Today, nearly everyone in Boone remembers the Appalachian Theatre, but few recall its immediate predecessor, the Pastime Theatre. The Pastime opened in 1924 and was the only movie theater in town for 14 years. Like all early theaters in the late silent and early talkie eras, it featured not only films, but live performances both amateur and professional. Seating around 400 with a balcony, initial skepticism that such a large theater would be successful in a small town like Boone was quickly overcome. In fact, the Pastime was so successful that in the late 1930s owners Ralph Winkler and Art Hamby planned and then built a larger show house a few blocks east on King Street: the Appalachian Theatre. 

After the Appalachian was completed in 1938, the Pastime became a B-movie house. Relegated to cheaper films, mostly Westerns, its schedule was gradually cut back to weekends, then occasional shows, and finally the theater closed in 1958. Two years later, the building was gutted and converted into office space as the Professional Building. It exists today, but nearly all remnants of its former life as a theater have been erased.

The following is the first full account of the Pastime Theatre from its origins to the present . . .

Boone's First Movie Theater

The location of the Pastime can be seen on the following map which recreates Boone in the spring of 1924:

Although today surrounded by other structures, the Pastime was originally built on its own. Ground was broken in January 1924 ". . . on the lot west of the old Blair Hotel and adjoining the property of Mr. W.L. Bryan" (Watauga Democrat 1/3/1924, p. 5). The Blair Hotel, located just east of the Pastime, had been torn down by the time construction began on the theater that spring. The theater building was planned at a depth of 100' from King Street and would cost around $15,000. To the west of the building was the small Bryan Cottage; across the alley to the west of the cottage was the Bryan House itself. The Bryan cottage was torn down after the Theatre had been completed (Watauga Democrat 8/27/1925, p. 5).

Just two years later in 1926 the theater site would have looked radically different. To the west, the Goodnight-Hamby buildings had replaced the old cottage and to the east the Linney block of four storefronts formed a continuous front with the Pastime:

For reference, the maps also show the second (1875) courthouse, as well as the then relatively new third (1905) courthouse. By 1924, the second courthouse had been converted to a store, with a flat roof replacing its original gabled one (for more on this building, see The Second (1875) Watauga County Courthouse: A Preliminary Study). The second courthouse/store building was torn down in 1962; the third courthouse was replaced by the current one in the same location in 1966. The early courthouses are shown because that is where the story of the Pastime, or originally, the Dixie Theatre, begins . . .

The Dixie Theatre (in the Courthouse), 1922-1924

The first known reference to a projected movie in Boone comes from March 1905:

Prof. Wallin, of Trade, Tenn., gave an entertainment at the court house on Tuesday night, the proceeds to be applied to the new Presbyterian church at Trade. He had quite a nice crowd and the moving pictures exhibited were much enjoyed by the children, and older ones, too. (Watauga Democrat, 3/9/1905, p. 3)

It would be easy to assume that this notice refers to the third courthouse, often cited as the 1904 or even 1903 courthouse. This is incorrect. Planning for the new courthouse began in 1903, actual construction in 1904, but the building was not ready for occupancy until the early summer of 1905. So Prof. Wallin's show would have taken place in the 1875 courthouse.

Once the new courthouse opened in 1905, it was used for a wide variety of purposes, not all of which were court related. County singings by church groups were held in the main second-floor courtroom, as were occasional live traveling shows, local fiddlers' contests, and motion picture shows. Such use of a courthouse was not at all uncommon at the time: the building was a public one, seated upwards of 400 people including a balcony, and was centrally located and known to everyone in town. Live shows were held there well into the 1930s. 

