In my area (Lebanon/Dauphin counties) they’re building all kinds of new theaters. After having no theaters for several years, they just started building a new 12 screen multiplex in Lebanon, and a 10 screen is planned for across town. There’s also at least 1 huge multiplex planned for Harrisburg. Can’t say I like the multiplexs too much, but it’s (marginally) better than nothing.
It’ll probably take George Lucas (or someone similar) requiring digital projection in order to show a particular movie before there’s widespread adoption of digital projection. (Lucas had specific audio requirements for a theater before they could show the new Star Wars films. Many theater owners paid for expensive upgrades as a result.)
Guess we’re at about 5 posts now since the Devon was mentioned, so I’ll mention it.
When 3D movies came back in 1981-1983, the Devon ran one (I think called “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”) because the Devon had an actual silver screen. (It would have played at the Mayfair, but no silver screen there.) In order to run a 3D movie, a special lens must be put on the projector, extra care must be taken with focus, etc. I don’t know what the projectionist did, but the movie was horribly out of focus and out of sync when I saw it, and you could not see any 3D effect or anything resembling a picture. Complaints were ignored, and most people eventually got up and walked out. I got in for free, but still walked out.
Yes, there was a large greenroom below the stage. (We called it the usher’s room, and I do remember there was an old bong in there – gives you some idea of how it was used, but not by me! I used it – the room, not the bong – once or twice when I wanted to take a nap.)
Don’t know if there was an orchestra pit, but I think there was. I’m pretty sure that the area in front of the stage had a wood plank floor that probably had been an orchestra pit.
Also don’t know if there was a loading dock or other backstage entrance at one time. I don’t recall seeing any signs of one, but I didn’t have much reason to go behind the screen very often. (The speaker behind the perforated screen was pretty big.)
The heavy drapes hondo59 mentioned were just beyond the ticket taker stand and were intended to keep light out of the auditorium when the lobby door was open.
The ticket taker for many years was a dirty old man named Bill. (He’d be okay with that designation. He spent most of his time ogling the girls that came in.) Great guy. He had worked at another theater years before; I think it may have been the Kent. I remember we were goofing around one night and he grabbed my tie when I was working in the candy stand. He leaned against the stand to get a better grip, and broke the glass display case. Naturally, we said some kids did it and took off.
That’s interesting. The Mayfair had a very large stage, and I always thought it was a shame it was never used for anything. (Well, “never” meaning in the 70s and 80s. I believe live shows ended there in the 40s or 50s. Not including the time when we ushers got up on stage after hours to sing along with whatever music we had on one night.)
I agree rg; looking down from the booth was great. Working as an usher/projectionist/asst. manager/candy stand worker was a great high school job, and still the best job I ever had. Ironically, it was people like me that (in part) put the professional projectionists like rg out of a job. The owners put in a system that did not require manual switching between reels, then fired the projectionists. The manager then ran the projector. And when he wanted a day or two off, they paid me $2.85 an hour to do it.
At my theater (the Mayfair) they fired a projectionist that had been there 50 years.
I’m old enough that my favorite DVD set is the Harold Lloyd collection. (In my case that’s 41.)
RG and I have something in common. I was a projectionist at the Mayfair. (Although admittedly that’s not too impressive since it was a platter system with a xenon bulb, rather than the old carbon arc twin projectors. No watching for circles at the top of the frame or switching between reels for me!)
Hope no one minds if I return to discussing the Mayfair :)
Had a few more random thoughts about the theater.
Until sometime in the 1970s, the candy stand was in the back of the theater on the left. (That is, after you go through the lobby doors, you’d go to your left to get your popcorn and over-priced Junior Mints.) The candy stand was set back in the wall next to the ladies room. (And I must disclose that my memory on this is pretty foggy.)
However, sometime prior to 1980 the candy stand was boarded up and a new free standing candy stand was built immediately opposite of the lobby doors. (Right up against the partition for the seats, in the center between the two aisles.) The old candy stand area was then used as a janitors closet.
The partition at the back of the seats had a glass panel at the top, and I usually stood there ushering. One fun thing I remember was during the run of Friday the 13th. There’s a scene where Jason jumps out of the lake and startles the audience. I usually made a point of standing in the back to watch the audience reaction, which was always amusing.
