I was in New York for the holidays and attended the morning showing of Star Wars on the 28th, I am not sure there were a hundred other people present. Sorry to see it close, but not surprised.
Yesterday (November 16) marked the 94th anniversary of the Woodbridge Theatre opening its doors. While no bill was given, a newspaper report from the neighboring borough of Roosevelt (now Carteret) reported the show was a sellout, with 400 people turned away.
The theatre was built and operated by Stanley MacIntosh. MacIntosh had started as a performer in both vaudeville and dramatic presentations before getting into theatre management/ownership and had previously operated theatres in neighboring Rahway and later Metuchen.
As mentioned previously, the Woodbridge was open slightly less than 6 years. In that time it had three operators after MacIntosh. I’ll update this shortly to cover them and some of the events associated with the WT, along with a couple of ads, including one from its first week of operation. It won’t take another 22 months, I promise.
markp, so would I, if it opens there Christmas I’ll be in the area for the holidays and will attend a showing. Regardless, I hope we have an opportunity to get together. Perhaps we can visit that place your Dad used to work again.
I was a guest of Basie projectionist Mark Pusillo (aka markp) for a double bill while in the area last month. I’ve just uploaded a couple of the photos I took that afternoon. Wonderful well kept venue I’d been waiting years for a chance to visit. Thanks again, Mark.
I’ve uploaded a section of the 1916 Sanborn map of Woodbridge containing the Monument Theatre, which is perhaps more appropriate for the overview image than the mini strip mall that currently occupies the space.
It should be noted it was located at the corner of Rahway Avenue and Main St, fronting on Rahway Avenue. The 1918 city directory for Woodbridge twice mentioned the Monument, once with the other area theatres located in Carteret and Perth Amboy (Woodbridge shared a city directory with them), giving the location as “Rahway Avenue c Main, Woodbridge”. The other mention was as a local business in the listings: “Monument Theatre Rahway Av, Morris R. Black, prop.”
I never could find an address for this theatre, and I’ve known it existed for some time. Main St changed its numbering in 1922, with the odd and even numbers switching sides of the street. If it were the case that Main St carried around the corner and a short distance onto what people considered Rahway Avenue, the address of the Monument would have most likely been 9 Main St.
About the name Monument… Woodbridge dates back to 1664. In 1911, the citizens of Woodbridge erected a monument dedicated “To the memory of the soldiers and sailors of Woodbridge, N.J. who fought in the wars of our country”. It stood and still stands on an island opposite the theatre site.
One other historical note, in 1916 the town hall was located on School St, a few blocks away. The vacant lot across Main St from the Monument, where the new town hall would be dedicated in 1924, was known as the Temperance Lot.
I’ve uploaded a few photos from MarkP’s and my visit to the Ritz this past Thursday. Much thanks from both of us to Carteret’s Historical Committee and especially Susan Wentzel for arranging this second visit, highlights included discovery of old Simplex parts and a collection of take up reels in the attic above the projection booth.
I’ve just uploaded an ad for opening night in 1926, which took place a week after the 534 seat Cranford Theatre closed. A local civic minded group known as the Cranford Booster Club initiated a movement to convince the owners of the new theatre to rename it the Cranford. They were successful and the New Branford became the New Cranford on January 27, 1927, with some fanfare. I’m also uploading a photo I took while passing through town last week.
Fears seem to stem from a statement made in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter by Cablevision CEO James Dolan this past April. Here’s the question and his answer:
Q: You run the Ziegfeld Theatre, which is said to be unprofitable. Are you going to close it?
A: Probably. Yeah. [It] loses a lot of money. The theater business is a tough business.
The link above is to an article about what Dolan said in the interview and was posted here over 2 months ago, not the interview itself. I will post a link to that if anybody asks, but this was the only mention of the Ziegfeld in that interview.
Cablevision was quick to issue a statement that said the Ziegfeld would remain open for the “foreseeable future”. Most take that to mean they are looking for somebody to take over the lease, which is reported to run till 2018. If they don’t… well, they can close it anytime they choose.
If they can’t find someone and continue to lose money till the lease is up, who will take it over and keep it a single screen? Endangered is a term that comes to mind when talking about the status of the Ziegfeld.
