I've begun and am well into the Tower Theatre article now, alluded to in the Movie Trivia thread (http://www.okctalk.com/nostalgia-memories/19065-movie-trivia.html) here.

The article's link is: Doug Dawgz Blog: The Tower Theatre (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2009/09/tower-theatre.html)

It's not done yet but what's there should keep you busy until more is done. I've not yet gotten far into the period that most of you probably remember, the "Sound of Music" part, or the decline which followed those years, or the potential which is presently on the horizon. But that should come later today.

I've tried to reach the people that own the property to see if I could get permission to get inside and take some inside photos and to learn from them any history that I may have wrong, or supplement that which I think I know.

So far, though, I have no replies to my e-mails and when calling their phone, no one ever answers. Hopefully, that will change.

The current owners' website (http://okctower.com/) has some very nice (even if not high resolution) images of the Tower which I intend (unless I hear from them to the contrary) to include in the article. I'll show you a few of those images here:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_02.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_05.jpg

As soon as I come back from a visit to my local grocer to get me some cigarettes, I'll resume development of the article.

Doug, Again kudos and attaboys for a job well done. All this talk of the Tower made me think of the Mayflower. Wasn't it between Classen and Western on the north side of the road? We have not seen anything on it.

Doug, Again kudos and attaboys for a job well done. All this talk of the Tower made me think of the Mayflower. Wasn't it between Classen and Western on the north side of the road? We have not seen anything on it.
It's also on my to-do list. The location you stated is generally correct.

Oh boy I can't wait. You have something in the works for the milk bottle building? (Just kidding) I did find a link or two with some info on the Mayflower.

CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - Cinema Mayflower, Oklahoma City OK (http://www.cinematour.com/picview.php?db=us&id=11790)

Today it is CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - Cinema Mayflower, Oklahoma City OK (http://www.cinematour.com/picview.php?db=us&id=61172)

The Mayflower and a few other theaters (e.g., the Yale in Capitol Hill) were owned by the father of a friend of mine ... if I can every pin him down to give me some photos, it will be a good day for me!

The Mayflower and a few other theaters (e.g., the Yale in Capitol Hill) were owned by the father of a friend of mine ... if I can every pin him down to give me some photos, it will be a good day for me!

A Caporal? (spelling?)

It's also on my to-do list. The location you stated is generally correct.

And the Plaza as well?

A Caporal? (spelling?)
Yes. It's the original owner's grandson (maybe great grandson, I've forgotten), a living Sam Caporal.

And the Plaza as well?
Yes, but where's the time to do all of the to-dos, and then do the expanded Capitol Hill article, etc.? I need a couple of clones.

And the Plaza as well?
The Plaza Theater was located at N.W. 16th and N. Indiana. It is now the
home of "Lyric on the Plaza". It's a great place for plays and small musicals.
I've played there many times.

The one change I don't like are the restrooms. The Plaza had very nice
restrooms that were covered with tile and had a place for an attendant. Now
it's just another place to relieve one's self.

Saw film "Tommy" there. Waste of money. Only film I can remember seeing at the Plaza.

Two doors to the east my Grandmother had the Plaza Tap Room. Beer and shuffleboard. Last time I was by the place it was an AA meeting room.

Still wonder why it was called the Plaza since the Plaza Bldg was a mile or so to the east.

I've begun and am well into the Tower Theatre article now, alluded to in the Movie Trivia thread (http://www.okctalk.com/nostalgia-memories/19065-movie-trivia.html) here.

The article's link is: Doug Dawgz Blog: The Tower Theatre (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2009/09/tower-theatre.html)

It's not done yet but what's there should keep you busy until more is done. I've not yet gotten far into the period that most of you probably remember, the "Sound of Music" part, or the decline which followed those years, or the potential which is presently on the horizon. But that should come later today.

I've tried to reach the people that own the property to see if I could get permission to get inside and take some inside photos and to learn from them any history that I may have wrong, or supplement that which I think I know.

So far, though, I have no replies to my e-mails and when calling their phone, no one ever answers. Hopefully, that will change.

