In 1910, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “We did a lot of work for the Hamlin Avenue Theatre. This year has certainly been a busy one, and I hope we made some money.” The numerous projects mentioned by Moses in his memoirs during 1910 ranged from Sarah Bernhardt and Fred Thompson productions to Masonic scenery and Coney Island attractions. It was quite a busy year for him running the shops at Sosman & Landis.
Information about the Hamlin Avenue Theatre is scarce. There is no mention of the building in any historic theatrical guides to provide technical details about the stage or auditorium. In fact, I have only stumbled across a few opening-week advertisements for the Hamlin Avenue Theatre and a few business directory listings. The theater was located on West Madison St. Between Hamlin and 40th Avenue in Chicago. The official address of the Hamlin Avenue Theatre was 3822 W. Madison. Cinematreasures.org notes that the theater was near Garfield Park and opened as a vaudeville house in 1910 with a seating capacity of 1,200 seats. It later transitioned to a cinema and closed by 1934. In 1938, it underwent a renovation and reopened as the Alex Theatre on May 22, 1938, continuing to operate until 1976 when the space became a parking lot.
An advertisement in the Chicago “Inter Ocean” noted that the theatre opened on Monday, Oct. 31, 1910, at 7:30 P.M. Opening week included an impressive line up, promising a “Mammoth Vaudeville Bill” with 6 acts. The vaudeville acts included the Young Family, Mme. Bernice and her Performing Polar Bears, Tobey & Norman, Dorothy DeSchelle & Co., the Trocadero Four and Tom Braidford (Chicago “Inter Ocean,” 31 Oct. 1910, page 12). Ticket prices at the time ranged from 10 to 20 cents per seat.
Mme. Bernice’s act was advertised as the “Most Wonderful Animal Act in the World” (Chicago Tribune, 31 Oct. 1910, page 9). As an aside, I cannot imagine traveling any vaudeville circuit with polar bears! How did that even work for the vaudeville circuit? Polar bears traveling with a circus such as Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey are one thing, but transporting them to theaters across the country is another.
Beyond what I have mentioned above, the Chicago Public Library holds a Hamlin Avenue Theatre program in the Garfield Park Community Collection (Box 2, Folder 9). The approximate date of the program is listed as 1900-1910. That is not much to go on. If anyone is in the vicinity, however, and wants to take a peak at the original, here is the link: https://www.chipublib.org/fa-west-garfield-park-community-collection/
To be concluded….
