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Antique stores, Barnegat through Smithville, NJ

With the beautifully temperate February weather (69 degrees, to be exact) Anthony and I spent the day exploring antiques stores, Barnegat through Smithville, NJ.  We’re hitting the road again and getting back to our roots – Driving for deco!

Bay Avenue Antiques and Antiques, Barnegat, NJ

Bay Avenue Antiques, Barnegat, NJ. Antiques is just visible. It is the white house on the right edge of the picture.

Heading south toward Barnegat, NJ, our first stop was Bay Avenue Antiques. A mix of old and new items of good variety greeted us. Prices were fair and the owner was willing to bargain with her patrons. We did contemplate purchasing a vintage Fiesta comport but decided against it. If you’re in the area, it is well worth the stop.

Across the street within viewing and walking distance was another shop. I don’t remember the name although we both believe it called Antiques. Full of curiosities, it seemed to specialize in “smalls”. The nicest thing Anthony saw was a 1948 RCA Victor TV, possibly designed by John Vossos. While the store didn’t have what we generally collect, for those of you on the hunt, it might be a place to check out.

We lunched at Doyle’s Pour House right next door to Bay Ave Antiques. Part pool hall, part restaurant, we devoured the delicious signature Pour House hamburger and enjoyed it with the beer of our choice. We will definitely go back when in the area.

Our next stop was completely unexpected and the gem of the day. Unshredded Nostalgia was not on our plan but was a real find. Just south of Bay Avenue Antiques, it is jam packed full of military, household, photographic memorabilia both still and movie related and ephemera. Greeted by piles of film canisters, the proprietor and Anthony found they had a mutual acquaintance in the film world. Although packed with narrow aisles, the store is well organized. Collectors of postcards will love the back room; magazines in another room, household in yet another. Venture upstairs and a world of film, movie and music occupies the entire space. Vintage posters, sheet music, books about stage and screen as well as star related novelties abound.

Anthony was tempted to buy several 1930 Fortune magazines but at $40 each, they were a bit out of reach, He did find set of vintage movie stars pictures – part a collection he already has – at very reasonable prices. Originals from 1934, they were sold at newsstands as an inexpensive way for people to own an 8×10 of their favorite stars. Though not easy to find, they are not an expensive collectible and are always exciting to see. As usual, I bargained the price down.

Heading further south, we stopped at the Tuckerton Emporium. Mostly candles, jewelry and modern fireplaces, you won’t get bogged down at Cedar Bog Antiques. This small corner did have antiques of the household variety.

Days of Olde Antiques, Smithville , NJ

Days Of Olde Antiques, Smithville, NJ (Photo from their website)

Our final stop of the day was Days of Olde Antiques in Smithville, NJ. A large variety of goods of varying quality and prices await within. Though there were many items of interest we didn’t make any buys. A pair of very stylish deco horse statues called to me but I resisted. I received some bad news while shopping that a vintage panther statue I inherited from my father broke while being packed. Undaunted and working through my tears, I found a replacement – charged to the estate of course!

 

It was good to get back on the road again and better to locate a gem of a store previously unknown to us. If the weather holds, we’ll be doing some more Driving for deco!

 

Hope we inspired you to get out and explore.

Chris & Anthony (the Freakin’ ‘Tiquen Guys) 

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Reference Library Update: The Great Lakes Exposition, 1936

Poster for the Great Lakes Exposition.

The Great Lakes Exposition poster.

 

This reference library update is a PDF of a souvenir picture book of this mid-1930’s world’s fair in Cleveland, Ohio in 1936 & 1937. Often overshadowed by the fairs of Chicago (1933-1934) and New York and San Francisco (1939-1940), is The Great Lakes Exposition. Cleveland was not the only city to host a world’s fair in 1936, there were also fairs in Dallas, Texas and San Diego, California.

 

I’m always seeking out world’s fair collectibles, especially the lesser well-known ones. So when I saw this souvenir book in Antiques Center at the People’s Store in Lambertville, NJ, I grabbed it. It is the only item that I have from The Great Lakes Exposition.

