Matchbook Covers from Sandusky Businesses

Do you remember when you could grab a free book of matches on your way out of a restaurant or store?

Journalist and author Harry Van Stack donated several matchbook covers from Sandusky businesses to the Sandusky Library. The matchbooks were from five restaurants and a service station that were in operation primarily in the 1930s and 1940s in downtown Sandusky. The Boulevard Cafe can be seen in the picture below next to the Ohio Theatre on West Market Street in 1937.

In the 1931 photograph of downtown Sandusky, the Pelican Restaurant is on the west side of Columbus Avenue, just north of Rosino’s, and Martin’s is at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street.

A Popular Silent Film at the Schade Theatre in 1924

The silent movie George Washington, Jr. played at the Schade Theatre in Sandusky in July of 1924. The movie was based on a well-known musical play written by George M. Cohan in 1906.  Wesley Barry played the lead character in this film version. Cohan wrote the popular song You’re a Grand Old Flag for this musical comedy. The Schade Theatre (pictured below in 1918) featured air conditioning by 1924. The theater, on West Market Street, was later known as the Ohio Theatre until it was razed in the 1980s.

Popular Silent Film at the Schade Theatre in 1924

The silent movie “George Washington, Jr.” played at the Schade Theatre in Sandusky in July of 1924. The movie was based on a well-known musical play written by George M. Cohan in 1906.  Wesley Barry played the lead character in the silent film version of “George Washington, Jr.” The popular song You’re a Grand Old Flag was written by Cohan for this musical comedy. The Schade Theatre featured air conditioning in 1924. Pictured below is a picture of the Schade Theatre on West Market Street in 1918. The Schade Theatre was later known as the Ohio Theatre. (It is no longer in existence.)

The Schade Theatre and Ohio Theatre

The Schade Theatre in Sandusky opened in the 200 block of West Market Street in 1915 as the Alhambra Theatre. An article in the December 19, 1915 issue of the Star Journal reported that the “motion picture palace” cost a total of $100,000. George J. Schade (below) was the owner of the theatre.

H.C. Millot was the architect, and the building contractor was Feick and Company. According to the Star Journal, “It can be stated truthfully that not a city of Sandusky’s size in the country, and few of the larger ones can boast of so beautiful a movie play-house.” Seating capacity on the main floor was 700, with a balcony that seated 50 more individuals. Special attention was paid to the lighting and acoustics. By the fall of 1916, the theater was known as the Schade Theatre. Until the late 1920s, the films were all silent. Mr. Schade advertised heavily in the Star Journal. He wrote a column known as “Schad–E Tips” which promoted the films that were being shown in the theater. In the summer of 1916, a theater organ known as the Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra provided musical entertainment for the theater.

The theater organ could simulate the sounds of orchestra music with just one musician. By the fall of 1930, and continuing through the 1960s, the Schade Theatre became known as Warner’s Ohio Theatre, under the proprietorship of Warner Brothers.

The marquee of the Ohio Theatre is visible in this picture of Market Street from the 1930s.

In March of 1940, the movie Young Tom Edison, starring Mickey Rooney, played for ten days at the Ohio Theatre. This was of particular interest to area residents, since Thomas Edison was born in nearby Milan, Ohio. Love Story played in Sandusky exclusively at the Ohio Theatre in Feburary of 1971.  By the late 1970s, the Ohio Theatre was operating as an adult theatre. The Ohio Theatre closed  in 1979, and eventually the building was razed.

For more information about local theaters, see the Sandusky Register column “Market Street Was Movie House Mecca” by Ron Davidson, or visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Several archival boxes are devoted to the history of arts and entertainment in Sandusky.

Views of Market Street Looking East from Jackson

                 

This postcard of Market Street, looking east from Jackson Street, was created in the 1920s. E.B. Ackley’s billiard parlor is on the north side of West Market Street, adjacent to Jackson. You can see the marquee of the Schade Theatre, which later became the Ohio Theatre. In the distance, the Cooke building is visible at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. The Hotel Rieger building (which recently opened as an apartment building, the Rieger Lofts) is on the south side of West Market Street, just opposite the Star Journal building, which now is home to the Sandusky Register. Going east down Market Street, the Third National Bank is next to the Hotel Rieger. A sign advertising an auto supply store is visible, just west of the old city building, with its two towers. In the distance you can see the Feick building, a tall structure on the south side of East Market Street. A variety of offices and small businesses are found all along Market Street, on the street level as well as on upper floors. The Hotel Rieger featured some businesses which were below street level. Below is a view of Market Street in a picture that was taken between 1890 and 1910.

The Manhattan clothing store is located where Mr. Ackley later had his billiards parlor. Dr. Nicholson had his dental office above the Manhattan store. The Hotel Rieger and Star Journal buildings had not yet been constructed, but the Cooke building and former city hall can still be seen. Street cars and horse drawn vehicles were the mode of transportation at this time, instead of the autmobiles seen in the postcard above. You can see several other images of Market Street at the Sandusky History blog by clicking on this link.

Through the Years at the Northeast Corner of West Market and Jackson Streets

The Majestic Theatre was located at the northeast corner of West Market and Jackson Streets in 1908. The theater was not damaged in the fire which broke out in the Andres and Frey furniture store and undertakers building on January 10, 1908. The Sandusky Star Journal reported that the stone wall construction of the Market Street buildings helped prevent more serious fire damage to the adjacent buildings.

In 1925, Eugene B. Ackley had a Billiard Academy at the northeast corner of West Market and Jackson Streets in downtown Sandusky. Mr. Ackley was also the director and manager of Ackley’s Band and Orchestra. E. B. Ackley was associated with area bands from the late 1890’s through the 1903’s.

In the 1955 photograph below, Hills Supply Company, Martin’s Restaurant, and the Ohio Theater can be seen on West Market Street.

Currently, a municipal parking lot is located at the site of these former Sandusky businesses. If you would like to learn more about the history of Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Historical atlases, city directories, local history books and hundreds of historical photographs can help you learn more about the people and businesses that have contributed to the rich history of Erie County.

Grand Opening of the A&P store on West Market Street

On June 28, 1937, the A & P opened a new “super-service food market” on West Market Street, opposite the Hotel Rieger. The Sandusky Star Journal reported that “the new store will operate as a self-service unit with every item on display on tables plainly price tagged and easily accessible to the customer. Customers entering the store will be provided with either a hand basket or a push-basket on wheels in which to gather their purchases.”

The 1937-1938 Sandusky City Directory listed a total of six A & P stores, located at 232 Columbus Avenue, 901 Columbus Avenue, 600 Hancock Street, 182 East Market Street, 231 West Market Street, and 933 West Washington Street. There were still over fifty small neighborhood grocery stores in Sandusky at this time, as well as a total of seven stores operated by the Kroger Grocery and Baking Company.
In the right corner of the photograph above, a portion of the theater marquis is visible. The Ohio Theater was playing “I Met Him in Paris” with Claudette Colbert and Robert Young. Area Boy Scouts were marching in a parade preceding their trip to the National Jamboree of 1937 (as reported in the previous blog entry).