Historic Hood River
Rialto Promo Truck
12-5-2018
Notes
I like the way the Rialto Theater converted this Model T into a moving billboard promoting their shows.
It’s usually easy to date theater pictures by the marquee or the film posters, but this one is a little challenging. The only text I can read seems to say “Mermaid C…”. After I bit of research I learned of a production unit called “Mermaid Comedies” created by directors Jack White, Lloyd Hamilton, and Charlie Case in 1920. They exclusively produced comedic shorts, very few of which are known to still exist. So while we can’t date this image precisely, it must be from the early 1920’s.
Dale Nicol
"A dime any time" seems to be expensive for the time.
As a kid growing up in Gardena, Ca., in 1949, I remember the Saturday movie with cartoons, was 5 cents at the Park Theater. It opened in 1947 and is still in business today as the Gardena Cinema.
lee
I think it was in 1949, to 1951 that is stuck in my head that it was .11 cents for the movie and .14 cents at the swimming pool that could be reversed to many years.
Alan
I would imagine the Vaudeville performers wanted to get paid, so a few cents tacked onto the price of admission makes sense.
Jeff Bryant
Interesting how Vaudevil is spelled near the running board
Arthur
Good catch, Jeff. I didn’t notice that message. I zoomed in and could read the message hidden in the "Rialto" script underline. It says, "Always Good Most Times Great". That seems like a very restrained motto.
Jack Minor
In the 1940s and 1950s I remember that the Saturday matinee at the Rialto was 14¢ for kids. A quarter would get a kid a ticket, a coke, and either a candy bar or a bag of popcorn. with a penny in change. Nearly everything at the snack bar was a nickel, although some candy bars were a dime. The Cascadian theater featured kid oriented movies (usually westerns) on the weekends, while the Rialto featured mainstream fare. Baines McSwain operated both theaters during those years, and the “new” drive-in theater, as well. The swimming pool was 12¢.
Arthur Babitz
Thanks for the memory, Jack. I remember Bill Pattison talking about “Baines McSwain” too. I guess he bought the theaters from Art Kolstad. I miss the drive in. The last movie I saw there was “The Matrix” which I’ll admit was tough at the drive in. It wasn’t dark enough when it started, and there are so many scenes in dark places that were difficult to see.