When the Devon changed over from porn to regular films the admission price was 99 cents. They kept it at 99 cents for several years, then went to $1.00 because it was a pain to keep getting rolls of pennies.
The only reason I remember how long Raiders played at the Mayfair and the Devon is that once the run ended I tried to add up the number of times I had seen the film. Don’t remember the exact count now, but I know it was over 100. (Keep in mind that unlike in multiplexs, the candy stand in both theaters was in the back of the auditorium. I therefore heard – and usually saw – the film both while working in the candy stand and when standing in the back as an usher.)
I don’t think the Devon went to $2 until sometime after I quit in 1983.
The Devon was not “obviously doing very well”. Yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark and some other movies filled a lot of seats in the early and mid 80s, but there were many many films that did not. (Even 300 people on a Saturday night do not bring in that much money when you’re only charging 99 cents a person.) Raiders ran as a second run film for 5 weeks at the Mayfair, then it went to the Devon for 4 weeks, and a few months later it came back to the Mayfair. (The Devon and the Mayfair had the same owners.) I mainly worked at the Mayfair, but went over to the Devon to help out when they got Raiders. To this day I have most of the dialogue memorized! (And there were a lot of empty seats at both theaters after the first 2 weeks.)
When the Devon closed, it was simply due to market forces: it was not generating enough income to pay the employees and the electric bill. The same owners still had it, and still had to pay taxes and insurance with it sitting empty. If they could have kept the doors open at even a small profit they would have done so. It had nothing to do with politics. The John Perzel types didn’t come along until it had been closed for years.
Hmm. I don’t know. They owned it when I was there in the early 80’s, and still own it today. According to city property records, there was a deed to them in 1977 for $476,600.00. I always thought they got their theaters (about a dozen, I think) from their parents, but that was probably just my assumption. So, I don’t know if they’re related to the Fox in Fox & Soblosky, but it’s possible.
I just posted two additional photos of the Mayfair at View link One is a 1937 screen capture from “It Happened In Mayfair” (I figure it’s okay to post since in public domain) and a 1984 or so shot of the marquee.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the mural photo. Yes, there were matching art deco murals on both side walls that ran the length of the wall. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other photos of it.
TheaterBuff1, it’s funny you mention the “progressive” nature of the mural. I remember when I was a kid being amazed that they had naked people on the wall. It may have been the first art with nudes that I saw. I sort of remember thinking “how can they get away with that”?
Anyone know of any other photos of the Mayfair?
Random memory of the Mayfair:
When I was an usher there we wore the boring red formless mid-butt length blazers with thin black lapels, along with a tie, white shirt, and black pants. However, backstage I found a very old waist length purple jacket with gold braiding. Not sure, but I think it dated from at least the 60s or older. It was a great design, but too faded and worn out to actually use.
Random thought#2: I should also mention that there was a large room below the stage that we called the usher’s room that was mainly used for drinking and other unsavory activities.
While the drugstore just used the lobby area, I think that the stores along Cottman may have been expanded back somewhat to use some of the auditorium space. I’m not sure about this, but I know that the Wine & Spirits store goes back a lot further than it used to when the theater was open. There was also remodeling of the Ryan Avenue side of the theater. The exit doors used to come out on a ramp that went below street level. (At least for the northernmost exit door – closest to the screen.) The ramp was apparently filled in, and all the doors are now at street level. They appear to be used for deliveries to the Cottman Avenue businesses. Guess what I’m saying is that I doubt that the auditorium is still there, but the shell of it is still in place. I’m pretty sure I remember someone telling me that the seats had been removed during the remodeling.
I did find a photo of the art deco mural, but unfortunately this site is not accepting photos so I can’t post it. I also have a photo of the marquee that says “HI JACK”. A friend that worked there after me put that up while changing the sign, took the photo, then quickly changed the letters back to the current feature.
The picture I would love to have is the one that hung in the manager’s office when I was there. They had the architect’s pencil drawing of the front of the theater in a cheap Woolworth’s frame. Even at the time I thought I should copy it, but never did. Not sure about this, but I think the owner came in one night and took it with him.
About as cookie cutter as a megaplex can be. Volume is usually kept low due to the thin walls between the screens. Endless pre-film ads. Poor presentation is always par for the course here.