I found this article by NY Post film critic Lou Lumenick from April worth the read and perhaps some discussion of its content.
The American Motion Picture Directory of 1914-15 lists an Idle Hour Theatre in Hardwick, on Mill St. They misspelled the town name Hedwick, which doesn’t exist. There is a North and South Main St there, Mill St intersects at the junction of North and South Main. I would suggest that a newer building was built with the owners keeping the same name.
Sad to report that this century old building met the proverbial wreckers ball yesterday, June 3. This was expected, it was in very bad shape, having lost its roof a while back. The Majestic closed its doors as a movie house in summer of 1930, was open around 1915 by Charles Crane Sr, a local resident who also owned the New Palace Theatre. I have a bit more history and a yarn or two about the Majestic which I will post later, some research not yet complete.
Demolished should be added to the status of this theatre.
Here’s a link to FOL’s public statement on the court ruling. They apparently agree that bringing a concert promoter in would be a good thing and also mention a little more than $2.5 million that is available for repairs and upgrades, a little more than $500k is grant money FOL won for fire safety and other code upgrades, and the city received another $2 million from an area developer to make repairs on the theatre.
Let’s hope we start seeing this money spent now that the court case is over.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll be purchasing it soon. As I mentioned in a post above, I grew up In Carteret, but visited the State numerous times in my youth. Here’s a clickable link to the Amazon page:
I’m also uploading two 1929 ads from my collection that correspond to chapters 8 and 9, the beginning of sound pictures and the temporary return to a silent only policy.
As someone who has looked at the history of several area theatres, I’m looking forward to reading Mr. Hyatt’s book.
The status of the UC should be changed to renovating and restoring, work began last month to convert it to a live venue, mostly featuring music. March began with a seat giveaway on the 1st, those interested were invited to come and help themselves to sets of seats, take as many as you can transport. Individuals and local organizations and businesses took away about 500. By the following Saturday, all the seats had been removed and on the 15th, official groundbreaking ceremonies were held and construction began, no opening date has been set yet.
The UC will be run by the Berkeley Music Group, a nonprofit organization headed by David Mayeri, which has a website here with loads of info and an interesting drone tour of the theatre. They also have a flickr page with tons of pictures in 8 albums, including historical pictures and shots from the seat giveaway. Unfortunately flickr does not permit embedding links, so this one you’ll have to cut and paste, sorry about that..
Today marks a half century since the Ritz went dark, but its future is looking bright as the earliest stages of restoration/renovation began late last year with removal of the bakery structure which was basically built within the auditorium, leaving it pretty much intact. Remaining sand used to level the floor is still being removed and actual work will begin later this year and as mentioned, finished in 2017. I’ll post more as work progresses, but plans call for among other things an enlarged stage house.
I forgot to mention this photo was supplied by Joe’s son Mark, who brought it along on a special tour of the Ritz we had this past week. Thanks for sharing!
Just uploaded a couple new pictures, one from our visit to the building earlier this week, the other of longtime house projectionist Joe Pusillo with Ritz owner Maurice Spewak in the booth. I’ll post more pictures of our afternoon at the Ritz soon.
Glad you enjoyed the day markp, I did too. It was great to finally meet you, and I think we both enjoyed meeting the various folks involved in the renovation project, along with members of the borough’s Historical Committee. I’ll be uploading a few pictures I took in the next few days, also that 1947 photo of your dad with Mr. Spewak in the Ritz projection room. I’ll post more when I upload, but yes, it needs a whole lot of work especially with plaster restoration. I’m confident the folks in charge will meet their goal of reopening the Ritz in 2017, I’m really looking forward to watching this project progress. I wish I lived a little closer so I could be more involved.
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, the Ritz was equipped with an organ manufactured by the United States Pipe Organ Company, opus 153, size 2/4 with a 3HP blower from Kinetic Engineering Company, #P1142B.
It also gives a date of 1928 although advertisements and media coverage for the opening in 1927 mention the presence of an organ, described by the local newspaper as “ a huge organ powered by electric motors”. The opening night article mentioned the evening opened with an organ solo “The Rosary”. I suspect this was the same organ, and perhaps the paperwork from 1928 reflects an upgrade or some such.