So travel to Cleveland and the fair by clicking on the cover of the book below and enjoy.

 

Souvenir book of the Great Lakes Exposition.

Great Lakes Exposition souvenir book. 1936.

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen Guys)

 

Earlier World’s Fair Post: New York World’s Fair Souvenirs 1939 – 1940

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Vanished New York City Art Deco: R-K-O Roxy / Center Theatre Part 3. Change of Policy, Name & Fortune.

The R-K-O Center Theatre, January, 1934.

January, 1934 – The R-K-O Roxy name changed to the R-K-O Center Theatre. 49th Street looking west toward Sixth Avenue. Samuel H. Gottshco photo, MCNY.org

Change of Policy

January, 1933

To save the failing Radio CIty Music Hall the directors of Rockefeller Center and RKO decided to shift the successful movie / stage show policy of the R-K-O Roxy to the larger theatre. This left the future of the R-K-O Roxy uncertain. Original plans for Rockefeller Center included a legitimate theatre. With no plans to build any additional theatres in the center, it seemed that the new Roxy would become that venue.

The New York Evening Post reported on January 5, 1933:

New Music Hall To Shift to Films

Movie-Stage Show Policy Will Start Wednesday-RKO-Roxy to Offer Plays

The elaborate and expensive variety show at Radio City Music Hall will close Tuesday and a combination motion picture and stage show will be substituted for it. M. H. Aylesworth, president of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, announced today. 

The smaller “intimate” RKO Roxy which seats only 3,700 persons will be transformed from a movie house into a theatre for “presentation of stage productions made by famous producers here and abroad.”

This change is being made because of the success of the RKO-Roxy, Mr. Aylesworth said, though he added that the music hall in its first week grossed $112,000. This policy change is made because the picture stage show policy established in the RKO Roxy, the other of the Radio City theatres, has been completely successful. Under the new policy the Radio City Music Hall will have four shows daily and five on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Under the new plan the first picture will be “The Bitter Tea of General Yen”, with Barbara Stanwyck. The stage show has been laid out by Roxy’s associates, who spent most of yesterday consulting with him in the hospital. 

The RKO-Roxy hereafter will be devoted to the presentation of stage productions . . .the initial attraction for the RKO-Roxy will be announced shortly. In the meantime the present show, consisting of the motion picture “The Animal Kingdom” with Roxy’s stage presentation, will continue indefinitely.

NY Herald Tribune ad announcing the Music Hall's policy change.

New York Herald-Tribune advertisement announcing the change in policy at the Radio City Music Hall. January 10, 1933.

The nervous and confused state of mind of the Rockefeller Center and R-K-O management could not have been more apparent as they tried to salvage the financial mess of the Radio City Music Hall. In less than ten days they reversed their decision to convert the R-K-O Roxy into a legitimate theatre. The theatrical newspaper Billboard reported on January 14, 1933:

The RKO Roxy will continue with its opening program despite the rumored closing, prompted by the posting of a protective closing notice. For the initial and is continuing to do excellent business. As long as similar patronage continues RKO intends to keep the current show in, which will probably be for about three more weeks. Picture is Animal Kingdom and the stage portion comprises Dave Apollon, Emile Boreo, Von Grona, Gambarelli, Willie Robyn and the singing and dancing ensembles. 

February, 1933

After its conversion to a movie stage show house it was the Music Hall’s film policy to play a new film every week. Therefore a picture doing good business at the end of its week would transfer over to the R-K-O Roxy for an extended run as shown in the advertisement below from the New York Herald-Tribune  of February 3, 1933:

 

NY Herald-Tribune Ad.

State Fair moves over the R-K-O Roxy from the Music Hall. NY Herald-Tribune, 2/3/1933

 

Samuel L. (Roxy) Rothafel had other ideas for the R-K-O Roxy. It seems he could not let the idea of a large-scale revival of vaudeville go. According to the February 21, 1933 Variety:

Roxy is reported to have worked out a straight vaudeville scheme for the RKO Roxy stage in Radio City. He has set the scale for the new policy as 40-55-75 in the morning, afternoon and evening, with one price all over the house at all times. No other entertainment other than vaudeville is intended. 

