Unique Theatre

Nothing about the Unique, but an item in the April 6, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World pertains to the profusion of theaters in Oskaloosa. It says that there were then five movie theaters operating in the city of 10,000. Managers of four houses had formed a combine with the purpose of buying the lease on the fifth house and closing it permanently, but the County Attorney had implied that if they attempted to carry out this plan he could prosecute them under Iowa’s rather strict laws forbidding combines to restrain trade in any way. Hefty fines of $500 to $5,000 and/or up to a year in prison were the prescribed punishments. I’ve found no follow-up articles about the plan, so I suspect the managers had wise second thoughts and gave it up.