Theatre

Joe Vogel on March 10, 2022 at 10:35 pm

I found an obituary for George Slothower published on April 24, 1942. It didn’t mention the theater business, but said that the lifelong-resident of Dixon had for the last 23 years been employed at the Borden (the milk company) condensory. It might be that the Princess had closed by 1919, when he began working for Borden.

If no other theaters than the Opera House, the Family, and this one appear on the Sanborn maps, it does seem very likely that the one at 214 W. 1st was the Rose/Princess.

Joe Vogel on March 10, 2022 at 10:06 pm

One possible name of this house is the Princess Theatre, which is mentioned in a few issues of trade journals in the 1910s. The July 13, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World had this item:

“George Slothower, manager of the Princess Theater, Dixon, Ill., and Miss Bertha Haas of Swissville. Ill., were recently married at Dixon.”

The May, 1911 issue of Motography told of Mr. Slothower’s acquisition of the house:

“The Rose theater of Dixon which was closed recently has been leased by George Slothower, who will thoroughly renovate and improve the same and open it as the Princess under the management of Clarence Booth, who formerly managed the Rose.”

The Princess was also mentioned in the December 6, 1913 MPW, which said that George Slothower had given up the Family Theatre and resumed management of the Princess. George Slothower and the Princess Theatre were also mentioned in the April 7, 1917 issue of The Dramatic Mirror, which also mentioned the Opera Theatre and the Family Theatre.