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Parthenon Theatre
329 Wyckoff Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
329 Wyckoff Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 248 comments
Thanks, Bway, I’ve seen a dead-on photo of that building with the cupola at the southeast corner of Myrtle and Wyckoff, where the subway entrance and Optimo Cigar store is now, and ever shall be, Ridgewood without end, amen !
It’s on Bushwick Buddies, which, I see, also has some great old photos of the Parthenon, the Majestic, the interior of the Bushwick, etc. If it’s your work, thanks !
Jim, you are correct, the the el was extended in 1915, and Lost mentioned that the Parthenon was built in 1921….For whatever reason though, the Parthenon’s corner was built too close to the el, and had to be chipped off, obviously for train cleaence. Notice also that the Marquee goes right under the el too.
Peter, yes, the building on the other corner of Palmetto and Myrtle was a smaller building with a coupolla (sp?). I have seen photos of it. At some point after this photo was taken, that building was torn down, and replaced with the 4 story building that is there to this day.
Thanks, Bway. That’s got to be one of the best, if not THE best, image of the Parthenon Theatre that I’ve ever seen.
The news stand at the lower right corner of the image is still there, and I think will always be there, but the buildings on Myrtle Avenue visible under the el and to the left of the trolley car do not look familiar.
BrooklynJim and Lost Memory, thanks for your input and detective work.
For others' reference (but I’m sure you already know this, Bway), the Myrtle Ave. Elevated’s Palmetto St. extension in Ridgewood was built during 1915. Chips ahoy, kids.
In the photo I linked yesterday, does anyone else notice that the whole top right corner of the Parthenon’s building was chipped off next to the el? That was probably because the Theater may have predated the el, and when the el was built, they needed to knock that corner off the building to allow for clearance of the trains to go by. The Parthenon is located right where the el turns off of Myrtle Ave and onto Palmetto St, and the part chipped off the building is immediately above the top of the el, where the trains would run.
Note the trolley in the background at right. Makes it impossible for “Forbidden Paradise” to be part of a modern Porno Palace offering, but seriously, was the Parthenon also staging burlesque attractions between silent features in 1924? (I checked the movie’s release date on www.imdb.com.))
Bway, interesting observation on letters and lights. Good eye, man.
But doesn’t “Forbidden Paradise” appear to be permanent letters with the same lights as the marquee lights?
There is a wonderful photo of the Pathenon on the brooklynpix website, it’s one of the best photos I have seen of the Parthenon thus far.
A shame they covered all this beautiful brickwork up with aluminum siding, as even as a bingo hall/drug store that it is now, this facade is quite beautiful.
Also, it appears that “Weingarten’s Parthenon” perhaps should be an aka name above, as that’s what it’s called on the Parthenon’s marquee in this photo.
And what does “Forbidden Paradise” the marquee mean on the side?
View link
John…In response to your ‘Dish Nite’ query; As far back as the early 1940’s and thru the ‘50’s I personally remember only one Ridgewood (proper) theater offering that promotion. As you suggest, the Ridgewood and the RKO Madison did not offer dishes. If either did, I’m sure safety minded movie-goers would hesitate to sit in the orchestra level on such nites, particularly had there been a Sci-Fi flick playing. (Duck..a Flying Saucer!)
Also, absent from my memory of Dish Nites would be the Grandview. With only five hundred seats to fill, I’d submit that their ‘Open Air Nights’ did more than any cup or saucer promo might do. So, which is the one I do remember?….The Glenwood….which I wrote of in my August 26th 2008 recollections. Dish Nite might not have broken record attendance records at the Glenwood…but it sure did sweep up some broken dishes…!
While it is certainly something of a rip off, the Ridgewood Times' 100th anniversary edition’s $10 price is worth the cost. There is just too much there – and not just the old movie houses – to justify the price. For those who did not heed my plea to buy it up ASAP on the Bushwick page when it was for $1 sale, please dig deep into your pockets and do so now.