In current news, the Borough of Carteret received $350,000 dollars from Middlesex County earlier this week towards renovating the Ritz as a performing arts venue. I mention it only as a lead into a photo of the Mayor receiving a check that is posted on his Facebook page here. The reason I posted this link is for the ornate plaster work visible, I am pretty sure that is the bottom of the stage left organ loft they are standing in front of, if my memory serves me well after a half century.
Yeah, that night was the only time I ever heard his first name back in the day. As I’ve mentioned before, I did see him a few times, when us kiddies came to the weekend matinee and were lined up before Mr. Spewak arrived. I figure he was the guy who showed up with him that wasn’t the usher. It was usually a 3 person operation, except when it was a bill that would draw a crowd, I’m guessing the woman that would be in the ticket booth those days was Mrs. Spewak.
By the way markp or anybody else in the area, Saturday is Carteret’s Halloween parade and fall festival, which is at the end of the parade. It ends at Washington and Cooke, location of the Ritz. The mayor is promising maybe some tricks and treats. Depending on insurance and whatnot, they might let residents take a peak in their future performing arts center. My guess, nothing official. I’d sure show up if I were in the area. You or anybody else go, please bring a camera and send me some shots, please.
Today (yesterday, 10/21, wrote it and for got to post it) marks 50 years since I last saw a Movie at the Ritz. My memory isn’t that good! but the movie was “A Hard Day’s Night” with the Beatles. We went opening night, to hopefully meet some girls. Remembering that, an ad found on the online historic newspaper archive at the Woodbridge Public Library gave the date. Unfortunately for us there were very few girls to meet, unfortunately for Mr. Spewak there were very few people, the crowd numbered about 20, mostly males. Ah well…. With a top price of $.90, that would make the evening’s receipts less than 20 bucks… If this was typical, it’s no wonder the Ritz closed 3 months later. Mr. Spewak was already 73 years old, which was probably another factor. The Ritz went dark for about 5 weeks in August/September, I’m guessing Mr. Spewak and his wife went on their first vacation in years.
Anyway, true to the double bill format the Ritz generally followed, the opening movie was “ For Those Who Think Young”. As a general rule, the opener would be shown a 2nd time after the main movie for any latecomers, so my friends and I decide to stay an see it again, or at least part of it. Before the opening credits were through, Mr. Spewak comes down the aisle and yells up to the projectionist something like “shut it off Joe, there’s nobody left”, looks at the 4 of us (the only ones left) and reminds us we saw it earlier and it was time to go home. Never saw Mr. Spewak again, only saw the interior of the Ritz one time since, in 1968. I spent many a happy time there between 1954-1964…
Thanks markp. I probably would have stopped to see if it were only the drop ceiling and walls in those dumpsters. I was surprised to see the valance in front of the stage still hanging after a half century in the pictures I linked to. This would have been masking for any theatrical lighting positions from the vaudeville days, I can’t help but wonder if any lights might still have been present…. Beyond that, I recently posted an update to the New Palace page, which included uploading some old ads and a postcard circa 1917 showing that stretch of Roosevelt Avenue, which includes the entrance to what in those days was called the Crescent Theatre. You might enjoy that. Also, if you have a chance, drop me an email. I’ve mentioned where to find my address, I have something you may be interested in seeing that I won’t be posting here as it doesn’t relate much to this site.
My original short history posted last year gave credit to a T. Glivae, who was mentioned in a Carteret Press article a week before the Ritz opened. Glivae was described as an “artist and architect” who lived on Emerson St. I later found a news story from earlier that summer about the death by industrial accident of a Frank Gliwa. It mentioned that Mr. Gliwa’s elder son John designed the Ritz, then under construction. It also described John as an artist and architect, also that the family lived on Emerson St. The article mentioned the name Gliwa nearly a dozen times, so one might figure T. Glivae in the later article about the Ritz was a typo, not that uncommon in the Carteret Press. As it turns out, both are misspellings. The correct name is Gliva.