With the failure of the two-a-day vaudeville at the Radio City Music Hall, trying to sell another vaudeville policy to the R-K-O Theatre management would be difficult. A week after “Roxy’s” plan another announcement of policy changes hit the papers.

‘Kong’ Day-Date Both R.C. Houses Is No. 3 Policy for RKO Roxy

Apparently unwilling to accept Roxy’s (Rothafel) idea of spotting the RKO Roxy as a straight vaude spot, Harold B. Franklin as the directing genius of Radio City, is experimenting still further with a policy on the smaller of the two R.C. houses. Although it’s two months since R.C. opened, no permanent policy has so far been effected for the RKO Roxy.

The new idea comes with the showing of ‘King Kong’, which is slated to play simultaneously, day and date, at both the Music Hall and the RKO Roxy, beginning Thursday March, 2.

This marks the third change in policy for the RKO Roxy since Franklin’s operating committee took charge and of which he is the head. Outside of its first two weeks, which were previous to the committee’s handling, the RKO Roxy has been in the black maybe only one week.

Variety, February 28, 1933.

March, 1933

NY Herald-Tribune ad for King Kong.

KIng Kong playing at both Radio City Theatres. Advertisement from New York Herald-Tribune, March 2, 1933.

 

It did not take long to realize that two huge theatres under the same corporate umbrella and only one city block apart cannot be profitable with the same policy. So once again the new Roxy faced changes. March 14, 1933 Variety reported that Paul Whiteman and his orchestra would be kicking off a new band policy for the theatre. Starting on March 24, 1933 Albert Johnson a stage designer from the legitimate theatre would create specially produced stage shows for the R-K-O Roxy and admission prices cut to a 55 cent top on weekdays and 75 cent top on Saturday and Sundays. Russell Market’s Roxyettes (the Rockettes) would continue at the R-K-O Roxy despite the new changes. This plan would take the smaller theatre out of competition with the Radio City Music Hall.

 

But the new band policy did not start until the 31st of March and did not feature the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Unfortunately the first stage show directed by Johnson (the week of March 24th) turned out to be a huge disappointment. The review in Billboard (April 1, 1933) spelled out in detail the trouble the theatre was still in:

 

NY Herald-Tribune 03/24/1933.

New York Herald Tribune advertisement. March 24, 1933.

Albert Johnson is one of the foremost scenic designers in the world today; therefore, it was only natural that the gentlemen in charge of Radio City should immediately set him to producing a show. The result was what might have been expected by anyone but a super-showman, since scenic designing and producing differ as much as they do. The show was bad, so bad that by the time this reporter got to the house in the afternoon it had been hacked apart. Naturally, you can’t tell anything from the show as it stood when caught. It’s due to be changed; it has to be.

April, 1933

On the last day of March the new “band policy” kicked off with Horace Heidt and his orchestra. In reality it was a vaudeville layout of nine acts, some production values and a band act to wrap up the show. The Roxyettes renamed the “New Roxy Theatre Streamline Rockets” for this show proved to be as popular as ever. This show worked.

” . . . nothing like the stale and punchless presentation shows that have featured the theatre’s stage policy since the opening. If anything were needed to clinch the advantages of a vaude layout over a Roxy presentation this change of bill has furnished it.”

Billboard, April 8, 1933

 

The Roxy Varieties.

The Roxy Varieties with Horace Heidt. Starting the week of March 31, 1933. Advertisement from The New York Herald-Tribune.

 

With a successful new policy, the future of the R-K-O Roxy seemed secure. But it still did not eliminate the root of the problem. As Variety pointed out in their review on April 4th:

The new Roxy is still scaled at 75 cents, same as the Music Hall, and it’s still a picture house even under this scheme of things of ballyhooing the variety phase and billing Heidt and the stage show over the picture. And so long as both the RKO Roxy and the Radio City Music Hall offer first-run features, they’re still in direct competish, placing a further handicap on the Roxy through the same 75 cent scaling. This element is said to come from a Rockefeller mandate not to go under the six bits as a means  not to cheapen the aura of enterprises in which the Rockefellers are so vitally identified.”

