Several years ago, Mr. James Edwards told me the story behind the Tumbleweed Theater. It was the first theater he ever had built. When he approached a contractor to build him a theater with $2000, the contractor told him that for $2000 he could only build him a barn. Mr. Edwards had the barn built, added a screen, seats and projectors and made it into a theater. How’s that for ingenuity?
This message is for mattepntr. If you remember the kiddie matinees, then you might remember my father you was the manager. He used to get the Temple City businesses to donate prizes and gifts for intermission drawings. No child dared throw their ticket stub away as that is what was used for the drawings. Great old theater. Great memories!
The theater that is now located at Las Tunas Dr. and Rosemead Blvd. in Temple City was owned by Regal Theaters of Knoxville, TN. Regal Theaters took over Edwards Theaters after Edwards filed for bankruptcy a few years back. (I’m sure that James Edwards, Sr. is turning over in his grave.) Regal recently sold the Temple Theatre which has now opened as an independent theatre. My understanding is that it will be eventually torn down and the entire block around it will be some type of shopping center. Just as a side note, my father managed the OLD Temple Theater from the mid 50s through the mid 60s.
Several years ago, Mr. James Edwards told me the story behind the Tumbleweed Theater. It was the first theater he ever had built. When he approached a contractor to build him a theater with $2000, the contractor told him that for $2000 he could only build him a barn. Mr. Edwards had the barn built, added a screen, seats and projectors and made it into a theater. How’s that for ingenuity?
This message is for mattepntr. If you remember the kiddie matinees, then you might remember my father you was the manager. He used to get the Temple City businesses to donate prizes and gifts for intermission drawings. No child dared throw their ticket stub away as that is what was used for the drawings. Great old theater. Great memories!
The theater that is now located at Las Tunas Dr. and Rosemead Blvd. in Temple City was owned by Regal Theaters of Knoxville, TN. Regal Theaters took over Edwards Theaters after Edwards filed for bankruptcy a few years back. (I’m sure that James Edwards, Sr. is turning over in his grave.) Regal recently sold the Temple Theatre which has now opened as an independent theatre. My understanding is that it will be eventually torn down and the entire block around it will be some type of shopping center. Just as a side note, my father managed the OLD Temple Theater from the mid 50s through the mid 60s.