On a recent visit here I had a horrible movie-going experience with poor sound, failure to immediately switch sound over from the ads to the film once the film started, wall lights left on during the entire film, outrageously overpriced snacks, sticky floors and, of course, rude/noisy teens. Places like this will ultimately kill the theater industry.
I worked in the Mayfair near the end. There were lots of nights with 10 or less seats filled and hundreds empty. While the poor film selection was one factor, the sad truth is that the theater could not pull its own weight. If someone put in the hundreds of thousands of dollars it would take for restoration, I don’t see how they’d ever get their money back out of it.
Still, maybe I lack vision. I have seen an old theater restored, revitalizing the entire community. In that case, someone literally put lottery winnings into the massive restoration project and it was a fantastic result. (The Allen Theatre in Annville PA.) Even then it was a smaller scale project given it was an existing (but closed) theater.
I agree that Mayfair needs a focal point and something to rally around. A fully restored Mayfair Theatre might do that, but for how long and at what cost?
Nearly the entire Merben building was taken down for use as a parking lot. The storefronts along Frankford Avenue that were in front of the Merben were kept. The Merben was at 7145 Frankford Ave. The Mr. Storage place at 7049 used to be the Concord Roller Rink. I understand the Concord was originally planned to be a theater, but was actually built specifically for use as a roller rink. (I spent many Saturdays in the 70s at the Concord and the Merben.)
For what its worth, 7049 Frankford was sold in September 2005 for $1.2 million.
As much as I’d like to see the return of the Mayfair Theatre for sentimental reasons, it’ll never happen. The Fox brothers (the owners) will simply find a new tenant for the Eckert space. Unless, of course, someone comes along and offers them a pile of money for the building. But rebuilding the Mayfair is simply not economically viable.
In my area (Lebanon/Dauphin counties) they’re building all kinds of new theaters. After having no theaters for several years, they just started building a new 12 screen multiplex in Lebanon, and a 10 screen is planned for across town. There’s also at least 1 huge multiplex planned for Harrisburg. Can’t say I like the multiplexs too much, but it’s (marginally) better than nothing.
That’s great info. Thanks Howard!
It’ll probably take George Lucas (or someone similar) requiring digital projection in order to show a particular movie before there’s widespread adoption of digital projection. (Lucas had specific audio requirements for a theater before they could show the new Star Wars films. Many theater owners paid for expensive upgrades as a result.)
Guess we’re at about 5 posts now since the Devon was mentioned, so I’ll mention it.
When 3D movies came back in 1981-1983, the Devon ran one (I think called “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”) because the Devon had an actual silver screen. (It would have played at the Mayfair, but no silver screen there.) In order to run a 3D movie, a special lens must be put on the projector, extra care must be taken with focus, etc. I don’t know what the projectionist did, but the movie was horribly out of focus and out of sync when I saw it, and you could not see any 3D effect or anything resembling a picture. Complaints were ignored, and most people eventually got up and walked out. I got in for free, but still walked out.
Yes, there was a large greenroom below the stage. (We called it the usher’s room, and I do remember there was an old bong in there – gives you some idea of how it was used, but not by me! I used it – the room, not the bong – once or twice when I wanted to take a nap.)
Don’t know if there was an orchestra pit, but I think there was. I’m pretty sure that the area in front of the stage had a wood plank floor that probably had been an orchestra pit.
Also don’t know if there was a loading dock or other backstage entrance at one time. I don’t recall seeing any signs of one, but I didn’t have much reason to go behind the screen very often. (The speaker behind the perforated screen was pretty big.)
The heavy drapes hondo59 mentioned were just beyond the ticket taker stand and were intended to keep light out of the auditorium when the lobby door was open.
The ticket taker for many years was a dirty old man named Bill. (He’d be okay with that designation. He spent most of his time ogling the girls that came in.) Great guy. He had worked at another theater years before; I think it may have been the Kent. I remember we were goofing around one night and he grabbed my tie when I was working in the candy stand. He leaned against the stand to get a better grip, and broke the glass display case. Naturally, we said some kids did it and took off.
That’s interesting. The Mayfair had a very large stage, and I always thought it was a shame it was never used for anything. (Well, “never” meaning in the 70s and 80s. I believe live shows ended there in the 40s or 50s. Not including the time when we ushers got up on stage after hours to sing along with whatever music we had on one night.)