The current owners' website (http://okctower.com/) has some very nice (even if not high resolution) images of the Tower which I intend (unless I hear from them to the contrary) to include in the article. I'll show you a few of those images here:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_02.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_04.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_03.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/okctowerdotcom_05.jpg

As soon as I come back from a visit to my local grocer to get me some cigarettes, I'll resume development of the article.

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Doug< please notice to the left side of the picture....TG&Y store on 23rd street. Bulldog (one of us) was one of the last managers of that store.....Also, went to see that movie (unsinkable Molly Brown) at That theater.....Also, my sonknows the present owners of the building....When he gets back from his "Honeymoon", I'll ask him if he can pull any strings to get you inside. They are remodeling the building now....

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Doug< please notice to the left side of the picture....TG&Y store on 23rd street. Bulldog (one of us) was one of the last managers of that store.....Also, went to see that movie (unsinkable Molly Brown) at That theater.....Also, my sonknows the present owners of the building....When he gets back from his "Honeymoon", I'll ask him if he can pull any strings to get you inside. They are remodeling the building now....
Thanks, and that would be great! My e-mails to the current organization haven't been replied to and no one is ever "home" to answer the phone!

I've just added a new section to the article (which is still incomplete) taking the Tower through the Farris Shanbour era which is the time that the movies played that most of us remember today.

This is a double-post, having just made the same one in the more general forum area ... but since this thread is just for the Tower, I'll take license ...

Here are a couple of pics taken this morning ... lights are coming ON!

Click pics for larger views ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/tower_2009_09_09_1s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/tower_2009_09_09_1.jpg)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/tower_2009_09_09_2s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/movies/tower_2009_09_09_2.jpg)

I'm dying for some interior shots.

Notice in the black and white shots how the young men had ties on and their shoes were shined and they had NO Holes in their pants nor were their pants dragging.....OMG no hats inside.......how'd that happen????

Oh, come on, Generals64. Are you saying that you want to restore those times that YOU had to shine YOUR shoes before you went to a movie, wear a tie, etc.? :ohno: Surely, and probably more likely, you were merely being observant.

Along the same line, I found it interesting, when doing research for Springlake, that the pics uniformly showed that shirts and ties were standard attire for men even when riding the Big Dipper in the 1930s-early 1940s ... no matter how damn hot it was ... a practice which probably ended with WWII.

As for me, heck, I've never liked wearing shoes. Still don't. Some of my best wounds came from stepping on nails which had to be "surgically" extracted by my grandmother (saint that she was) while laying on her dining room table. She'd pack that sucker with salt, yank it out, and treat the wound with iodine and/or Mercurochrome, I think it was called. That was between ages 5-9. When I was in grade school in Lawton, around 4th-5th grade, my two much older brothers worked for the downtown theaters there. Employee family members could get in free. My middle (and then my arch-enemy) brother, Eddie, protested when Mom told him to take me to a movie when he went to work during the summer, he painfully pleading to Mom with a strained and agitated voice, "But, Mom, he won't even wear shoes!" Probably I had to put some on, grudgingly. I would get even ... but that's another story.

I've not changed all that much, as you've personally had occasion to observe. :kicking: Now, I'm an old fart, and everyone knows that old farts can do anything they want ... people may look at you funny, but, what the hey? :gossip: It doesn't matter. My childlike behavior is now acceptable ... but, even if not, I have none in my family chain who can any longer tell me what I should do. I'm not wearing shoes as this is being written.

Our street was paved this week and while that was happening I had to park my car around the corner during paving day (Tuesday), by my neighbor Bill's house so that the pavers could do their work and so that my car wouldn't be land locked. When walking back from parking the car, Bill said, "Hey, isn't that hard on your (bare) feet?" My only reply was to smile and say, "I've never liked shoes."

Notice in the black and white shots how the young men had ties on and their
shoes were shined and they had NO Holes in their pants nor were their pants
dragging... OMG no hats inside... how'd that happen?