Regarding dish nights, I came in at the end of this era when, in Greenpoint, it was only being offered at the American (then Chopin)theater up through the early 1960,s. My mother, grandmother and aunt made countless Wednesday pilgramages to this place to receive the plate – and all too often, gravy dish – of the date. I believe I am still eating from these acquisions!
By that time, only the second level theaters were engaging in this practice. It seemed beneath the dignity of the RKO Greenpoints, Meseroles – and, in this context, the Madisons and Ridgewoods – of their time. I would be very interested to know if dish nights ever occurred at these “first class” venures.
I don’t remember if it had one on the Parthenon, but it DEFINITELY has one of the Majestic on Seneca as a theater. I know, as I instantly thought of you when I saw it….
Or Bway will answer you.
Yes, LM, I think it does. I’ll check.
Thanks, Bway.
Lost and Peter, I did manage to get a copy of that Ridgewood Times suppliment, and have the photo of the Evergreen, Majestic, and a bunch of other area theaters. I just have been SO busy lately, that I haven’t had the time to deal with it.
The Bank is was there already next to the Evergreen. The Evergreen looked nothing like I expected it to! There are also old photos of the RKO Bushwick (which there are no shortage of), old ones we have seen before of the Ridgewood and Madison, the Whitney on Fresh Pond Rd, the Wyckoff, and some others too.
Thanks, LM.
good idea, Lost Memory. BTW, what’s the CT # for the Evergreen Theatre thread, in case I want to post on it ?
Keep after me, LM, I’ll bring that picture of the Evergreen Theatre from the 100th anniversary supplement in, and post about it.
Good idea, BrooklynJim.
Who, or what, is going to bail out the U. S. government, though ?
LM, perhaps the Ridgewood Times needs a government bailout, too. Everyone else seems to, though I haven’t checked the Ridgewood Theater page yet to see if the leaseholders have applied. Then we can change Dick’s short story title to “We Can Buy It For You Wholesale.”
I’ll look at it again, Lost Memory.
Yes, memories seem to get more expensive, faster than anything else.
See short story by Philip K. Dick, “We can remember it for you wholesale”, upon which the 1990 film, “Total Recall”, was based.
In the photo I saw, there was a big multi-story vertical sign that read “EVERGREEN”, and very little of the theater facade, which seemed very narrow. I’ll look at it again. It looked like it occupied at least part of the lot now occupied by C-Town supermarket.
Bway could probably get it for us, if he hasn’t, already. I don’t think there’s an on-line version of that 100th anniversary supplement of the Ridgewood Times available.
Thanks, mrbillyc. I finally saw a picture of the Evergreen Theatre, right next to the bank building at Seneca and Hancock, last week in the 100 year anniversary edition of the Ridgewood Times. I’m glad you remember the Elco. Yes, the Elco WOULD be the SW corner of Seneca and Weirfield, if Seneca ran west to east, but it really runs NW to SE, so, to me, the Elco is at the western corner.
When I was growing up in Ridgewood in the latter 1950’s and early 1960’s, there was the (Chase Manhattan ?) Bank on the corner of Seneca and Hancock, Pachman’s Toy Store, Bohack Supermarket, a few private three-family houses, then the Elco Bar at Seneca and Weirfield.
The Elco’s phone number used to EV(ergreen)2-9271, later changed to 821-9271.
Peter, my dad was born in the front room of the 2nd floor right apt at 930 Seneca, three houses from the Elco. My grandparents remembered and talked about the Evergreen Theater being their next door neighbor when they moved there in 1924, and later the Glenwood Manor. Dad’s barber shop was diagonally across the street from the Elco (I believe that would be the SW corner) from about 1959 to 1968 when he moved to Forest Ave near Catalpa.
While I had plenty of relatives who had odd ‘movie dishes’ of various patterns I don’t recall any mention of depression glass in either side of my family.
mrbillyc, the Elco Bar and Grill, my father’s “home away from home”, was once located on the western corner of Weirfield and Seneca.