On my last visit to Carteret, I got in touch with the Borough’s Historic Committee in hopes that their collection contained pictures of the older Carteret theatres that I could add to their picture pages on CT. When I discovered there were no pictures or documents in their archives dealing with any of the theatres, I offered a copy of my collected material. The committee person I’m working with on the transfer is Susan Wentzel. When Ms. Wentzel mentioned she had an account with ancestry.com, I asked if she could lookup John Gliwa and perhaps get a little more detail on his life. Within 24 hours Susan was back to me explaining that there weren’t any Gliwa’s, but the Gliva family seemed to fit and offered a stack of material or info on John Gliva and his family: census records, city directory pages, and a mention in the Social Security Death Index, this all covering from 1920-1977.
From the accident article, I had the names and ages of family members, which matched those of the Gliva family, so with 57 years worth of documentation, Gliva it is.
John was born in Poland in 1900, his family came to America in 1908 and soon after settled in Roosevelt, as Carteret was known until 1922. The 1920 census has him listed as a clerk working for Copperworks, a local factory. At the time he was commissioned to design the Ritz by Maurice Spewak, the Gliva family was living at the corner of Emerson and Irving Streets, only a few hundred feet from where the Ritz would be built. After the death of Frank Gliva, the family moved to nearby Elizabeth. John’s occupation according to the 1930 census was architectural draftsman, in 1940 he was listed as a building architect. He is also listed as an architect in the 1955 Elizabeth City Directory, working in Union, NJ. The Social Security Death Index lists a John Gliva of Elizabeth passing away in April, 1977.
So again a big thank you to Ms. Wentzel. Susan mentioned to me that a 1912 Sanborn map of Roosevelt that the Historical Committee was looking at showed “Sunset Park Moving Pictures” near the present intersection of Roosevelt and Wheeler Avenues. If this was a company making moving pictures or yet another old Carteret theatre is not known, I could find nothing in the databases I have access to. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated, comment here or my email is in my profile.
I’ll show you next time I’m in town, markp. In the meantime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey_4KyBu2TA
I wish that curtain had moved when I made my last visit on the 28th last month.
Here’s a working link to New York Times article about the closing:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/nyregion/ziegfeld-theater-in-midtown-is-closing-to-become-a-ballroom.html?_r=0
I was in New York for the holidays and attended the morning showing of Star Wars on the 28th, I am not sure there were a hundred other people present. Sorry to see it close, but not surprised.
Yesterday (November 16) marked the 94th anniversary of the Woodbridge Theatre opening its doors. While no bill was given, a newspaper report from the neighboring borough of Roosevelt (now Carteret) reported the show was a sellout, with 400 people turned away.
The theatre was built and operated by Stanley MacIntosh. MacIntosh had started as a performer in both vaudeville and dramatic presentations before getting into theatre management/ownership and had previously operated theatres in neighboring Rahway and later Metuchen.
As mentioned previously, the Woodbridge was open slightly less than 6 years. In that time it had three operators after MacIntosh. I’ll update this shortly to cover them and some of the events associated with the WT, along with a couple of ads, including one from its first week of operation. It won’t take another 22 months, I promise.
markp, so would I, if it opens there Christmas I’ll be in the area for the holidays and will attend a showing. Regardless, I hope we have an opportunity to get together. Perhaps we can visit that place your Dad used to work again.
I was a guest of Basie projectionist Mark Pusillo (aka markp) for a double bill while in the area last month. I’ve just uploaded a couple of the photos I took that afternoon. Wonderful well kept venue I’d been waiting years for a chance to visit. Thanks again, Mark.
I’ve uploaded a section of the 1916 Sanborn map of Woodbridge containing the Monument Theatre, which is perhaps more appropriate for the overview image than the mini strip mall that currently occupies the space.
It should be noted it was located at the corner of Rahway Avenue and Main St, fronting on Rahway Avenue. The 1918 city directory for Woodbridge twice mentioned the Monument, once with the other area theatres located in Carteret and Perth Amboy (Woodbridge shared a city directory with them), giving the location as “Rahway Avenue c Main, Woodbridge”. The other mention was as a local business in the listings: “Monument Theatre Rahway Av, Morris R. Black, prop.”
I never could find an address for this theatre, and I’ve known it existed for some time. Main St changed its numbering in 1922, with the odd and even numbers switching sides of the street. If it were the case that Main St carried around the corner and a short distance onto what people considered Rahway Avenue, the address of the Monument would have most likely been 9 Main St.