I was thinking about that this afternoon. Shirt and tie, sports jacket and
NOBODY wearing a hat inside (I can't stand it) I'm going to rebel against the
casualness of today's dress... then as soon as it becomes the fashion I'll
rebel against it!

Wasn't there, like some of you were. 8^)

I've been presuming the higher level of dress back in that time frame was related to attending a show was a much bigger deal then as opposed to later years, where taking in a movie is just to one of scores of entertainment options available.

Wasn't there, like some of you were. 8^)

I've been presuming the higher level of dress back in that time frame was related to attending a show was a much bigger deal then as opposed to later years, where taking in a movie is just to one of scores of entertainment options available.

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KEVINPATE:....It wasn't that it was just the thing to do. You tried to look your very best when you went to pick up your date. Your shoes were shined (if Shinable) or, if you had on white sneakers they were washed and bleached as white as possible. And, your belt was not a fashion statement it was just a statement. There were NO T-Shirts with any kind of sayings on them and if you could afford them ($3.99) you wore an Izod/Lacoste shirt...They call them "Alligator" shirts today.
If you didn't look half way presentable you got the opportunity to be able to talk to your date via the telephone......Daddy said "NO" not with that boy.
You were NOT allowed to wear "cut-Offs" in the Swimming pool ...only swim trunks.....Absolutely NO shorts of any kind could be worn to school and when I graduated from High school most of the girls always wore a dress or skirt. Now......you know that old lady down the street (in her early 60's)?....She was quite a fox in her day....believe it or not....ask your dad if your mom was babe or not.....remember, you'll be old and walking slow someday......My wife is in her early 60's and she still turns a lot of heads....she is still the Babe I dated 45 years ago.....

Generals64! Looks like I guessed you wrong. OK OK. Next Southsiders meeting (at which you will be properly representing the best of South Oklahoma City), I'll be looking at your shoes and I'll be looking at your neck to see if you have a tie around it. A real tie, not some cowboy stringie thing. Shirt is optional.

Generals64! Looks like I guessed you wrong. OK OK. Next Southsiders meeting
(at which you will be properly representing the best of South Oklahoma City),
I'll be looking at your shoes and I'll be looking at your neck to see if you have
a tie around it. A real tie, not some cowboy stringie thing. Shirt is optional.
Please! Wear a shirt!

If you didn't look half way presentable you got the opportunity to be able to
talk to your date via the telephone... Daddy said "NO" not with that boy.


And when you picked her up for the date you had better NOT be in the family
station wagon.

And when you picked her up for the date you had better NOT be in the family
station wagon.
I don't get it. Please explain. Or, better yet, let the shoe-shiner and tie-wearer explain.

And when you picked her up for the date you had better NOT be in the family
station wagon.

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Man, I first had a '51 chevy (death trap)...then a '55 Chevy Bel-air....Then a '58 Thunderbird...(cool ride)......then ta-Da:...1963 Impala Super Stock 2-door hard top always kept it shining.....Reverse Chrome Wheels with Chrome Dump Pipes.....Reversed black wall tires......then I got married and the Lady General took it away from me and I ended up with a '57 chevy station wagon...I wear boots also remember that....Did you ever go to the bus station and have your cordovan shoes shined???? or did you (Pruner) wear "Kiss me Quick" shoes???? the first time I had my shoes shine down in the basement (bathroom) of the bus station the shine boy (that's what they were called) put and extra heavy amount of paste on my Shoes (Allen Edmonds) ....name dropping they cost $16.99....and then he poured alcohol on them and dropped a match on top .... I went into a total panic...He was so cool he said "I'm melting the wax boy be calm"....best shine ever....cost $1.00....