I agree rg; looking down from the booth was great. Working as an usher/projectionist/asst. manager/candy stand worker was a great high school job, and still the best job I ever had. Ironically, it was people like me that (in part) put the professional projectionists like rg out of a job. The owners put in a system that did not require manual switching between reels, then fired the projectionists. The manager then ran the projector. And when he wanted a day or two off, they paid me $2.85 an hour to do it.
At my theater (the Mayfair) they fired a projectionist that had been there 50 years.
I’m old enough that my favorite DVD set is the Harold Lloyd collection. (In my case that’s 41.)
RG and I have something in common. I was a projectionist at the Mayfair. (Although admittedly that’s not too impressive since it was a platter system with a xenon bulb, rather than the old carbon arc twin projectors. No watching for circles at the top of the frame or switching between reels for me!)
I have seen it return elsewhere, but it was someone that put a pile of money into a theater knowing full well he’d never get it back.
I remember the Mayfair admission price in the mid 70s as $1.50 for adults, 75 cents for children.
Hope no one minds if I return to discussing the Mayfair :)
Had a few more random thoughts about the theater.
Until sometime in the 1970s, the candy stand was in the back of the theater on the left. (That is, after you go through the lobby doors, you’d go to your left to get your popcorn and over-priced Junior Mints.) The candy stand was set back in the wall next to the ladies room. (And I must disclose that my memory on this is pretty foggy.)
However, sometime prior to 1980 the candy stand was boarded up and a new free standing candy stand was built immediately opposite of the lobby doors. (Right up against the partition for the seats, in the center between the two aisles.) The old candy stand area was then used as a janitors closet.
The partition at the back of the seats had a glass panel at the top, and I usually stood there ushering. One fun thing I remember was during the run of Friday the 13th. There’s a scene where Jason jumps out of the lake and startles the audience. I usually made a point of standing in the back to watch the audience reaction, which was always amusing.
When the Devon changed over from porn to regular films the admission price was 99 cents. They kept it at 99 cents for several years, then went to $1.00 because it was a pain to keep getting rolls of pennies.
The only reason I remember how long Raiders played at the Mayfair and the Devon is that once the run ended I tried to add up the number of times I had seen the film. Don’t remember the exact count now, but I know it was over 100. (Keep in mind that unlike in multiplexs, the candy stand in both theaters was in the back of the auditorium. I therefore heard – and usually saw – the film both while working in the candy stand and when standing in the back as an usher.)
I don’t think the Devon went to $2 until sometime after I quit in 1983.
The Devon was not “obviously doing very well”. Yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark and some other movies filled a lot of seats in the early and mid 80s, but there were many many films that did not. (Even 300 people on a Saturday night do not bring in that much money when you’re only charging 99 cents a person.) Raiders ran as a second run film for 5 weeks at the Mayfair, then it went to the Devon for 4 weeks, and a few months later it came back to the Mayfair. (The Devon and the Mayfair had the same owners.) I mainly worked at the Mayfair, but went over to the Devon to help out when they got Raiders. To this day I have most of the dialogue memorized! (And there were a lot of empty seats at both theaters after the first 2 weeks.)
When the Devon closed, it was simply due to market forces: it was not generating enough income to pay the employees and the electric bill. The same owners still had it, and still had to pay taxes and insurance with it sitting empty. If they could have kept the doors open at even a small profit they would have done so. It had nothing to do with politics. The John Perzel types didn’t come along until it had been closed for years.
I think we should all gather together and hold hands while singing Kumbaya.
Hmm. I don’t know. They owned it when I was there in the early 80’s, and still own it today. According to city property records, there was a deed to them in 1977 for $476,600.00. I always thought they got their theaters (about a dozen, I think) from their parents, but that was probably just my assumption. So, I don’t know if they’re related to the Fox in Fox & Soblosky, but it’s possible.
My wife and I had one of our first dates at the Crest. We saw “Chariots of Fire”.
For what it’s worth, the film listed on the marquee in the above photo is “The Devil’s Brigade” with William Holden and Cliff Robertson.
I was in the Eckert two weeks ago and they were starting the clearance sale.