But the courtroom was less than ideal as a film venue: the seats were relatively uncomfortable for longer periods of time, the lighting was poor with windows along each side of the room, and the building was obviously not available at all times, especially during the various court weeks. Nevertheless, a number of locals attempted to run picture shows in the courtroom on a weekly basis beginning in 1919. One of these was Ralph Winkler (1900-1997):

The moving picture business in Boone has again changed ownership, Mr. Ellis having sold it to Messrs. James Moore and Ralph Winkler, who can be depended upon to conduct an entirely decent and up-to-date moving picture business. Show on Wednesday and Saturday nights of each week in the court room. (Watauga Democrat 8/12/1920, p. 3)

Moore and Winkler continued to show movies in the summer of 1921, but sold out in May of 1922. Interestingly, the courtroom venue acquired the name Appalachian Theatre later that year under new owners. In February 1923 Winkler returned to show business with the man that would act as his business partner for more than two decades: Arthur Hamby (1889-1945).

Ironically, although Hamby and Winkler are today synonymous with the Appalachian Theatre, when they took over the old movie show at the courthouse of the same name, they immediately changed it:

MOVIE SHOW AGAIN CHANGES OWNERSHIP

Messrs. Arthur E. Hamby and W. Ralph Winkler have bought the Appalachian Theatre outfit and the name of the house of entertainment has been changed to the Dixie Theatre.

It is the purpose of the new management to put on the silver screen the very late and costly releases of the foremost producers, and their enterprise should be favored for really some good diversion is beneficial to all. The court room will be used until more commodious quarters are available. (Watauga Democrat 2/15/1923, p. 5)

Relatively few ads follow from 1923, but by 1924 larger plans were in the works:

Messrs. Arthur Hamby and W.R. Winkler are excavating for a new theatre building on the lot west of the old Blair Hotel and adjoining the property of Mr. W.L. Bryan. The building will have a depth of 100 feet and will be altogether modern. The estimated cost, we understand is around $15,000. (Watauga Democrat 1/3/1924, p. 5)

This lot is on West King Street located on the map above. Initially, Hamby and Winkler referred to the new theater by the existing name of their old courthouse show:

Contractor Will Hodges has begun pouring concrete for the foundation of the Dixie Theater building and will with a good force of masons be laying the brick in the walls. (Watauga Democrat 4/24/1924, p. 5)

From Dixie to Pastime Theatre, 1924

By June of 1924, Hamby and Winkler's new theater across from the old courthouse on King Street seemed nearly complete, with this grandiose description from that summer:

DIXIE THEATER BUILDING WILL BE BEST IN THIS SECTION

Work is going rapidly forward on the new theater building. The metal ceiling has been put up, and Contractor Knapp has it already decorated in panel and blend decorations. The walls will be laid off in relief and stencils with a dado at bottom of walls of cane stone. The woodwork is to be finished in natural mahogany to correspond with the mahogany seats of that wood which are expected to arrive soon. Knapp will complete the entire job, and from the appearance of the first few days work he has put in, the finished thing will really be a super-product. It would be worth your while to drop in and see the decorations thus far completed, as only by seeing can the harmony of the blends be appreciated. It is freely predicted that when complete the theater will be one of the finest in western North Carolina. The management is sparing nothing that would add to its attractiveness, and expect to put out the best shows procurable.  (Watauga Democrat 7/24/1924, p. 1)

Surprisingly, there appeared to have been no grand opening or major publicity when the Dixie started shows that fall. The first notice mentions the theater only in passing:

Mr. M.L. Tremain of Winston-Salem, State Deputy for the Modern Woodmen of America, who recently had organized a strong camp in Boone, was here yesterday, and last night put on a free movie show at the Dixie Theater which was thoroughly enjoyed. . . . (Watauga Democrat 11/13/1924, p. 4)

Whether or not unadvertised films were being shown during this period is unknown; no further notice in the papers occurs until later the same month, when a touring musical group makes its appearance in the new theater (Watauga Democrat 11/27/1924, p. 4):

The Pastime was, of course, a silent-movie theater. Accompanimental music would have been provided on most occasions by a player piano, as this later notice implies:

The new combination pipe organ and piano has been installed at the Pastime Theater and showgoers are delighted in the improvement in the music. The regular player piano which has been used since the opening of the theater will be used at the Carolina Theater, West Jefferson, which is also operated by Messrs. Hamby and Winkler. The new equipment is identical with that being used in the large show houses. The piano or organ may be operated either by hand or mechanically, separately or conjointly. (emphasis added; Watauga Democrat 4/26/1928, p. 4)

When played mechanically, it necessarily limited the appropriateness of the music to the film being shown, although one imagines a selections of rolls with tunes appropriate to a particular type of film. More details on the new piano/organ from 1928 can be gleaned from a slightly earlier notice:

PIANO AND PIPE ORGAN UNIT FOR THE PASTIME THEATRE.

Messrs. W.R. Winkler and A.E. Hamby, owners of the Pastime Theatre, have returned from Charlotte where they placed an order for one of the new Seeburg combination piano and pipe organ. The machine was ordered from Charlotte by wire on Monday and is to be installed within a period of ten to fifteen days. The instrument is of the very latest design and is employed in many show houses in the larger cities of the country. The owners of the local theatre are to be congratulated upon their efforts to keep a little ahead of the demands of the showgoers of this section. (Watauga Democrat 4/12/1928, p. 1)

Again, the automation of the organ could have resulted in music wildly inappropriate to what was being shown on the screen. No names of musicians hired to actually play the piano at the Pastime on a regular basis have yet been found.

The films shown at the Pastime were typical of those shown in other small towns in the 1920s. The graph below shows a breakdown by genre of the silent films shown at the Pastime. The genres are not exclusively applied to individual films--many films are listed in more than one genre. Nevertheless, the overall trend of a heavy dose of dramas and Westerns, along with with comedies and romances, can clearly be seen:

This chart includes silent films advertised at the Pastime from 1925 to 1932, by which time the large majority of films being shown had sound. "Other" includes genres with less than 5% of the total films in such categories as crime, war, history, thrillers, and mysteries.

Not surprisingly, Western stars make up the bulk of the Pastime silent-era showings, here listed by the number of individual films by the top 10 stars:

Top Ten Stars by Number of Films Shown at the Pastime Theatre (Silent Era only)

• • • • Bob Custer  22

      • Fred Thomson 22

      • Tom Mix 22

      • Tom Tyler 21

      • Evelyn Brent 20

      • Jack Hoxie 20

      • Buck Jones 17

      • Ken Maynard 17

      • Jack Holt 16

      • Hoot Gibson 15

Nine of the top ten are male Western stars. Evelyn Brent stands out as an actress in a few Westerns, but also more typical dramas of the day such as My Husband's Wives (1924), Forbidden Cargo (1925), and The Mating Call (1928). 

Around 70% of the 856 silent films known to be shown at the Pastime no longer exist. Unlike more recent times, theaters in the 1920s and well after would change films nearly every night. Usually between 4 and 6 different films, sometimes more, were shown in a week. Special shows might repeat for two or, rarely, three nights. An average week from August 1927, chosen at random but with a major surviving film leading off the week, gives us some idea of what Boone filmgoers were seeing:

8/15/1927 Mon  The Big Parade (1925) with John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth

8/16/1927 Tue  The Big Parade

8/17/1927 Wed  Watch Your Wife (1926) with Virginia Valli, Pat O'Malley, Nat Carr

8/18/1927 Thu  Knockout Reilly (1927) with Richard Dix, Mary Brian, Jack Renault

8/19/1927 Fri  The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926) with Tom Mix, Tony the Horse, Dorothy Dwan, 

8/20/1927 Sat  The Great K & A Train Robbery

[*Note that the Pastime was not open on Sundays; local municipal code prohibited commercial film exhibition on Sundays until April 1954.]

