Ridgewood Folly Theatre
Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
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Showing 76 - 88 of 88 comments
That marquee most definately looks like a theatre marquee not a store marquee. I hate to start another Ridgewood treasure hunt but does anyone remember the furniture store a block or two past The Glenwood (heading into Ridgewood). It was on the other side of Myrtle. I believe it used to be Michaels Furniture. I always thought it looked like an old theatre. It was a huge building and had a marquee also. Any ideas?
This is very interesting. It has been suggested in the Ridgewood Theater page on this site (buried way in there) that this building (VG Nichols Furniture) was a theater at one time. I originally shrugged it off, but a few weeks ago I walked by the building, and had a chance to peak in the windows. In the back, it does appear to have a high ceiling. I looked in the windows farthest from Myrtle Ave along Madison St. Closer look also revealed that the building looks a bit different than the typical Ridgewood “apartments over stores” buildings. The upstairs windows are much larger, and they don’t appear to be apartments.
The building also has a marquee. However, many fancy stores years ago had marquees. The VG Nichols building does not look like the photos I have seen of the Ridgewood Folly, however, the Ridgewood Folly only lasted a few years, and was closed by 1918 apparently. Could this buiding be a short lived theater that replaced the origninal Ridgewood Folly Building? By the 1940’s, the building was already a furniture store, Triangle Furniture. Below is a link to photos of 55-05 Myrtle Ave when it was Triangle Furniture at queenspix.com.
All evidence leads me to believe that the VG Nichols building may have been a theater at one time. It has a marquee, it appears to have a high “theater-like” ceiling, and may people have suggested that it “may” have been a theater, and now Sally does too.
So could VG Nichols be the site of the mysterious Ridgewood Folly theater, and if not, could we be on the road to discovering another theater in Ridgewood? Obviously, whatever theater it was, if it was did not last long, as by the 30’s or 40’s it was already a furniture store. So what do you guys think?
http://www.queenspix.com/rwindex_8.html
BTW, if you click to page 7 on the above link, it also has a photo of the near-by Parthenon Theater in it’s prime.
The Ridgewood Folly Theatre was located at 5505 Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood Queens New York from 1910 through 1918.
As a former employee of the Historical Society this theatres location was only listed as Myrtle avenue. Theatres in this era were located on major arteries close to trolley service in order to receive the required electric power that residential homes lacked.
Well since the “Ridgewood Folly” is a real theater, and really one of the first that showed films, maybe the address can be changed to just “Ridgewood, Queens”, as I have seen with other theaters here occasionally. The address can be filled in when someone that knows about that fact sees the listing for it, or one of us discover the proper address.
Ah yes, the true location of the Ridgwood Folly Theatre is untrue. It was a ruse as payback for giving my comrade Eddie a rough time here. I bid you all farewell for now.
<UFC> United Federation of Hackers
Warren, there is a Ridgewood Historical Society.
As for the Ridgewood Folley, I have no idea if the location given is accurate. In an above post, I did show the location of where that address would exist. If the Ridgewood Folley’s address is correct, it would be right where I mentioned above, and had to be torn down very early in the century, as the buildings that are on that location now are your “typical” Ridgewood commercial buildings on Myrtle Ave (apartments over stores), and definitely date to Ridgewood’s “building era” in the 1910’s to early 1920’s.
It has been a very fun and cooperative group until this point. I don’t know what his problem is. Anyway, 99% of this group is a pleasure to talk with.
I always thought that we at Cinema Treasures were part of a community, not an ‘every man/woman for themselves’-type operation; apparently, RidgewoodBill subscribes to the latter theory…
Well, I am hoping this is true, but if it is, the Ridgewod Folly would have been at the corner of Centre Street and Myrtle Ave, accross from where Woolworth’s used to be. I can’t think what is there now, but I do know that a standard storefront building with apartments above is there now. I believe “Pants Pantry” at that corner was in that building at one time, but don’t know it that is still the store that is in that store.
I will longer respond to questions from cretins. Be off with you.
Your cohorts are inept and looked in the wrong place. Do you infer that the address I have given is false??? That is blasphemy sir and I will not stand for it. Let your cohorts prove otherwise.
I cannot divulge my sources to anyone. Your researching has paid dividends my friend as I have put it all to good use as you can see before you. You and your cohorts would never have unlocked the mystery of this theatre. There are many other theatres about choose another for your ‘pet-project’.