Found a few more shots of the Mayfair, including the murals.
View link
I just posted two additional photos of the Mayfair at View link One is a 1937 screen capture from “It Happened In Mayfair” (I figure it’s okay to post since in public domain) and a 1984 or so shot of the marquee.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the mural photo. Yes, there were matching art deco murals on both side walls that ran the length of the wall. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other photos of it.
TheaterBuff1, it’s funny you mention the “progressive” nature of the mural. I remember when I was a kid being amazed that they had naked people on the wall. It may have been the first art with nudes that I saw. I sort of remember thinking “how can they get away with that”?
Anyone know of any other photos of the Mayfair?
Random memory of the Mayfair:
When I was an usher there we wore the boring red formless mid-butt length blazers with thin black lapels, along with a tie, white shirt, and black pants. However, backstage I found a very old waist length purple jacket with gold braiding. Not sure, but I think it dated from at least the 60s or older. It was a great design, but too faded and worn out to actually use.
Random thought#2: I should also mention that there was a large room below the stage that we called the usher’s room that was mainly used for drinking and other unsavory activities.
Here’s the mural. View link
I’ll try to add the marquee shot once I get a chance to scan it.
While the drugstore just used the lobby area, I think that the stores along Cottman may have been expanded back somewhat to use some of the auditorium space. I’m not sure about this, but I know that the Wine & Spirits store goes back a lot further than it used to when the theater was open. There was also remodeling of the Ryan Avenue side of the theater. The exit doors used to come out on a ramp that went below street level. (At least for the northernmost exit door – closest to the screen.) The ramp was apparently filled in, and all the doors are now at street level. They appear to be used for deliveries to the Cottman Avenue businesses. Guess what I’m saying is that I doubt that the auditorium is still there, but the shell of it is still in place. I’m pretty sure I remember someone telling me that the seats had been removed during the remodeling.
I did find a photo of the art deco mural, but unfortunately this site is not accepting photos so I can’t post it. I also have a photo of the marquee that says “HI JACK”. A friend that worked there after me put that up while changing the sign, took the photo, then quickly changed the letters back to the current feature.
The picture I would love to have is the one that hung in the manager’s office when I was there. They had the architect’s pencil drawing of the front of the theater in a cheap Woolworth’s frame. Even at the time I thought I should copy it, but never did. Not sure about this, but I think the owner came in one night and took it with him.
About as cookie cutter as a megaplex can be. Volume is usually kept low due to the thin walls between the screens. Endless pre-film ads. Poor presentation is always par for the course here.
On a recent visit here I had a horrible movie-going experience with poor sound, failure to immediately switch sound over from the ads to the film once the film started, wall lights left on during the entire film, outrageously overpriced snacks, sticky floors and, of course, rude/noisy teens. Places like this will ultimately kill the theater industry.
I worked in the Mayfair near the end. There were lots of nights with 10 or less seats filled and hundreds empty. While the poor film selection was one factor, the sad truth is that the theater could not pull its own weight. If someone put in the hundreds of thousands of dollars it would take for restoration, I don’t see how they’d ever get their money back out of it.
Still, maybe I lack vision. I have seen an old theater restored, revitalizing the entire community. In that case, someone literally put lottery winnings into the massive restoration project and it was a fantastic result. (The Allen Theatre in Annville PA.) Even then it was a smaller scale project given it was an existing (but closed) theater.
I agree that Mayfair needs a focal point and something to rally around. A fully restored Mayfair Theatre might do that, but for how long and at what cost?
Nearly the entire Merben building was taken down for use as a parking lot. The storefronts along Frankford Avenue that were in front of the Merben were kept. The Merben was at 7145 Frankford Ave. The Mr. Storage place at 7049 used to be the Concord Roller Rink. I understand the Concord was originally planned to be a theater, but was actually built specifically for use as a roller rink. (I spent many Saturdays in the 70s at the Concord and the Merben.)
For what its worth, 7049 Frankford was sold in September 2005 for $1.2 million.
As much as I’d like to see the return of the Mayfair Theatre for sentimental reasons, it’ll never happen. The Fox brothers (the owners) will simply find a new tenant for the Eckert space. Unless, of course, someone comes along and offers them a pile of money for the building. But rebuilding the Mayfair is simply not economically viable.