About the name Monument… Woodbridge dates back to 1664. In 1911, the citizens of Woodbridge erected a monument dedicated “To the memory of the soldiers and sailors of Woodbridge, N.J. who fought in the wars of our country”. It stood and still stands on an island opposite the theatre site.
One other historical note, in 1916 the town hall was located on School St, a few blocks away. The vacant lot across Main St from the Monument, where the new town hall would be dedicated in 1924, was known as the Temperance Lot.
I’ve uploaded a few photos from MarkP’s and my visit to the Ritz this past Thursday. Much thanks from both of us to Carteret’s Historical Committee and especially Susan Wentzel for arranging this second visit, highlights included discovery of old Simplex parts and a collection of take up reels in the attic above the projection booth.
I’ve just uploaded an ad for opening night in 1926, which took place a week after the 534 seat Cranford Theatre closed. A local civic minded group known as the Cranford Booster Club initiated a movement to convince the owners of the new theatre to rename it the Cranford. They were successful and the New Branford became the New Cranford on January 27, 1927, with some fanfare. I’m also uploading a photo I took while passing through town last week.
July 8, 1909 ad from the local newspaper just uploaded.
Fears seem to stem from a statement made in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter by Cablevision CEO James Dolan this past April. Here’s the question and his answer:
Q: You run the Ziegfeld Theatre, which is said to be unprofitable. Are you going to close it?
A: Probably. Yeah. [It] loses a lot of money. The theater business is a tough business.
The link above is to an article about what Dolan said in the interview and was posted here over 2 months ago, not the interview itself. I will post a link to that if anybody asks, but this was the only mention of the Ziegfeld in that interview.
Cablevision was quick to issue a statement that said the Ziegfeld would remain open for the “foreseeable future”. Most take that to mean they are looking for somebody to take over the lease, which is reported to run till 2018. If they don’t… well, they can close it anytime they choose.
If they can’t find someone and continue to lose money till the lease is up, who will take it over and keep it a single screen? Endangered is a term that comes to mind when talking about the status of the Ziegfeld.
I found this article by NY Post film critic Lou Lumenick from April worth the read and perhaps some discussion of its content.
The American Motion Picture Directory of 1914-15 lists an Idle Hour Theatre in Hardwick, on Mill St. They misspelled the town name Hedwick, which doesn’t exist. There is a North and South Main St there, Mill St intersects at the junction of North and South Main. I would suggest that a newer building was built with the owners keeping the same name.
Sad to report that this century old building met the proverbial wreckers ball yesterday, June 3. This was expected, it was in very bad shape, having lost its roof a while back. The Majestic closed its doors as a movie house in summer of 1930, was open around 1915 by Charles Crane Sr, a local resident who also owned the New Palace Theatre. I have a bit more history and a yarn or two about the Majestic which I will post later, some research not yet complete.
Demolished should be added to the status of this theatre.
Here’s a link to FOL’s public statement on the court ruling. They apparently agree that bringing a concert promoter in would be a good thing and also mention a little more than $2.5 million that is available for repairs and upgrades, a little more than $500k is grant money FOL won for fire safety and other code upgrades, and the city received another $2 million from an area developer to make repairs on the theatre.
Let’s hope we start seeing this money spent now that the court case is over.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll be purchasing it soon. As I mentioned in a post above, I grew up In Carteret, but visited the State numerous times in my youth. Here’s a clickable link to the Amazon page:
http://www.amazon.com/Death-Movie-Theater-Joseph-Hyatt/dp/1512212830/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432163736&sr=8-1&keywords=life+and+death+of+a+movie+theater
I’m also uploading two 1929 ads from my collection that correspond to chapters 8 and 9, the beginning of sound pictures and the temporary return to a silent only policy.
As someone who has looked at the history of several area theatres, I’m looking forward to reading Mr. Hyatt’s book.
The status of the UC should be changed to renovating and restoring, work began last month to convert it to a live venue, mostly featuring music. March began with a seat giveaway on the 1st, those interested were invited to come and help themselves to sets of seats, take as many as you can transport. Individuals and local organizations and businesses took away about 500. By the following Saturday, all the seats had been removed and on the 15th, official groundbreaking ceremonies were held and construction began, no opening date has been set yet.
