I worked at the Towne from April 1971 – Aug 1977. The manager was Joe Reynolds and his assistant was Kaye Vasos, both of whom were very nice folks. I remember Joe & his big ole stogey cigar and Kaye’s hair always in a bun. The projectionist/cashier husband & wife team I remeber were Mike and Lucy Tueller with whom I had a strong friendship. After joining the Air Force and getting stationed overseas I lost track of them, Joe, and Kaye. When I started working there they were still running fairly decent movies, but by the time I quit we were running the cut version of “Deep Throat” for the umpteenth time and really crummy kung-fu flicks.
The Towne didn’t have a whole lot of architectural detail but it had wonderful hand painted murals on either side of the small lobby. Outside, on either side of entrance, there used to be hand-painted billboards. I don’t remember the artists name at this point, but I remember seeing examples of his work – a pair of portraits of Rex Harrison & Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” finery. I also remember having to gather up the letters to change out the marquee every Thursday night. It took two of us to raise the approx 15' ladder and occasionally when I had to change the sign with someone who was scared of heights I would deliberately rock the ladder back & forth. In retrospect, a stupid, immature thing to do – but it was fun at the time!!
During my tenure the popcorn was purchased from our vendor pre-popped and in large bags, but I was told that in the “old days” the popcorn was popped in the basement and fed up through the floor to the popcorn bin. By what mechanism I don’t know.
My sister had worked at the Towne during the late fifties (it was she who got me the job as Joe Reynolds was the manager back then too!), and she related how the ushers used to wear uniforms and showed people to their seats using flashlights. She also said it was common for the well-to-do to drive up in limousines.
My memories are a tad different. There were usually only two or three of us working the floor, one person as the cashier, and one – maybe two, working the counter (the concession stand). Us guys were required to wear suits and the gals had to dress nice. Weekends during the day were a drag – the sailors from the Great Lakes Naval Base would be dropped off in front of either the Towne or Wisconsin’s only high-rise whore house, the Wisconsin Hotel across the street. It wasn’t uncommon to see the pimps standing outside the Hotel waiting to line up businesss courtesy of Uncle Sam. It also wasn’t uncommon to clean up their vomit after a hard day on the town. I woke up more than one sailor from the floor of the men’s room (located downstairs). There’s plenty more I could probably add but this will do for now.
I worked at the Towne from April 1971 – Aug 1977. The manager was Joe Reynolds and his assistant was Kaye Vasos, both of whom were very nice folks. I remember Joe & his big ole stogey cigar and Kaye’s hair always in a bun. The projectionist/cashier husband & wife team I remeber were Mike and Lucy Tueller with whom I had a strong friendship. After joining the Air Force and getting stationed overseas I lost track of them, Joe, and Kaye. When I started working there they were still running fairly decent movies, but by the time I quit we were running the cut version of “Deep Throat” for the umpteenth time and really crummy kung-fu flicks.
The Towne didn’t have a whole lot of architectural detail but it had wonderful hand painted murals on either side of the small lobby. Outside, on either side of entrance, there used to be hand-painted billboards. I don’t remember the artists name at this point, but I remember seeing examples of his work – a pair of portraits of Rex Harrison & Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” finery. I also remember having to gather up the letters to change out the marquee every Thursday night. It took two of us to raise the approx 15' ladder and occasionally when I had to change the sign with someone who was scared of heights I would deliberately rock the ladder back & forth. In retrospect, a stupid, immature thing to do – but it was fun at the time!!
During my tenure the popcorn was purchased from our vendor pre-popped and in large bags, but I was told that in the “old days” the popcorn was popped in the basement and fed up through the floor to the popcorn bin. By what mechanism I don’t know.
My sister had worked at the Towne during the late fifties (it was she who got me the job as Joe Reynolds was the manager back then too!), and she related how the ushers used to wear uniforms and showed people to their seats using flashlights. She also said it was common for the well-to-do to drive up in limousines.
My memories are a tad different. There were usually only two or three of us working the floor, one person as the cashier, and one – maybe two, working the counter (the concession stand). Us guys were required to wear suits and the gals had to dress nice. Weekends during the day were a drag – the sailors from the Great Lakes Naval Base would be dropped off in front of either the Towne or Wisconsin’s only high-rise whore house, the Wisconsin Hotel across the street. It wasn’t uncommon to see the pimps standing outside the Hotel waiting to line up businesss courtesy of Uncle Sam. It also wasn’t uncommon to clean up their vomit after a hard day on the town. I woke up more than one sailor from the floor of the men’s room (located downstairs). There’s plenty more I could probably add but this will do for now.