King Vidor's World War I drama The Big Parade leads off the week with a two-day run. The ad states that the film was "Direct from a two-year run in New York City. Because of the extra cost attached to this super picture, we are forced to charge an admission of 25c and 50c." (Watauga Democrat  8/11/1927, p. 4). The more typical price of admission at this time would be 15 cents for children and 35 cents for adults. Wednesday nights often featured films that catered to women or at least featured women stars, such as the comedy-drama Watch Your Wife with Virginia Valli. Fridays and especially Saturdays were reserved for Westerns, as the Tom Mix film shows. Such shows would have appealed especially to youngsters crowding the theater on Saturday matinees.

There is no clear-cut date for the end of the silent era at the Pastime; rather, sound films were gradually mixed in beginning in the fall of 1929 and into 1930. An occasional silent film can still occur afterwards, such as Charlie Chaplin's classic, City Lights (1931) which played at the Pastime on 9 October 1931 or a free showing of Douglas Fairbanks' Robin Hood (1922) on 16 June 1932. 

Early Images of the Pastime Theatre

Clearer photos of the theater entrance can be seen briefly in Herbert Lee Waters (1902–1997) "hometown" movie of Boone. This film has been known for some time, but until my research on the Pastime it was incorrectly dated to 1938 or 1939. Close scrutiny of the local newspaper showed that ads for the upcoming filming occurred in late October and the film was actually premiered at the Pastime on 2 November 1936:

Movies of Local People To Be Shown at Pastime.

Care to find out what you'd look like in the movies? That opportunity will be presented to a number of people of Boone and the county at the Pastime Theatre here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, November 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.

For several days H. Lee Waters of Lexington, a movie cameraman, has been in Boone employed by the management of the Pastime Theatre to make motion pictures of Boone people as they went about their work, hobby or recreation, as the case might be. These pictures will be shown for four days.

In addition to the "local movies," the program for the four big days at the Pastime will feature headline productions, such as "Suzy," with Jean Harlow; "Captain Kidd," with Guy Kibbee and Sybil Jason, and "The Bride Walks Out," with Barbara Stanwyck. (Watauga Democrat 10/29/1936, p. 1)

A copy of this film is available online. While certainly not a film of any cinematic value, Waters recorded people and places that are otherwise known only in still photographs or were not photographed at all. While the images of the entrance to the Pastime Theatre are fleeting, they are the only good images of the theater during its heyday as Boone's premier film venue. Three stills from the film are presented here:

Two of the three brick archways can be seen in the first photo (upper left), as well as a Cafe sign for the business immediately west of the theater. In the second photo of a woman exiting the lobby area, one can see children and others inside the open archway. The final freeze frame shows a sandwich board in the lobby as well as the window of Walker's Jewelry Store, next to the Pastime to the east. Again, note that there is no evidence of a marquee in any of the shots.

Two years later, we have one more passing shot of the theater in the famous construction photo for the new Post Office in Boone. The Pastime can be seen almost out-of-frame to the far upper right:

Two of the three brick arches can clearly be seen, as well as the rounded arch on the roof.

The Arrival of Sound

Winkler and Hamby enlisted Vitaphone to bring sound to the Pastime in the autumn of 1929:

TALKING PICTURES AT LOCAL THEATRE 

Pastime Theatre Installs New Mechanical Equipment Throughout, Including Vitaphone; First Talkie Will Be Exhibited Next Week.

There were no shows at the Pastime Theatre during a part of last week, the management having been busily engaged in installing the latest and most modern projecting equipment to be had, including the Vitaphone, and Messrs. Hamby and Winkler announce Boone's first all-talking picture for next week, when Warner Brothers will present Al Jolson, the incomparable, in "The Singing Fool."

For a long time the local theatre has contemplated equipping for the "talkies" and now that the machine is in place the management is not yet satisfied, and accordingly are replacing both projecting machines with new ones of the latest type, and promise the theatre-goers of this section as good pictures as can be had. A machine has been installed for the purpose of transforming the current from alternating to direct, which eliminates the 'flicker' heretofore experienced, and theatres in the largest cities will be unable to screen a more perfect picture than will be enjoyed in Boone.