Here is an article from Berkeleyside about the groundbreaking and other info.
The UC will be run by the Berkeley Music Group, a nonprofit organization headed by David Mayeri, which has a website here with loads of info and an interesting drone tour of the theatre. They also have a flickr page with tons of pictures in 8 albums, including historical pictures and shots from the seat giveaway. Unfortunately flickr does not permit embedding links, so this one you’ll have to cut and paste, sorry about that..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/121761888@N03/sets/
Today marks a half century since the Ritz went dark, but its future is looking bright as the earliest stages of restoration/renovation began late last year with removal of the bakery structure which was basically built within the auditorium, leaving it pretty much intact. Remaining sand used to level the floor is still being removed and actual work will begin later this year and as mentioned, finished in 2017. I’ll post more as work progresses, but plans call for among other things an enlarged stage house.
Just added a few more pictures of the Ritz taken last week, more to come. markp, My Aunt remembers your mother, too. Small world it is.
I forgot to mention this photo was supplied by Joe’s son Mark, who brought it along on a special tour of the Ritz we had this past week. Thanks for sharing!
Just uploaded a couple new pictures, one from our visit to the building earlier this week, the other of longtime house projectionist Joe Pusillo with Ritz owner Maurice Spewak in the booth. I’ll post more pictures of our afternoon at the Ritz soon.
Glad you enjoyed the day markp, I did too. It was great to finally meet you, and I think we both enjoyed meeting the various folks involved in the renovation project, along with members of the borough’s Historical Committee. I’ll be uploading a few pictures I took in the next few days, also that 1947 photo of your dad with Mr. Spewak in the Ritz projection room. I’ll post more when I upload, but yes, it needs a whole lot of work especially with plaster restoration. I’m confident the folks in charge will meet their goal of reopening the Ritz in 2017, I’m really looking forward to watching this project progress. I wish I lived a little closer so I could be more involved.
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, the Ritz was equipped with an organ manufactured by the United States Pipe Organ Company, opus 153, size 2/4 with a 3HP blower from Kinetic Engineering Company, #P1142B.
It also gives a date of 1928 although advertisements and media coverage for the opening in 1927 mention the presence of an organ, described by the local newspaper as “ a huge organ powered by electric motors”. The opening night article mentioned the evening opened with an organ solo “The Rosary”. I suspect this was the same organ, and perhaps the paperwork from 1928 reflects an upgrade or some such.
In current news, the Borough of Carteret received $350,000 dollars from Middlesex County earlier this week towards renovating the Ritz as a performing arts venue. I mention it only as a lead into a photo of the Mayor receiving a check that is posted on his Facebook page here. The reason I posted this link is for the ornate plaster work visible, I am pretty sure that is the bottom of the stage left organ loft they are standing in front of, if my memory serves me well after a half century.
Yeah, that night was the only time I ever heard his first name back in the day. As I’ve mentioned before, I did see him a few times, when us kiddies came to the weekend matinee and were lined up before Mr. Spewak arrived. I figure he was the guy who showed up with him that wasn’t the usher. It was usually a 3 person operation, except when it was a bill that would draw a crowd, I’m guessing the woman that would be in the ticket booth those days was Mrs. Spewak.
By the way markp or anybody else in the area, Saturday is Carteret’s Halloween parade and fall festival, which is at the end of the parade. It ends at Washington and Cooke, location of the Ritz. The mayor is promising maybe some tricks and treats. Depending on insurance and whatnot, they might let residents take a peak in their future performing arts center. My guess, nothing official. I’d sure show up if I were in the area. You or anybody else go, please bring a camera and send me some shots, please.
Today (yesterday, 10/21, wrote it and for got to post it) marks 50 years since I last saw a Movie at the Ritz. My memory isn’t that good! but the movie was “A Hard Day’s Night” with the Beatles. We went opening night, to hopefully meet some girls. Remembering that, an ad found on the online historic newspaper archive at the Woodbridge Public Library gave the date. Unfortunately for us there were very few girls to meet, unfortunately for Mr. Spewak there were very few people, the crowd numbered about 20, mostly males. Ah well…. With a top price of $.90, that would make the evening’s receipts less than 20 bucks… If this was typical, it’s no wonder the Ritz closed 3 months later. Mr. Spewak was already 73 years old, which was probably another factor. The Ritz went dark for about 5 weeks in August/September, I’m guessing Mr. Spewak and his wife went on their first vacation in years.