... the first time I had my shoes shine down in the basement (bathroom) of
the bus station the shine boy (that's what they were called) put and extra
heavy amount of paste on my Shoes (Allen Edmonds)... name dropping they
cost $16.99... and then he poured alcohol on them and dropped a match on
top... I went into a total panic... He was so cool he said "I'm melting the wax
boy be calm"... best shine ever... cost $1.00...
I never had them shined at the bus station. Just at Ray's Barber shop and
which ever place dad thought was worth it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEVINPATE:....It wasn't that it was just the thing to do. You tried to look your very best when you went to pick up your date. Your shoes were shined (if Shinable) or, if you had on white sneakers they were washed and bleached as white as possible. And, your belt was not a fashion statement it was just a statement. There were NO T-Shirts with any kind of sayings on them and if you could afford them ($3.99) you wore an Izod/Lacoste shirt...They call them "Alligator" shirts today.
If you didn't look half way presentable you got the opportunity to be able to talk to your date via the telephone......Daddy said "NO" not with that boy.
You were NOT allowed to wear "cut-Offs" in the Swimming pool ...only swim trunks.....Absolutely NO shorts of any kind could be worn to school and when I graduated from High school most of the girls always wore a dress or skirt. Now......you know that old lady down the street (in her early 60's)?....She was quite a fox in her day....believe it or not....ask your dad if your mom was babe or not.....remember, you'll be old and walking slow someday......My wife is in her early 60's and she still turns a lot of heads....she is still the Babe I dated 45 years ago.....

If you look at photos taken in the 1930's and even before, you will find people wearing coat and ties, camping, fishing...........

You want to return to that?

Heck! If I could find them I would still be wearing bell bottoms. Maybe even tie dyed tank tops.............

Heck! If I could find them I would still be wearing bell bottoms. Maybe even
tie dyed tank tops...
Bell bottoms? I used to buy them from the Army surplus. Te Navy bell
bottoms were big enough to hide people in.

Why don't you tie dye your own shirts? It's easy! We used to use RIT dye,
hot water and our dorm trash cans when we were in high school.

There was a very interesting short film/news reel on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) sunday night/monday morning (3:00 am). Put together by the film industry it purpose was to inform the public in an attempt to get the Federal Entertainment Tax, which only the movie theaters paid, repealed.

What was interesting was that according to the film the demise of the local movie theaters began in 1946. Why? It seems that was and still is a mystery. Of course television helped in the late 50's and after. From 1946 to 1951 the profit margin dropped from $15 million to a little over $10 million.

Interviews were conducted with the theater managers and owners. A woman who owned a theater in Lindsey had to use her husbands life insurance money to keep open. Another in Nebraska had to reduced his salary from $6,000 a year to $850 a year. These were blamed on the fed. tax. Even though attendance was dropping like a rock the tax was still in place and killing these guys. The movie industry was the only entity that had such a tax.

The business owners that were around the theaters were experiencing heavy losses because of the closing. One supermarket owner said, "Mama comes to town and drops the kids off at the movie and then does her shopping. No movie theater, Mama does not come to town anymore. She goes to another town?" Nobody window shopping at the other business while going to or from the theater.

I just find it strange that the movie theaters were a dying breed begining in 1946. We know t.v. was the later culprit but what happened prior to.

I don't get it. Please explain. Or, better yet, let the shoe-shiner and tie-wearer explain.

OK then, I will. Station Wagons were rolling beds. Hee hee, my Silver Hawk made into a red leather bed but most people didn't realize that so I was WAY ahead of the game. :bedtime: opps, wrong icon. I mean :Smiley112

I've never heard of that tax, but it's not surprising. Taxes=less spending (indirectly in this case). I don't think that killed off these theatres, but I'm sure it didn't help.

papaou, that's a very interesting bit of history you're bringing up. Any answer is probably going to be no better than anything guessed in a parlor game. But I like playing parlor games, so here's my best bet...
Consider that "talkies" got their real start with 1927's "The Jazz Singer." So you have a big popular phenomenon breaking out on the eve of the Great Depression. Consider also that movies proved to be a popular, affordable means of escape during the Depression and through the war. So what happened in 1946? We know the war ended the year before. And the country also entered into a period of economic expansion. With no further rationing of fuel, we know that Americans also hit the road and enjoyed some overdue road trips.
I wasn't alive during this time, but I've got to wonder if the hit the theaters took in 1946 was simply a matter of competing diversions.
Now, all of this being said, I need some really, really old people to tell me if my theories are close to being on target. Where's the general and Doug?
:053:

> Where's the general and Doug?

