Treasure Chest Thursday
Family Photos (1370)
Five years ago (2018), in the Donna Darling Collection – Part 38, I looked at images from the Donna Darling Collection, #1370. In it, I mentioned a photo of Donna’s name up in lights, and I had not seen Andrew Mack in any playbills with Donna during her Bathing Girls days. This week, I thought I’d look again and see if I’ve added material that might shed light on this particular photo.
Donna started her California Bathing Girls in July 1920. The show ran until May or June of 1921.
The Evening Public Ledger and the Philadelphia Inquirer, dated October 2nd through October 8th, 1920, showed Andrew Mack and played at the Globe Theater (Market St. at Juniper) with California Bathing Beauties, including Donna Montram [sic].
Cinema Treasures indicate there were three Globe Theatres in Philadelphia:
- 1136 S 17th Street – Opened in 1914 as a movie theater and was closed in 1929. Comments for the theatre suggest the dates are incorrect, and this theatre ran until 1969 and converted to retail by 1973.
- 5901 Market Street – Opened in 1910. It closed about 1930 and reopened as an African-American theatre.
- N. Juniper Street and Market Street – It also indicates it was opened in 1914 and closed in 1929. It was demolished in 1930. Cinema Treasures has a photo of the Attractor Board of the Globe Theatre circa 1924, and it appears to be the same board as is in this photo.
Conclusion
A further review of Newspapers.com, NewspaperArchive, and Genealogy Bank failed to find another venue where Andrew Mack and the Bathing Girls played together. Additionally, because the attractor board appears identical, I am confident this photo was taken at the Globe Theatre in Philadelphia in October 1920.