Anyway, true to the double bill format the Ritz generally followed, the opening movie was “ For Those Who Think Young”. As a general rule, the opener would be shown a 2nd time after the main movie for any latecomers, so my friends and I decide to stay an see it again, or at least part of it. Before the opening credits were through, Mr. Spewak comes down the aisle and yells up to the projectionist something like “shut it off Joe, there’s nobody left”, looks at the 4 of us (the only ones left) and reminds us we saw it earlier and it was time to go home. Never saw Mr. Spewak again, only saw the interior of the Ritz one time since, in 1968. I spent many a happy time there between 1954-1964…
Thanks markp. I probably would have stopped to see if it were only the drop ceiling and walls in those dumpsters. I was surprised to see the valance in front of the stage still hanging after a half century in the pictures I linked to. This would have been masking for any theatrical lighting positions from the vaudeville days, I can’t help but wonder if any lights might still have been present…. Beyond that, I recently posted an update to the New Palace page, which included uploading some old ads and a postcard circa 1917 showing that stretch of Roosevelt Avenue, which includes the entrance to what in those days was called the Crescent Theatre. You might enjoy that. Also, if you have a chance, drop me an email. I’ve mentioned where to find my address, I have something you may be interested in seeing that I won’t be posting here as it doesn’t relate much to this site.
A word on the architect of the Ritz…
My original short history posted last year gave credit to a T. Glivae, who was mentioned in a Carteret Press article a week before the Ritz opened. Glivae was described as an “artist and architect” who lived on Emerson St. I later found a news story from earlier that summer about the death by industrial accident of a Frank Gliwa. It mentioned that Mr. Gliwa’s elder son John designed the Ritz, then under construction. It also described John as an artist and architect, also that the family lived on Emerson St. The article mentioned the name Gliwa nearly a dozen times, so one might figure T. Glivae in the later article about the Ritz was a typo, not that uncommon in the Carteret Press. As it turns out, both are misspellings. The correct name is Gliva.
On my last visit to Carteret, I got in touch with the Borough’s Historic Committee in hopes that their collection contained pictures of the older Carteret theatres that I could add to their picture pages on CT. When I discovered there were no pictures or documents in their archives dealing with any of the theatres, I offered a copy of my collected material. The committee person I’m working with on the transfer is Susan Wentzel. When Ms. Wentzel mentioned she had an account with ancestry.com, I asked if she could lookup John Gliwa and perhaps get a little more detail on his life. Within 24 hours Susan was back to me explaining that there weren’t any Gliwa’s, but the Gliva family seemed to fit and offered a stack of material or info on John Gliva and his family: census records, city directory pages, and a mention in the Social Security Death Index, this all covering from 1920-1977.
From the accident article, I had the names and ages of family members, which matched those of the Gliva family, so with 57 years worth of documentation, Gliva it is.
John was born in Poland in 1900, his family came to America in 1908 and soon after settled in Roosevelt, as Carteret was known until 1922. The 1920 census has him listed as a clerk working for Copperworks, a local factory. At the time he was commissioned to design the Ritz by Maurice Spewak, the Gliva family was living at the corner of Emerson and Irving Streets, only a few hundred feet from where the Ritz would be built. After the death of Frank Gliva, the family moved to nearby Elizabeth. John’s occupation according to the 1930 census was architectural draftsman, in 1940 he was listed as a building architect. He is also listed as an architect in the 1955 Elizabeth City Directory, working in Union, NJ. The Social Security Death Index lists a John Gliva of Elizabeth passing away in April, 1977.
So again a big thank you to Ms. Wentzel. Susan mentioned to me that a 1912 Sanborn map of Roosevelt that the Historical Committee was looking at showed “Sunset Park Moving Pictures” near the present intersection of Roosevelt and Wheeler Avenues. If this was a company making moving pictures or yet another old Carteret theatre is not known, I could find nothing in the databases I have access to. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated, comment here or my email is in my profile.