In bringing the Vitaphone to this city, the Pastime Theatre has rendered an unusual service to the show-goers of this section, in view of the fact that the talkies are as yet generally confined to towns much larger than Boone. The reporter was privileged to see and hear the first reel run when the machine was tried out, and the picture was as good and the sound as perfect and well-synchronized as in the shows attended in the large cities.

The opening picture is perhaps the most popular release of Warner Brothers and has met with widespread approval. A three day run has been arranged for next week, starting Thursday. (Watauga Democrat 9/26/1929, p. 1)

The following ad capitalizes on Al Jolson's star appeal in the late 1920s (Watauga Democrat 9/26/1929, p. 4):

The switch to the new technology was not entirely smooth, however. Problems with Vitaphone's sound-on-disc technology have been well detailed--and probably exaggerated--in film history and popular media (for example, in the film, Singin' in the Rain from 1952). It is true that synchronization of sound and film was an occasional problem with early sound-on-disc mechanisms, but by 1929 most of the problems had been fairly well resolved. The Pastime came very late into the sound film process, as did most smaller theaters in the region, so by that time, sound-on-film technology was clearly winning the war and the best new films used this process, pioneered primarily by Western Electric.

Less than two years later, Hamby and Winkler were forced to switch to the new sound system:

PASTIME THEATRE WILL INSTALL NEW SOUND EQUIPMENT 

Technical Engineer for Western Electric Company Arrives in City and Begins Work of Installation. Same Type as that Used by Metropolitan Show Houses. No Interruption in Programs. Ready Next Monday.

Mr. N.L. Mower, technical engineer for the Western Electric Company, arrived in the city Tuesday afternoon and is now engaged in the installation of the latest sound equipment at the Pastime Theatre, to take the place of the older machines which were not particularly adapted to the building. If work goes forward as satisfactorily as is expected, the new machinery will be in operation for the regular programs next Monday. Installation of the new equipment, however, it is explained, does not interfere at all with the regular screen programs and there will be no interruptions.

The local theatre has taken a decidedly forward step in securing for their patrons the Western Electric sound units. It is known as the most expensive equipment in the world, and the Boone playhouse is the only one employing it between Winston-Salem and Bristol. The identical [type] of equipment is used at Roxy's, the Paramount and Loew's Capital, the three greatest New York theatres, and the Pastime Theatre will be producing just as good sound as is enjoyed in the Metropolis. 

Under the arrangement made with Mr. Hamby, the machinery will be thoroughly adjusted by Mr. Mower, and a service man will make weekly visits of inspection, going over the equipment and insuring perfect service. Thus local theatre goers will enjoy the latest films and be assured of perfect sound reception. (Watauga Democrat 7/16/1931, p. 1)

The Western Electric sound system would come to dominate films shown at the Pastime in the 1930s, with RCA sound systems (also sound-on-film) running a distant second:

These numbers were for feature films only. Like all movie theaters from this period, the Pastime showed a wide variety of shorts: cartoons, one-reel comedies, newsreels, weekly action serials, and other types of films running up to around 20 minutes in length. Unlike most theaters of the day, however, shorts are rarely mentioned in Pastime ads; the bulk of ads from the 1930s contain only references to the feature films. The one exception would be the weekly serials.

Running from 12 to 15 chapters, the first advertised serial at the Pastime is Buster Crabbe's Tarzan the Fearless (1933), which begins on 24 January 1934 and continues on Wednesdays into April. Another Wednesday serial is Pirate Treasure (1934), beginning 19 September 1934. By 1937, Saturday became a more typical day for a serial run and Westerns became the favored genre. Gene Autry's The Phantom Empire (1935), The Lone Ranger (1938), and Zorro Rides Again (1937) all played for consecutive Saturday runs in 1937, 1938, and 1939 respectively. Many of these serials were to enjoy renewed popularity with the coming of television in the 1950s . . .

