Autumn Years Fall 2023

was held for Paterson silk-mill strikers that lived in Hackensack. (The Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 was violent and not viewed with respect in Bergen County.) The Casino Theater closed in 1915. The Star Theatre opened on Main Street in 1917 but closed only two years later. In 1917, construction for a theater on Ban ta Place began, but the company went bankrupt and new owners opened the Eureka Theatre . Rather than a piano to ac company the silent films, an electric- powered organ was installed. This theater operated until 1950. As going to the movies became the principal form of popular entertain ment, with people often attending twice a week, large theaters were constructed. Opening in 1913 was the Play House the ater at Wilsey Square, Ridgewood. This 1,000-seat theater showed feature films to large crowds (prices ranged from 10 to 20 cents). The building also contained an ice cream and confectionery store known as the Wigwam. When movies with sound became popular, a new Da Tone Sound Screen with amplifiers was

Englewood Theatre.

Play House, Ridgewood.

fore the Roaring Twenties, when films really blossomed and theaters transi tioned from Nickelodeons to “movie palaces.” This large brick theater on Westwood Avenue opened in 1919 and could seat more than 750 people. In the next decade, as the population of Bergen County and the popularity of movies in creased, the Westwood Theatre was re built (you will have to wait for Part II for that story). a The house lights are coming up, and reel one of our two-part drama has concluded. Following an intermission, we will continue exploring the history of Ber gen County movie theaters. Find out whether any movie palaces still exist. What is the oldest operating theater in the county? What theaters have survived into the digital age, and what is their future? These cliffhangers will be an swered in Part II—so return after the intermission with a fresh tub of popcorn!

Another large venue was Hacken sack’s Lyric Theatre containing 1,100 seats. It opened in 1913 and, at the time, was the best-equipped theater in Hack

ensack; but the theater did not convert to sound. Nevertheless, it

held on with live plays, events and vaude ville acts from 1928 until it closed in 1930. Around 1913, the 846-seat Engle wood Theatre opened on East Palisade Avenue and was used for movies and public events. In 1914, the president of the National Women’s Suffrage Associa tion spoke at the theater. It was reported in 1916 that operations at the theater were briefly interrupted when the “mov ing picture operator” was hit by a trolley (he recovered). The theater quietly con tinued on until 1967. The Westwood Theatre was the last theater to be built in Bergen County be

installed in 1930. The theater closed in 1932 af ter Ridgewood’s Warner Theater opened (more on that in Part II). The Play House theater faced not only competition; in ad dition, the building was deemed a firetrap due to narrow aisles and lack of exits, and addressing the problems was cost-pro hibitive.

The original Westwood Theatre.

43

FALL 2023 I AUTUMN YEARS