Historic Hood River
“How Could You, Jean?”
3-23-2023
Notes
The theater at 308 Oak Street had a few names, but during the patriotic era of WWI it was known as the Liberty Theater. The feature appears to be “How Could You, Jean?” an 1918 film starring Mary Pickford. The theater occupied the west half of a building next to the First National Bank Building. The other half housed a “Confectionery, Cigars and Billiards” establishment, and to the west was a grocery store.
I think the statue of liberty on top of the ticket window is a nice touch.
Arlen L Sheldrake
suggested caption……3 dudes & a dog….like the statue
L.E.
I didn’t realize the reason there were so many Liberty Theaters out there in the communities was because of the WWI Patriotic era. Makes sense.
Northeast of White Salmon there was a logging community named Liberty Bond in reference to the bonds sold during WWI.
Curious about the board above the Liberty sign. Are the holes for lights?
Hood River has done a beautiful job of beautifying their old buildings.
HOW COULD YOU JEAN? " A lost Film. Mary Pickford plays a socialite who, having lost her fortune, takes a job as a Swedish cook. She falls in love with a chauffeur who, lo and behold, is a slumming millionaire."
Casson Ferguson played the part of the millionaire.
Bill Seaton
Back in the 1940’s this theater was called the Cascadian. At that time, it only showed movies on the weekends. I saw lots of movies there, and the movies were usually Westerns featuring cowboy stars like Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Jimmy Wakely, and Roy Rogers. The theater was not as fancy as the Rialto up the street.
Diana Klochkova
We’re moving into 1002 Cascade so I’ve been doing a lot of research on the history, and I believe the original owner of that house was Charley Ross, who also opened the Confectionary, Cigars, and Billiards place. Any idea if that’s accurate?