Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

downstairs.
The Jones County Telephone Company used office
space on the third floor until the Bell Telephone
Company bought them out. The rooms were rented to
the Three-Quarters Club, (see another section for the
history of the club), followed by the Redman and the
Knights of Columbus. That space then became the
offices ofClifford L. Niles.
Some of the better known road shows that appeared
at the theater through the years were: The Winninger
Bros. Comedians, William D. Owen, Leslie D. Carter's
Fast Mail, W. B. Patton, and the May Breton Co.
It was not uncommon for the troupes to come into
town for one-night-stands and install their own
projecting machines. which they would set up in the
balcony of the Opera House, and run shows that were
anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes long. The first of these
were the Lyman Howe Travel Series. The first fulllength
motion picture, “Queen Elizabeth", was played
here in 1912 and at that time, between each reel, the
auditorium was lighted and the audience had to wait
while the reel of film that was just played was rewound
and a new one set up.
The first continuous show was a great event which
occurred when the theater installed two moving picture
machines. One reel would be put on one machine until
it ran out, and the second machine would immediately
run the second reel with hardly a pause.
Sound was the next big improvement and it was
installed on March 30, 1930. with the showing of
"Chasing Rainbows" with the all-star cast of Charles
King. Bessie Love, Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, Eddy
Phillips and Jack Benny.
A fire, for the second time in the Opera House,
occurred Aug. 8, 1930. and it completely destroyed the
interior. In 1931 it was remodeled and made fireproof,
constructed entirely of concrete and steel. The new
theater was formally opened as the Niles Theater on
Christmas Night 1931. The feature film was a comedy.
"Caught Plastered", with Bert Wheeler, Robert
Woolsey and Dorothy Lee..The new theater had a new
and different arrangement. Entrance to the auditorium
was made from Main Street, the lobby being located in
the section of the building formerly occupied by the
E.S. Stone Jewelry Store. The foyer, woman's and
men's lounges, stairways and aisles were all newly
carpeted. On the west side of the foyer was the electric
control room, which contained 42 switches, making it
possible to regulate the entire lighting system of the
.-'3
as
_-1*‘
Display ofelectrical appliances at the Niles Theater.
(Submitted by Jesse Meade)
76
new theater from this one source. Enclosed electric
signs in the walls of the theater gave directions to all
the different sections. The sound acoustics were
pronounced as near perfect as was possible to make
them.
Another feature in the theater was the nursery. This
accommodation was uncommon and attracted much
attention in this part of the state. Mothers who had
restless children could take them to the nursery. A
large glass window provided a view of the screen and a
sound horn installed in the corner of the room
permitted the sound to come in, but the audience
seated in the main auditorium could hear nothing of
the sound effects of the children.
On April 13, 1935. fire again struck the theater,
causing extensive damage. It was redecorated, and
opened its doors on June 27, ‘more beautiful than ever‘.
The new theater was then complete with year-around
air conditioning and Microphonic sound. Air
conditioning was rare at this time. and during the hot,
humid. Iowa summers, many people would attend the
movie in the evening just to get a few hours relief from
the intense heat ofthe day.
In the 1930s, adult admission prices were 25 cents for
adults and 10 cents for children under 12 years old.
In 1926, the theater management instigated "family
night", when the entire family was admitted for the
price of one adult admission. As many as four
generations of one family would come in the same
family group, showing that it was tnrly a family night
for old and young alike. In later years, the admission
was one dollar for the entire family.
In the late 1930s, Mr. Niles opened another smaller
theater in Anamosa. in addition to the Niles Theater. It
was on the north side of Main street in the block
between Ford and Garnaviilo streets. This was called
the Circle Theater and much smaller and less elaborate
than the parent theater.
"Bank Night" was a popular event for number of
years. Patrons of the theater could register their names
on cards which would later be placed in a large wire
cage. On Bank Night, the cage would be brought to the
stage and a child from the audience would be invited up
to be blindfolded. A name was drawn from the many
cards. The person's name that was called had a limited
number of minutes to present themselves. If
unclaimed, the amount would be added the following
week. This was a very tense and exciting time and
many people congregated outside the theater in the
event their name was drawn. This was the time of the
great depression and to many of the recipients, it was a
never- to-be forgotten incident.
In 1939, the staff was composed of: Clifford Niles.
exhibitor: Charles L. Niles, manager: C.H. Mellecher.
assistant manager: John Watters, Circle Theater
manager; Maye Davenport, office secretary: Harold
Yount and Roy Hoover, operators and projectionists:
Buster Davenport. doorman: Frances Shifilet and Irene
Neville, cashiers. Usherettes were Phyllis Lister.
Carmella O'Toole, Edna Mae Ovel, Margaret McCrea.
Lila Cox, Leone McGreevy. Larie Ocherbach, Betty
Day. Beverly McGreevy, Betty Schuchman and Maxine
Carroll. Stage boys were Charles Gardner, Dan O'Toole.
Billy Gassen and Dean Duncan.
It might be noted here that Charles Mellecher, as
assistant manager, was also greatly feared and
respected as the ‘balcony bouncer‘. He ran a tight ship
and permitted no misconduct of any kind. Any
unnecessary noise, or even loud whispers. were