Off drinking away the sting of being called out as really, really old people?

papaou, that's a very interesting bit of history you're bringing up. Any answer is probably going to be no better than anything guessed in a parlor game. But I like playing parlor games, so here's my best bet...
Consider that "talkies" got their real start with 1927's "The Jazz Singer." So you have a big popular phenomenon breaking out on the eve of the Great Depression. Consider also that movies proved to be a popular, affordable means of escape during the Depression and through the war. So what happened in 1946? We know the war ended the year before. And the country also entered into a period of economic expansion. With no further rationing of fuel, we know that Americans also hit the road and enjoyed some overdue road trips.
I wasn't alive during this time, but I've got to wonder if the hit the theaters took in 1946 was simply a matter of competing diversions.
Now, all of this being said, I need some really, really old people to tell me if my theories are close to being on target. Where's the general and Doug?
:053:

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hey:..........I was born in 1946 and Kevin....I am old....I think????don't know about Doug but he is really old...How about you????

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hey:..........I was born in 1946 and Kevin....I am old....I think????don't know about Doug but he is really old...How about you????Regardless the causes, they were bailed out by becoming the first type of business to use air conditioning. In thousands of cases the theater would have the only air conditioner in an entire town, homes incluced. People would go JUST to cool off awhile. The flik would be a bonus.

Oh ... and Steve, I'm the old toot in the southside gang (USG '60 means I was born in '42). My problem with some issues regarding OKC history is that we didn't move here until '54, so ol' '64, Prune, and maybe a couple of others have an edge on me regarding the early '50s. But I CAN tell you some about Norman in the '40s. :tiphat:

> Where's the general and Doug?

Off drinking away the sting of being called out as really, really old people?
Can't speak for the general (he's a youngster) but you've got me nailed!

I've been diligently working on finishing up the Tower article, and I'm glad to say that it is now done (aside from the inevitable tweaks which will occur). Here's the link: Doug Dawgz Blog: The Tower Theatre (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2009/09/tower-theatre.html)

Now that that's done, it's time for me to start looking for the missing quart of strawberries and maybe some whiskey, too ... they must, and will, be found.

papaou, that's a very interesting bit of history you're bringing up. Any answer is probably going to be no better than anything guessed in a parlor game. But I like playing parlor games, so here's my best bet...
Consider that "talkies" got their real start with 1927's "The Jazz Singer." So you have a big popular phenomenon breaking out on the eve of the Great Depression. Consider also that movies proved to be a popular, affordable means of escape during the Depression and through the war. So what happened in 1946? We know the war ended the year before. And the country also entered into a period of economic expansion. With no further rationing of fuel, we know that Americans also hit the road and enjoyed some overdue road trips.
I wasn't alive during this time, but I've got to wonder if the hit the theaters took in 1946 was simply a matter of competing diversions.
Now, all of this being said, I need some really, really old people to tell me if my theories are close to being on target. Where's the general and Doug?
:053:
At 66, I'm not that old. Ask the Old Downtown Guy ... he'll know. He's really old.

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hey:..........I was born in 1946 and Kevin....I am old....I think????don't know about Doug but he is really old...How about you????
I am NOT REALLY OLD. It's just that my body parts aren't as young as my mind wants them to be.

Regardless the causes, they were bailed out by becoming the first type of business to use air conditioning. In thousands of cases the theater would have the only air conditioner in an entire town, homes incluced. People would go JUST to cool off awhile. The flik would be a bonus.

Oh ... and Steve, I'm the old toot in the southside gang (USG '60 means I was born in '42). My problem with some issues regarding OKC history is that we didn't move here until '54, so ol' '64, Prune, and maybe a couple of others have an edge on me regarding the early '50s. But I CAN tell you some about Norman in the '40s. :tiphat:

They had air conditioned theaters during the depression and into the 40's. They were not bailed-out because the numbers of theaters closing into the 50's and 60's still escalated.