The solution to the direct competition issue would be to convert the R-K-O Roxy into a second run movie theatre with a vaudeville stage show changing twice a week as proposed by the R-K-O management. But once again R-K-O gave in to the Rockefeller interests, which were insistent of keeping a high standard even if it meant the theatre would be losing money. The split week policy would have gone into effect during the last week of April. Instead R-K-O kept the first run policy for films and for the stage show put in a tab version (a condensed version of a Broadway musical) of George White’s operetta Melody.

 

Ad featuring the tab version of Melody.

Advertisement for the R-K-O Roxy featuring the “tab show” version of Melody on the stage. New York Herald-Tribune April 28, 1933.

 

May, 1933

Melody incurred one of the biggest losses the theatre had so far, just over $20,000. By early May the future policy of the theatre was still up in the air. After the closing of Melody, the stage show Tabloid moved from the Radio City Music Hall to the new Roxy. Samuel Rothafel, collapsing after the disastrous opening night at the Music Hall in December,  returned to work in early May as the managing director of the two Radio CIty Theatres. Rothafel was suggesting again to convert the R-K-O Roxy into a vaudeville house. Conferring with R-K-O management, his plan would close the theatre for a week in mid-May re-opening a week later. This new policy would consist of 15 vaudeville acts and newsreels, with four performances daily. Roxy proposed a $15,000 weekly budget for booking the acts alone. 15 acts for $15,000 proved to be impossible. To make it work a 12 act version replaced the 15 act plan. The R-K-O booking office and the NBC’s artists bureau went to work to find the acts. Variety reported on May 23rd:

12 Acts for $15,000 – Try and Get ‘Em, Sez RKO-NBC; 

R.C.’s Vaude Cold; Roxy So Far Lost 200G

After the RKO booking office and NBC’s artist bureau, combined spent two weeks in an attempt to line up a couple of 12-act shows in advance for the RKO Roxy in Radio City, the boys gave it up as a bad job and forced abandonment of a straight vaudeville grind policy for the house. Instead, the 3,700-seater in Sixth Avenue goes straight films, second run, at 40 cent top on or about May 27. With the new policy it will be known as the Radio Theatre.

Under the 12-act policy the house would have had a weekly overhead of around $42,000, inclusive of the $15,000 for the vaude. On the subsequent-run straight sound policy the house will have a weekly nut of something like $11,000, before the rent. Altogether the weekly budget may run to around $18,000 or more.

Announced in the same issue of Variety, Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel would be leaving as the manager of the R-K-O Roxy. Harold B. Franklin would take over running the theatre and place it on the regular R-K-O circuit. This latest development in policy coincided with the proposed name change for the theatre. Now the R-K-O executive committee could put in place the most economical policy for the theatre, an all film program. The new plan was announced on May 20th and reported in Billboard on the 27th:

RKO ROXY to Straight Pix

Starts May 27 – day-and-date with circuit-named Radio Theatre-flesh cold

The RKO Roxy’s straight vaude policy, which was to start May 29, was suddenly thrown to the winds early this week. The circuit’s executive cabinet decided on a new policy which will definitely start next Saturday (May 27). will use straight pictures, playing day and date with the circuit and changing twice a week (Saturdays and Wednesdays). With the new policy the name of the theatre will be changed to the Radio Theatre.

New summer policy newspaper advertisement, May 1933

Newspaper advertisement announcing the all film summer policy. New York Herald-Tribune, May 26, 1933.

The general opinion is that the new policy will have a short life, inasmuch as it is in opposition to neighborhood houses and gets pictures after the Music Hall and Palace. The house If it fails to click in a few weeks’ time, the house will probably go dark for the balance of the summer.

