full-length books, both unpublished, a history of theatres in Maine, and a memoir, “Crap Cans and Palaces”, a life spent in the theatre business. In the latter, he describes a visit to the Old Howard around 1941, when he was 20 years old. He writes: “I went early one afternoon and sat in the first balcony, close to the projection room. The house advertised "Always Something Doing…” When the stage show was not on, very old double-feature movies were shown. After the films finished, the house lights came up. I studied the old playhouse and its domed ceiling which seemed covered with painted designs on very dingy canvas. Its chandelier was long gone. I looked up at the deserted second balcony, or gallery. My dad had told me of sitting up there when he was young, along with his buddies. They would drop soft chocolates on the bald heads sitting below them. When an usher arrived to investigate, the gallery guys would point out some drunk as the culprit. The auditorium was on the second floor of a church-like structure. Huge windows penetrated its heavy stone facade with multiple fire escapes (attached), behind which were the theatre’s stairways. Proscenium boxes were on the sides of a raked stage thrusting into the orchestra level.“ He then continues, describing a typical Burley show of the era.
The architect of the Old Howard in October 1846 was Isaiah Rogers. It was said to have 2000 seats when it opened but that seems like an exaggeration, even in those days of small seats spaced close together.
Here are some dates regarding the Old Howard demolition. I went to Scollay Sq on Monday March 19, 1962 and noted that demo had started on the Scollay Square Theatre. On Tuesday April 24th, demo had started on the stage-end of the Old Howard; I viewed demo in progress on both the Scollay Square Theatre and the Old Howard on Thursday April 26th and Monday May 7th. Then, a last visit on Friday, May 11th, 1962. The fire in June 1961 badly damaged the roof which caved in; but the auditorium was not badly damaged, and standing on the terrace in front of the Suffolk County courthouse I got a good look at the auditorium after the stage-house had been removed, nicely lit by the morning sun. In the book “Scollay Square' by David Kruh (Arcadia, 2004), on page 64 there is a photo of the lobby at showtime. This is exactly the way I remember it the first time I looked in there on a Sat. night in 1950. On page 109-top, the photo shows the facade just after the fire, with rubble in the street. On Page 108, the rubble has been cleaned up; you can see the stage-house of the Scollay Square Theatre right next to the Old Howard’s facade. (the 2 theatres were side by side, head to foot). The Old Howard did not have air-conditioning,so it closed each summer from about late-June to Late-August.
There is a historical marker placque supposedly on the site of the Old Howard’s stage. To find it, go up in back of the north end of the Center Plaza building so that you are on the terrace in front of the Suffolk Country Court House. At the north end of the terrace there are several benches, and the plaque is (if it’s still there) affixed to one of the benches, or on the ground next to a bench. It was put in place circa 1980.
As a high school and college student in the 1950s, I was a fan of “Burley”. I went to the Casino on Hanover St. many times, but never got into the Old Howard. It was indeed closed by court action in November 1953, and never reopened. The fact that the Casino started calling itself “Old Howard Casino” has confused many memories. A suspicious fire in June 1961 badly damaged the Howard’s interior. A March 1961 proposal to turn it into a theatrical museum is in the THSA archives in Elmhurst IL. After the fire, the rubble was cleaned off the street, but the demolition did not take place until the Spring of 1962. I visited the site at least twice during the demo process. The crew worked from back to front. It was an unaltered mid-19th century playhouse and was on the 2nd floor. 2nd-run movies were shown inbetween stage shows right up to the end.
From the Boston Public Library’s photo collection:
A glimpse of the Old Howard, 1930
The Old Howard, ca. 1950
Demolition of the Old Howard, 1961
Burlesque performer Ann Corio visits the Old Howard in 1961, during its demolition
According to Donald C. King’s new book The Theatres of Boston: A Stage and Screen History, the first Howard Athenaeum opened on October 13, 1845, converted from a Millerite temple after the world failed to end on schedule.
It burned in February, 1846 and was immediately replaced by the second Howard Athenaeum, which opened on October 5, 1846.
Burlesque began in 1898 and continued until a police raid closed it in 1953. Old films played between stage shows.
King says that the Old Howard reopened on February 22, 1954, with a new policy proclaiming “Boston’s Only Variety Stage Show” and omitting the word “burlesque” from advertisements. “But, after a few weeks, ‘lady stars’ crept back into its ads and shows.” He says it closed again by 1955.
Ron: I’m pretty sure I saw the Olympia, judging by the photo you posted. The curtain was still hanging and the proscenium arch was of similar proportions. I can see it in color in my mind’s eye almost like a slide on a screen. I recall kind of looking over a mound of rubble just as in your photo. We lost a lot of the richness of the city when they demolished these buildings. They needed rehabilitation and tidying up, yet they’d be far better than the desolate Government Center plaza. At least the existing, curved Center Plaza building has a mixed use of office and retail.
Here’s a much older photo of the Old Howard, also from teh Bostonian Society collection. The photo is described here. Unfortunately, the date given is non-specific: “ca. 1890-1910”.
I just today posted a photo of the Olympia’s demolition — take a look and see if it seems familiar.
You might also have watched demolition of the Casino (by then renamed ‘Old Howard Casino’) on Hanover Sreet.
When I was in my early teens in the early sixties, my father took me in to the original Radio Shack located near (or possibly on) Scollay Square. They were tearing down a theater that day. You could see the proscenium arch and curtain of the stage. I always thought it was the Old Howard, but it might have been the Olympia, also listed in Cinema Treasures. What I saw didn’t look like it had burned, and the Old Howard had.
From the Bostonian Society Library, here’s a 1953 nighttime photo of the Old Howard. A sign appears to read “GALA REOPENING SAT. MAY. 23”. The photo is described here. This is just a few months before the city censors closed it forever.
An Old Howard program for the week of November 6, 1950, reproduced on pages 61-64 of David Kruh’s book, advertises:
CONTINUOUS 9 A.M. to 11 P.M.
3 Gigantic Stage Shows Daily: 12 Noon, 2:45 P.M. and 8:30 P.M.
Four Shows Saturday: 12 Noon, 2:45 — 7:15 — 10:00 P.M.
MIDNIGHT SHOW EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at 12 O'Clock
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 6, 1950
EXTRA, ADDED ATTRACTION
The New, Undisputed Queen of Burlesque
ROSE LA ROSE
THE ORIGINAL T.N.T. GIRL
THE GIRL WHO HAS EVERYTHING
BETTE HOWARD
Our Feature Attraction
INIMITABLE FUN-MAKER
EDDIE INNIS
A Lesson in Levity
LADD & LYON
Nifty Little Tantalizer
JANICE BROWN
Drawling Comic
FRED FRAMPTON
Robust Straight
HARRY RYAN
Dainty and Demure
NONA CARVER
Songs You Love
FRANK PETAN
ON OUR SCREEN
“YOU’RE MY EVERYTHING” …. Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter
“THE UNSUSPCTED” ….. Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains
Latest Warner News
Part of another Old Howard program, from February 1952, is shown here.
After the city shut down the Old Howard, the same owners continued operating the nearby Casino Theatre, changing its name to “Old Howard Casino”. That theatre stayed open until May 5, 1962.
For much more information on the Old Howard and Scollay Square, read David Kruh’s book Always Something Doing: A History of Boston’s Infamous Scollay Square.
Also see his website on the subject, http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/ and particularly http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/Howard.html .
Much of the information I have posted about Scollay Square theatres comes from his book and web pages.