Palm Theatre

Joe Vogel on October 29, 2014 at 12:07 am

The Palm Theatre dates back to at least 1918, and was originally called the Ideal Theatre. In 1927, two movie theaters were in operation at Bayard, the Ideal and the Rialto. The July 1, 1927, issue of The Film Daily reported that Jim Hughes had bought both houses. My guess would be that Hughes bought only the businesses and not the buildings in which they were located, as he apparently closed the Ideal, and the landlord subsequently found another operator for it, or perhaps decided to operate it himself. The September 23 issue of the Daily ran this item:

“Rogers Reopens in Bayard, Neb.

“Bayard, Neb. — Ralph Rogers has reopened the Ideal as the Palm.”

The following year, this notice appeared in the October 6, 1928, issue of Motion Picture News:

“The Sallow and Hughes Amusement Enterprises of Alliance Nebraska, under the direction of Jim Hughes, has purchased the Palm theatre of Bayard, Nebraska, from R. Rogers. The Sallow and Hughes organization has been operating the Rialto Theatre of Bayard which was operating in opposition to the Palm theatre. Now, having bought the Palm they are in complete control of the town as far as moving picture theatres are concerned.”

Sallow and Hughes might have saved themselves some expense by keeping the Ideal open, instead of buying it twice. The Ideal was probably the older of the two houses, as the opening of a house called the New Ideal Theatre at Bayard is mentioned in the November 9, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World. The name suggests that an earlier Ideal Theatre had operated in Bayard, and had either moved to a new building or had at least been substantially rebuilt in its original location.