Some photos and articles of the Towne Theater. The lobby photos were taken on my last day there in 1977.
The Towne Theater. My sister worked there in the '50s and used to tell me stories about limousines pulling up to the door. It was my very first job and I worked there from 1971-1977. By the time I left they were in the third or fourth showing of the cut version of 'Deep Throat' and really terrible Dung (Kung) Foo movies! No limousines in 1977!!! Joe Reynolds was the manager and Kaye Vasos the Asst Mngr during that entire period from the '50s-'70s.
When I was stationed at Zweibrecken AB during the '80s I met a guy who said he worked recruiter support in the Federal Building on 3rd and Wisconsin. I gave him a wide-eyed look and asked "What Federal Building?" That's when he told me that entire block was leveled and they built a new office building for the guvmint. I knew from the articles my sister sent that the Towne was demolished but didn't realize the whole block was torn down. When I went home on leave sometime during the '80s that's when I saw it - DAMN! What an ugly POS they erected in its place!!!!
Towne stories/tidbits:
-One of my jobs at the Towne was to change the letters on the marquee. We had a very tall ladder. I would freak out the newbies who had to climb up there with me on the other side of the ladder (both sides had rungs) by shaking it LOL sick I know!
-filling in for the regular cleaning crew (husband and wife team) when they went on vacation
.......taking a bus downtown late at night, going in around midnight and cleaning the theater all alone SPOOKY!
.......not realizing the buses stopped running about 1AM (or 2AM? I forget) and having to WALK home
-cleaning up sailors puke starting from the top of the stairs leading all the way down to the men's bathrom ('sailors' - the sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois would come up to Milwaukee on a weekend pas and get dropped off in front of our door!)
-going to other theaters on Wisconsin Ave to get HUGE bags of pre-popped popcorn because we ran out. (the old popcorn popping machine was still down in the basement but hadn't been used in many years)
-picking up movies from the distribution warehouse down on St Paul. good grief they were heavy! LOL
-three distinct levels in the auditorium: main floor, mezzanine, and balcony
-being in the projectionist booth while 'Jaws' was playiing and seeing the audience jump in unison hahahahahaha
-Frankie the dwarf selling newspapers on the corner news stand. Nice guy!
-BTW the signage out front was hand-painted by Peter Paris. He also did hand painted portraits of Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn for 'My Fair Lady' and artwork for a host of other movies. Those picture were generally inside the alcove, left and right, just prior to entering the theater through the doors.Taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Enjoy! Opa Fritz
The Towne Theater. My sister worked there in the '50s and used to tell me stories about limousines pulling up to the door. It was my very first job and I worked there from 1971-1977. By the time I left they were in the third or fourth showing of the cut version of 'Deep Throat' and really terrible Dung (Kung) Foo movies! No limousines in 1977!!! Joe Reynolds was the manager and Kaye Vasos the Asst Mngr during that entire period from the '50s-'70s.
When I was stationed at Zweibrecken AB during the '80s I met a guy who said he worked recruiter support in the Federal Building on 3rd and Wisconsin. I gave him a wide-eyed look and asked "What Federal Building?" That's when he told me that entire block was leveled and they built a new office building for the guvmint. I knew from the articles my sister sent that the Towne was demolished but didn't realize the whole block was torn down. When I went home on leave sometime during the '80s that's when I saw it - DAMN! What an ugly POS they erected in its place!!!!
Towne stories/tidbits:
-One of my jobs at the Towne was to change the letters on the marquee. We had a very tall ladder. I would freak out the newbies who had to climb up there with me on the other side of the ladder (both sides had rungs) by shaking it LOL sick I know!
-filling in for the regular cleaning crew (husband and wife team) when they went on vacation
.......taking a bus downtown late at night, going in around midnight and cleaning the theater all alone SPOOKY!
.......not realizing the buses stopped running about 1AM (or 2AM? I forget) and having to WALK home
-cleaning up sailors puke starting from the top of the stairs leading all the way down to the men's bathrom ('sailors' - the sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois would come up to Milwaukee on a weekend pas and get dropped off in front of our door!)
-going to other theaters on Wisconsin Ave to get HUGE bags of pre-popped popcorn because we ran out. (the old popcorn popping machine was still down in the basement but hadn't been used in many years)
-picking up movies from the distribution warehouse down on St Paul. good grief they were heavy! LOL
-three distinct levels in the auditorium: main floor, mezzanine, and balcony
-being in the projectionist booth while 'Jaws' was playiing and seeing the audience jump in unison hahahahahaha
-Frankie the dwarf selling newspapers on the corner news stand. Nice guy!
-BTW the signage out front was hand-painted by Peter Paris. He also did hand painted portraits of Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn for 'My Fair Lady' and artwork for a host of other movies. Those picture were generally inside the alcove, left and right, just prior to entering the theater through the doors.Taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Enjoy! Opa Fritz
The Towne Theater 717 N. 3rd St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Notice the sign on the marquee: "COOLED BY REFRIGERATED AIR"
That sign had been removed by the time I started working there in 1971
Some close-up shots
Those pictures you see flanking the entrance and over the entrance were hand painted by a local artist Peter Paris who did many fine paintings which accompanied some of the biggest movies of the era.
"That Touch of Mink" starring Cray Grant and Doris Day came out in 1962. Look how people dressed to go see a movie back then! By 1971 the downtown area of Milwaukee was starting to decline, it was a totally diffrent story and 'relaxed casual" was the order of the day. The "Towne Fryer" restaurant to the left was closed by 1971. We had access to it from inside the lobby and the space was used for storage.
The line stretched to the corner and probably around the corner
The entrance as seen from the inside left
As you entered the lobby this hand painted mural greeted you to the left, turn your head and straight on was the concession stand'
Back in the day, popcorn was popped in a big machine in the basement and automatically fed upstairs to the concession stand (at least that's what my sister told me). By 1971 all of our popcorn was bought from a vendor, pre-popped in large bags. Sometimes we would run out and the manager would call one of the other nearby thaters to borrow some. I would then have to walk to the theater and pick up anywhere from two-to-four big bags of popcorn I would get a lot of stares and remarks by people on the street LOL
As you enter through the main doors, this was to the direct right. That door led into the box office
Again, all I had at this time was the SX-70. To get these panorama shots I ordered copies made, then cut the copies and taped them together
Entering the auditorium access area. The theater had undergone at least one major renovation which stripped away a lot of its earlier fancy, gilded appearance. By 1971 it was quite plain. To the right is the autograph wall.
The thater had three levels: main floor, mezzanine, balcony. These stairs led to the mezzanine
A better view of the autogrph wall
Alan Ladd
Ann Dvorak
Bette Davis
Charles Buddy Rogers
Mary Pickford
Charles Laughton
Dinah Shore Montgomery
George Montgomery
Gene Autry
George Raft
Greer Garson
Harold Lloyd
Harpo Marx
Groucho Marx
Chico Marx
Hedy Lamarr
James Cagney
John Garfield
Louis Hayward
Paul Muni
another shot of Paul Muni's autograph
Robert Cummings
Rosalind Russel
Susan Hayward
Vivien Leigh
Requiem for an old theater
I quit the Towne in 1977 after six years but remained friends with the manager and even helped him do some work in out-of-town theaters the company owned, but by late 1978 I was in the Air Force.
The Towne closed briefly in 1979, then opened briefly as a Christian theater, but then closed again for the final time.
The entire block was leveled to make way for an office building
( I couldn't scan the whole page at once so here it is split in two scans.)
The Reuss Federal Office Building occupies the entire block now
Courtesy: Google Street Views from 2010
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