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Vale Theatre
101 Cottage Avenue,
Cashmere,
WA
98815
101 Cottage Avenue,
Cashmere,
WA
98815
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Joe Vogel, thank you for your post. Ted Wilson was my father. I didn’t know he had something to do with establishing the Vale Theatre! I also didn’t know when he bought the Alpine Theatre in Leavenworth, so that information is much appreciated! I’m not surprised that they had “the best in projection,” because Ted always wanted top-of-the line quality in his machines. It is my understanding that the Wilson brothers (Sam, Ted, and another brother) had a machine shop on the west side of Cottage Avenue, across from the Vale.
Here is a notice from Boxoffice of July 2, 1938:
I have uploaded three photos in which the Vale appears: one at a celebration of VJ Day where the marquee and a portion of the vertical appear; one in which the vertical is seen in the distance on the right; and the third showing the corner of the building and the Division Street sign.
I find it odd when looking at these old photos that this, which appears to be the main street in town, is called Cottage Avenue.
And JBottero if the current building at 101 is the former Vale it has been altered beyond recognition. The bank on Division has also been altered considerably but still is recognizable.
Building seems to still be there.
The “New Theater Openings” column of The Film Daily for July 2, 1938, listed the 800-seat, $100,000 Vale Theatre at Cashmere, Washington as having opened on June 23.
Here is a little more information about the city of Cashmere:
According to the Tacoma Public Library, this is the origin of the name Cashmere.
It was established in 1889, and platted in 1895 as Mission by J. F. Woodring and I. W. Sherman. That name came from a Jesuit mission which had been built in 1863. The present name was given in 1902 since another town in the state carried the name Mission. Responsible for the choice was Judge James H. Chase, who had visited the Vale of Kashmir in India, and liked the name.
Not a fact, but extremely coincidental given the name of the city.
The Vale’s name may be in reference to a line in Thomas Moore’s poem “Lalla Rookh”: “Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere! With its roses the brightest the earth ever gave.”
There is also a park in NYC called the Vale of Cashmere.