CINEMA SHOWPLACES
of the past : West Orange
County Goes to the Movies
Irv Lipscomb
The Beginnings
Imagining Winter Garden in the early part
of the 20 th century conjures up visions of
agriculture, poorer families struggling
to survive, dirt streets, and mama/poppa
grocery, drug and hardware stores. The
schools were primitive, trusted to teach
the necessities of life with precious little
resources. And NO AIR CONDITIONING!
Winter Garden was not a wealthy town in
this time period, and various entertainment
venues were few and far between.
sat where the building
that’s home to Pilar’s
and Axum are now
located. It is known
that this venue, named
the Winter Garden
Theatre, ran silent films
to the accompaniment
of a player reed or pipe
organ. One wonders
who would have been
content to work the
position of pumping
that instrument for
showing after showing.
Believe it or not, the
movie studios would
furnish the rolls for the
organ with the film to
be projected. They were
sent to theatres that did
not have an organist to
play “live” for the film
performance.
Enter the motion picture industry. Here
was an economical possibility to not only
entertain people but to make money,
albeit ticket prices were low. A gentleman
named Lewis L. Keneday came to town and
opened a theatre of sorts in the building
at the southwest corner of Main and Plant
Streets (now known as the Bond Building).
Well, it was located upstairs, and there is
no evidence of its ever being there, so we
can only imagine what it was like. Maybe
Collie Biggers operating a 35mm movie camera
it was only a cheap screen, with portable
seats and primitive projection equipment (much less a The Jazz Singer, Warner Brother’s 1927 first sound release,
popcorn machine), and the new-fangled motion pictures necessitated that theatres across the nation upgrade their
were silent, but it was something completely new and projection equipment. This consisted of a record player,
fascinating. The residents must have flocked to see the running at the speed of 33⅓ rpm interlocked with the
pictures, experiencing something they had never before projectors. Biggers, sure enough, purchased and installed
seen. Evidence exists that this “picture show” had at least the additional equipment. Silent movies were officially
three different names—the Winter Garden, Lyric and Star. dead. But, just a few years later, in 1935, it was all for
naught because the theatre burned and was destroyed.
Collie Biggers, a former motorcycle patrolman in Sanford, Everything but the projection equipment was destroyed.
came to town sometime in the early 1920s, and built That player organ would have been worth a fortune today.
and opened a showplace at 158 West Plant Street, which
NOVEMBER 2017
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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27