After the Appalachian: 1938-1942

Hamby and Winkler opened the new Appalachian Theatre further east on King Street in November 1938. By that time, both the Appalachian and the Pastime had been leased to the A.F. Sams Company of Winston-Salem and Statesville: "The Appalachian Theatre, Boone's newly-completed showhouse, will be opened to the public next Monday, according to announcement made by Mr. A. Fuller Sams, Jr., of Winston-Salem and Statesville, who has negotiated a 15-year lease with the owners, Messrs. A.E. Hamby and W.R. Winkler of Boone . . . The new management has also leased from Messrs. Hamby and Winkler the Pastime Theatre, and will operate both houses." (Watauga Democrat 11/10/1938, p. 1). 

The Pastime was thus relegated to Boone's B-movie house, catering especially to children with Westerns and action serials. Obviously, the big new films came to the Appalachian first. When the Pastime was the only show in town, the average film there showed 167 days--about 5 1/2 months--after the national release; typical of a small town theater. After the Appalachian Theatre opened in November 1938, however, the average skyrockets to 764 days--slightly over 2 years after national release. Older, cheaper films were the norm for the rest of the Pastime's existence.

Having two theaters in town was an obvious advantage, not just as an additional source of revenue, but in order to cater to groups marginalized in the new theater. One obvious group was children. As mentioned above, the shows at the Pastime from 1938 on catered to children and, later, teenagers. Another group marginalized in early Southern society were African Americans. In a thesis written for the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina entitle Negro Life in Watauga County (1942), author Frazier Robert Horton commented that: "There are three theaters in the County. Two of them are in Boone and one in Blowing Rock. One of the theaters at Boone does not admit Negroes. It has been rumored that provisions are being made whereby colored people may attend. The other two theaters have balcony space for colored people." (p. 31) The theater in Blowing Rock would have been the Yonahlossee; those in Boone the Pastime and the Appalachian. Although it is not specifically stated by Horton or in the newspapers, oral history indicates that only the Pastime allowed African-Americans into a balcony area at this time (1942). 

There is occasional confusion that the Pastime was thus the "colored" or African-American theater in Boone, but this is only partially true and misleading. It was clearly operated primarily for a white audience with admission into the balcony area for African-American patrons. This would have been typical in Southern towns in the region at the time: not only were theaters segregated, but restaurants, churches, and, of course, schools were divided by race, according to state and local laws. As Horton implies, the Appalachian was eventually to dedicate a portion of the balcony to African-Americans as the Pastime and Yonahlossee had already done. 

With rationing and travel restrictions, the Sams Company closed the Pastime in September 1942, focusing all of their efforts on the larger and newer Appalachian Theatre. The seasons for the Pastime during these years can be summarized as follows, based solely on ads from the newspaper:

• • 1939: open January-February, June-October, December (mostly weekends, F-Sa)

  • 1940: open June-August on Saturdays only

  • 1941: open June-September mainly on Saturdays

  • 1942: open June-September on weekends

  • 1943-1945: closed

One wonders if the heating was a problem at the Pastime, leading to the seasonal openings from 1940-1942. It is always possible that there were shows that were unadvertised, but the next notice about the Pastime indicates that it had indeed been closed for several years . . .

Final Years: 1946-1958

Arthur Hamby, Sr. died on 11 December 1945 and the ownership of the Pastime reverted to his son, Arthur Hamby, Jr. (1918-1972). In April of 1946, the Sams Company appointed  the younger Hamby as manager of the Pastime, and began updating the building. The first improvement involved Celotex acoustic tile for the interior, to improve the sound. Other changes at this time included the addition of a marquee, new light fixtures, wider aisles, and fresh paint (Watauga Democrat 4/11/1946, p. 1). 