Also mentioned in the above article was another problem plaguing the theatre even before it opened, its name. The original Roxy Theatre did not want another theatre, especially one two blocks away, to share its name. And “Roxy” Rothafel did not want the older theatre to continue to use his nickname.

 

Change of Name

Old Roxy vs. New Roxy

By the fall of 1932, with construction of the R-K-O Roxy nearly complete, litigation over the name was in court.  In mid-December the court ruled in favor of Samuel L. Rothafel and R-K-O for the use of the name “Roxy”. The Roxy Theatre corporation, operator of the Seventh Avenue Roxy announced it would take the case to the Court of Appeals. Concurrently R-K-O and Rothafel planned to fight for a court order to restrain the Seventh Avenue theatre from displaying the name “Roxy”.

The Court of Appeals reversed the earlier court decision on the use of the Roxy name in May of 1933.

RKO Theatre Loses Right to Name of ‘Roxy’

The right to the use of the name Roxy was restored yesterday by decision of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals to the Roxy Theatre Corporation. As a result of the decision the new RKO-Roxy Theatre in Radio City loses the use of the name Roxy.

New York Herald-Tribune, May 16, 1933.

With Rothafel’s departure as manager and the court ruling in favor of the original Roxy,  a new name had to be chosen. R-K-O and the Rockefellers decided upon the unfortunate name  of Radio Theatre.  Apparently it never occurred to them that two theatres named Radio within a block of each could be very confusing. Luckily this name never went into effect.

 

In September S. L. Rothafel finally abandoned his fight to retain the use of his nickname for the R-K-O Roxy. On September 6, 1933 the New York Times reported that in the near future the theatre’s new name would be the R-K-O Center. The actual name change did not occur until mid-December, during the extended Radio City holiday run of Little Women.

 

December 21, 1933 New York Times advertisement.

New York Times advertisment announcing that the R-K-O Roxy is now the R-K-O Center Theatre. December 21, 1933

 

The Modernistic Lettering Removed and Junked from the marquee

 

The December 30, 1933 Billboard carried this small piece on the name change:

RKO Roxy Now Center

New York, Dec. 23. – Beginning next week, the RKO Roxy Theatre will be known as RKO Center. The original Roxy won the use of the name thru court action. It is understood that the original Roxy was solicited to buy the modernistic signs which will be removed from the Center, but showed no interest. They’ll be sold for junk.

The New Marquee

 

Returning to second run movies in early 1934, the theatre continued to lose money. Max Gordon bringing the spectacle operetta Waltzes From Vienna from Europe needed a large theatre to produce the show. The R-K-O Center Theatre, with its elaborate stage, that included lifts and a turntable, was the only theatre in New York capable for producing Gordon’s show. July 8, 1934 the last second run film closed in preparation for The Great Waltz (the new title of Waltzes From Vienna). When it reopened as a legitimate theater in September, the letters “R-K-O” came off the marquee. It would remain The Center Theatre until demolished twenty years later.

 

The Center Theatre in 1939.

The Center Theatre, Sixth Avenue and 49th Street, 1939.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

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“Books are AWFULLY decorative, don’t you think?”

Yes, books ARE awfully decorative. (Points to you if you can place that quote without using a search engine. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the answer later in the article.)

I don’t pretend to be a serious collector of, nor an expert about collecting books. There are plenty of wonderful and informative sites online about this subject. And books don’t need to be an ancient work to be valuable as we will see shortly.

Sure, your device can hold hundreds of books that you won’t need to dust and are easy to transport (especially on vacation). Nothing, however, beats the heft of a classic or the feel of crisp paper as you turn the page. They are equally important as paperweights, door stops, uneven table leg levelers (ok, that may be a stretch), many things your device can’t do. (Except, maybe be used as a paperweight.) And books, displayed correctly, can give the impression of being really smart.

 Let’s face it, if you were Belle in Beauty and the Beast, which would be the more impressive gift?

Or:

And now,  a brief history.

The first books were of Asian origin. Made from strips of palm leaves or strips of bark, writing was scratched into the surface. Lamp black rubbed onto the leaves or bark filled the impressions left to make them stand out. To keep the leaves flat, pieces of wood were placed on either side of the “pages”.

