I didn’t get to complete my comment! Yes, DRIFTING CLOUDS!!! This was in the 1940s and 1950s! I have always wondered how they produced those clouds! One other commenter remarked about nearby restaurants. One correct spelling was Garden Grille. Correct for the other was Kaase’s, which was on Mill Street and where my aunt used to work, opposite the Colonial theater. One comment about the Colonial mentioned three steep balconies, but of three levels only two were balconies, and that second balcony really was steep! Another commenter thought downtown Akron’s Main Street was perhaps not as busy as he remembered it being…I say OH YES it was! The wide sidewalks were always full of people, both shoppers and people in between busses! All bus routes but one in Akron traversed Main Street and stopped in front of Polsky’s department store going one way, and across the street in front of 0'neil’s department store on their return trip. I know because as a young teen I used to use my mother’s weekly bus pass, ride any bus to end of line and coming back on the other side of the street I would get off and then get on next bus coming and ride it to end and back, and repeat!
Other downtown theaters I did not see mentioned were Strand, Palace (had also a balcony-level entrance from High St.), and Forum. I know there was one more south of O'neil’s but don’t recall name. One other comment did mention the Orpheum which was at the north end of S. Main St. at East Market St. Someone mentioned population of I believe 200,000, but as I recall, Akron population in the busy 40s was 250,000, most of whom rode busses past all those theaters every week, except on the Crosstown route taking so many people with second jobs between Goodyear on the east side and Goodrich and Firestone on the west! One more Main St. theater was the Gaiety(sp?), but it did NOT show movies! There were probably about fifteen more neighborhood theaters in Akron at that time! I can only recall Norka, Rialto, Royal, Gem, Ellet, Highland?, Goodyear Heights?, Spicer. This has been fun to recall! Thanks for the opportunity!
I have reviewed all 64 comments to date and totally enjoy the memories! Loew’s was the finest downtown theater in my opinion, a lot because of Wild Oscar playing the organ while the audience sang along, I believe, to the words on the screen. I saw only one comment about the ceiling mentioning the small lights like stars. But, besides the stars there were also DRIFTING CLOUDS
I didn’t get to complete my comment! Yes, DRIFTING CLOUDS!!! This was in the 1940s and 1950s! I have always wondered how they produced those clouds! One other commenter remarked about nearby restaurants. One correct spelling was Garden Grille. Correct for the other was Kaase’s, which was on Mill Street and where my aunt used to work, opposite the Colonial theater. One comment about the Colonial mentioned three steep balconies, but of three levels only two were balconies, and that second balcony really was steep! Another commenter thought downtown Akron’s Main Street was perhaps not as busy as he remembered it being…I say OH YES it was! The wide sidewalks were always full of people, both shoppers and people in between busses! All bus routes but one in Akron traversed Main Street and stopped in front of Polsky’s department store going one way, and across the street in front of 0'neil’s department store on their return trip. I know because as a young teen I used to use my mother’s weekly bus pass, ride any bus to end of line and coming back on the other side of the street I would get off and then get on next bus coming and ride it to end and back, and repeat! Other downtown theaters I did not see mentioned were Strand, Palace (had also a balcony-level entrance from High St.), and Forum. I know there was one more south of O'neil’s but don’t recall name. One other comment did mention the Orpheum which was at the north end of S. Main St. at East Market St. Someone mentioned population of I believe 200,000, but as I recall, Akron population in the busy 40s was 250,000, most of whom rode busses past all those theaters every week, except on the Crosstown route taking so many people with second jobs between Goodyear on the east side and Goodrich and Firestone on the west! One more Main St. theater was the Gaiety(sp?), but it did NOT show movies! There were probably about fifteen more neighborhood theaters in Akron at that time! I can only recall Norka, Rialto, Royal, Gem, Ellet, Highland?, Goodyear Heights?, Spicer. This has been fun to recall! Thanks for the opportunity!
I have reviewed all 64 comments to date and totally enjoy the memories! Loew’s was the finest downtown theater in my opinion, a lot because of Wild Oscar playing the organ while the audience sang along, I believe, to the words on the screen. I saw only one comment about the ceiling mentioning the small lights like stars. But, besides the stars there were also DRIFTING CLOUDS