From 1946 through 1949, the Pastime was opened almost exclusively in the summer, with a season running roughly from mid-June to September. Again, perhaps the heating in the building was inadequate or too expensive for a full season. For periods of time, it opened only on weekends. A recently discovered photo by Paul Weston shows the Pastime during this period. It features the Watauga County Centennial parade in July 1949, with the theater as an incidental backdrop:

This photo demonstrates that although the three brick archways of the original theater remain, a marquee has been added to the front of the building, obscuring the tops of the arches. The marquee appears to display only the name of the theater on two of its three sides, without any information about the films being shown. It also appears that the brick front has been painted white or a lighter color. 

A date of 9 July 1949 can be given to this photo by the parade itself and the beards of the participants--one of the many contests for the week-long event--as well as the movie poster at the Pastime in the background, seen here in a detail compared to an image of the original poster:

Tim Holt's Wild Horse Mesa (1947) played at the Pastime on the evening of 9 July 1949 (Watauga Democrat 7/7/1949, p. 5), lining up perfectly with the parade date and the photo.

By late 1949/early 1950, the managers of the Appalachian and Pastime were occasionally coordinating shows, running films as matinees at the newer theater and transferring the film to the evening show at the older one. Quite often, these are films that would appeal to a younger audience, such as Westerns and other action films. This was the plan for the fateful day of 21 January 1950 (Watauga Democrat 1/19/1950, p. 7):

This matinee program was held in the morning at the Appalachian Theatre, but came to a sudden end when a fire broke out and caused severe damage to the building. Theater staff calmly and professionally escorted the audience--mostly children--from the building and miraculously no one was injured, but the large new venue was out of of commission. The same show continued at the Pastime without incident that evening and, suddenly, the Pastime Theatre was Boone's only show house once again. From the evening of 21 January 1950 until the Appalachian reopened on May 8th, the Pastime ran the Monday-Saturday shows that would have shown at the Appalachian. 

During this period of more than three months, the Pastime featured the first Boone showings of several major films, including:

• • The Fighting Kentuckian (1949), starring John Wayne

  • Twelve O'Clock High (1950), starring Gregory Peck

  • Chain Lightning (1950), starring Humphrey Bogart

  • Cinderella (1950), by Walt Disney Productions

  • Stage Fright (1950), directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The May 8th reopening of the Appalachian Theatre was celebrated in the local press, but it wasn't the only theater opening for that month: on May 12th, Art Hamby, Jr. opened Boone's first drive-in movie theater, the Sky-Vu. The Sky-Vu Drive-In was located on Meadowview Drive south of town (now the Bavarian Village Apartments). The Sky-Vu stayed opened, primarily on weekends in the colder weather and for the full week in warmer weather, until ads disappear after May 1967. Note that since it was on the outskirts of town, municipal blue laws did not apply: the Sky-Vu was open on Sundays from the start, years before either the Appalachian or Pastime had Sunday shows in the town of Boone, beginning in April 1954.

After the Appalachian reopened in May, there are only occasional ads for shows at the Pastime through August. Then the theater was returned to its normal weekend-only run through November. Whether the theater was closed for the winter of 1950-1951 is not known for certain, but it appears to have remained closed until warmer weather arrived in June 1951. Then, the same pattern emerges as in the late 1940s: the Pastime is opened primarily on weekends in the warmer months, catering mainly to children. 

The 1952 season opens on 7 June, and It is from this time that another surviving photograph of the Pastime Theatre was made, this time by Palmer Blair:

This view shows the Pastime looking from the opposite direction of the Weston photo discussed above, and also gives a nearly complete shot of the facade with the second story windows. The sign in the central archway advertises "SHOWS EACH SATURDAY NIGHT" indicating that the theater had opened for the summer. Only one ad (Watauga Democrat 6/5/1952, p. 3) is available for the Pastime that year: Roy Rogers' Heart of the Rockies (1951) was paired with the 12-part serial, Desperadoes of the West (1950). If the full-run of the serial was shown, it would have ended the season on 23 August; but again, no other feature films are advertised that summer. 