The wood and palm leaves would be held together by cord or leather thongs woven through holes bored through the back. These covers would be decorated with complex design with elaborate carvings and intricate inlay work of gold and silver.

Papyrus scrolls were the next iteration but are fragile by nature. Modern bookbinding began with the change from papyrus scrolls, to books made up from separate sheets of vellum (and later paper), folded and collected into sections called leaves. The leaves were placed in correct order and held together by sewing through the center fold.

To keep the leaves flat and undamaged, they were placed between wooden boards, joined together with leather wrapped round to form the type of book that today we are all familiar with.

 Source: http://rarebookbuyer.com/

However, 2 major inventions allowed books to be produced in large quantities: Paper  invented by the Chinese around 200 years BC and movable type by German printer Johann Gutenburg in 1456.

As the number of books and demand increased in the 15th Century, the occupation of printer and binder became separate. Gold-leaf was introduced from the East into Venice. Fine delicate tools for impressing the gold designs and different color leathers for onlays and inlays on the covers became the foundation for decorating bindings.

The early 16th Century became one of the finest periods in the history of decorative bookbinding. However, the high cost of producing books made them so valuable that they were often chained to the bookshelves to prevent them being stolen.

Source: http://www.waytebinding.co.uk/pr02.htm

So yes, they ARE awfully decorative!

In 1868, David McConnell Smyth patented a sewing machine designed specifically for bookbinding. Over the next 30 years, he went on to develop machines for gluing, trimming, case-making (hard covers), and casing-in. Many of his machines are still in use.

The invention uses a double-loop stitch and “a pair of curved needles acting in opposite directions, with a looper that takes the loop from one needle and delivers it over the other needle.

Source: http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/book-boom-early-bookbinding-inventions

 

Though the perfect binding was invented in 1895, it did not become popular until 1931 when the German publisher, Albatross Books, introduced the first paperback book. Penguin Books in England adopted the format in 1935 with their popular books. In America, Pocket Books started producing popular titles in 1939 paperback versions. Soon everyone was reading paperback books.

Source: http://www.powis.com/resources/learn/binding_history.php

Dust jackets first came into use in the 1800’s and were simple, unadorned paper wrappers (see below). Their original intent was to protect books bound in leather or silk from the printing house.  They were not regarded as part of the book. Essentially, they were meant to be discarded when it reached its destination. All of that changed, once publishers realized the marketing potential afforded by dust jackets.

Decorative dust jackets caught on slowly. At first design elements of the dust jacket was a small window cut in an area on the binding where the publisher had a small picture or design sewed in. Eventually, publishers abandoned the cut-out window and simply duplicated the design on the jacket.

By the turn of the century, publishers realized that these relatively plain wrappers offered plenty of space for advertising. Synopses of the book and biographies of the author started to show up around 1910, and by 1920 illustrated dust jackets were common. Source: http://www.advantagebookbinding.com/blog/ .

Each era has a style reflective of the times. The period we refer to as Art Deco was no exception.

The 1933 Savory Cocktail book has a classic deco cover and is highly collectable.

A first edition in good condition can be hundreds of dollars without a dust jacket. With a dust jacket in serviceable condition, it is worth several thousands of dollars.

A 1983’s reprint reproduced the cover exactly as the original. It is something of a collectible in its own right and valued at $25.00 – $70.00. Not bad for a book that could be found in a bargain bin for $1.00 in the mid 1980’s.

Luckily for me, my favorite author, Agatha Christie, wrote some of her books at this time. Wonderful reproductions of her (and many other’s) dust-jackets can be purchased online. The following  pictures are a sampling of reproduction dust jackets produced and available at  https://www.dustjackets.com.

 

So, as Gloria Upson said in “Auntie Mame”, “books ARE awfully decorative…”. But please, don’t be a Gloria Upson, do read them!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed,

Chris and Anthony (The Freaking’ ‘Tiquen Guys)

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