I lived down Milwaukee Avenue from the Milford from 1973 to 1976. At sixty cents admission, it was probably the cheapest entertainment around. However, you had to be careful about going to a Saturday matinee. If it was a movie that kids could attend, station wagons full of kids (each with sixty centers in his or her hands) would pull up and disgorge their contents. Before long, there would be screaming kids running up and down the aisles. (Maybe there was one aged usher.) I also remember that the Milford had Polish films once a month or so. Sorry to learn that it is gone.
From 1955 to 1965 my parents lived on Fleming Road in Springfield township, so I often got dropped off to see movies at the Vogue. I never knew Mrs. Chase by name, but I remember her. One time I got into trouble with the ticket taker by accidentally knocking over the box which held the ticket stubs for the big Saturday drawing. As a boy I went to a few of big Disney releases at downtown theaters, but the Vogue was where I did most of my movie-viewing. Alas, I never had a girl friend to take along. For some reason, I remember the candy display counter, with the dots and black crows. (I don’t think the latter sold very well, but I liked licorice, & sometimes the black crows could be pretty well hardened.) I am not sure which cost more—the movies or the candy.
Dann Woellert’s book The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili (History Press, 2013) has a great contemporary photo (street view with marquee) of the Ridge theater (maybe 1940s)on p. 165. However, if 1941 to 1961 is the correct period of operation for the theater, then Pleasant Ridge Chili (founded 1964) was never next door. But there were probably other places to eat nearby. I wonder how important walking distance access (i.e., “walkability”) was to the success of one-screen second-run neighborhood houses like the Ridge. Later on, convenient parking space became the mantra for suburban theater success.
I lived down Milwaukee Avenue from the Milford from 1973 to 1976. At sixty cents admission, it was probably the cheapest entertainment around. However, you had to be careful about going to a Saturday matinee. If it was a movie that kids could attend, station wagons full of kids (each with sixty centers in his or her hands) would pull up and disgorge their contents. Before long, there would be screaming kids running up and down the aisles. (Maybe there was one aged usher.) I also remember that the Milford had Polish films once a month or so. Sorry to learn that it is gone.
From 1955 to 1965 my parents lived on Fleming Road in Springfield township, so I often got dropped off to see movies at the Vogue. I never knew Mrs. Chase by name, but I remember her. One time I got into trouble with the ticket taker by accidentally knocking over the box which held the ticket stubs for the big Saturday drawing. As a boy I went to a few of big Disney releases at downtown theaters, but the Vogue was where I did most of my movie-viewing. Alas, I never had a girl friend to take along. For some reason, I remember the candy display counter, with the dots and black crows. (I don’t think the latter sold very well, but I liked licorice, & sometimes the black crows could be pretty well hardened.) I am not sure which cost more—the movies or the candy.
Dann Woellert’s book The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili (History Press, 2013) has a great contemporary photo (street view with marquee) of the Ridge theater (maybe 1940s)on p. 165. However, if 1941 to 1961 is the correct period of operation for the theater, then Pleasant Ridge Chili (founded 1964) was never next door. But there were probably other places to eat nearby. I wonder how important walking distance access (i.e., “walkability”) was to the success of one-screen second-run neighborhood houses like the Ridge. Later on, convenient parking space became the mantra for suburban theater success.