In 1954, Hamby Jr. appears to have tried to reinvigorate his downtown "hard top" theater, while continuing his drive-in (Watauga Democrat 4/8/1954, p. 2): 

Movies like "Zombies of the Stratosphere" appealed to the large new teenage audience. Editor Rob Rivers celebrated the reopening and waxed nostalgic on the history of the venue:

KING STREET BY ROB RIVERS

OLD SHOW HOUSE REOPENS

The Pastime Theatre, Boone's first movie house, has been reopened by a son of its founder, A.E. Hamby, Jr., . . . The uptown theater has been fully remodeled and redecorated, and the improvement adds greatly to the sightliness of the block . . . Built when the movie show business outgrew its quarters in the courtroom, the Pastime was the only entertainment to be found in the locality for many years, and many of the citizens of the town saw their first movies there . . . The Pastime witnessed the demise of the silent films and the advent of the talkies, and was a center of community life . . . It looks like old times for the pioneer showhouse to be in business again! (Watauga Democrat 4/15/1954, p. 1)

But the optimism was short-lived. The 1954 season appears to have been a discouraging one; ads run through September and then begin again in December and the following January. There are no ads for the spring or summer of 1955.

By October 1955, Eugene Crisp had taken over as the new manager, but there is only one film exhibition related to his name (Watauga Democrat 10/13/1955, p. 8):

This unnamed "free movie" is the last advertised film at the Pastime Theatre. By the late 1950s, the theater appears to sit vacant for months at a time, with only an occasional live show. Some complained that it had become an eyesore, an outdated remnant of an earlier period. 

The following represents advertised films at the Pastime beginning at its reopening following the War and continuing through its final years:

• • 1946: films advertised daily June-October

  • 1947: June-August on Saturdays only

  • 1948: June-August daily and then Saturdays only from mid-August-September

  • 1949: June-December mainly on Saturdays, with occasional weekday shows

  • 1950: January-May daily as the Appalachian Theatre was being repaired from the fire; open weekends afterwards until November

  • 1951: June-August on Saturdays only

  • 1952: June-August? on Saturdays only

  • 1953: no advertised films

  • 1954: April-September and then December on weekends only

  • 1955: January on weekends only; one show in October

  • 1956-1958: no advertised films

While the showing of films dwindled to nothing at the end of the 1950s, there were some occasional live shows from this period . . .

Live Shows at the Pastime Theatre: 1924-1958

Like most film theaters, the Pastime had occasional live performances on its stage through the years. The bulk of these shows come from the silent era, when it was the only theater in town, but there is also a brief spurt in the post-War era and a handful of shows that close out the theater's existence:

The Pastime featured a wide range of live entertainment, from traditional vaudeville to plays to popular music. The most common type of popular music by far was early country or, as it was usually called in the day, "hillbilly music." Nationally known stars begin in the 1920s with Al Hopkins and the Hill Billies, and continue into the 1930s and late 1940s with Kirk McGee, Flatt and Scruggs, David "Stringbean" Akeman, the Stanley Brothers (Carter and Ralph) and possibly Doc Watson.

Before the opening of the Appalachian Theatre in late 1938, the Pastime featured a variety of entertainment. In addition to country performers, standard vaudeville variety shows with singers, dancers, magicians, acrobats, etc. make up the next largest category with 8. There are 4 plays and fiddlers' conventions in 1925 and 1927. The "Other" category includes a fashion show, a live radio show, and a political speech:

After the opening of the Appalachian Theatre, many of the bigger shows wound up moved down King Street, but there are still more than a few shows featuring nationally known country music stars or local groups, by far the largest majority of live shows through 1958. There is one more fiddlers' convention in 1941, a steam engine exhibition, and even 2 professional wrestling matches.

The 1941 fiddlers' convention was clearly advertised at the Pastime, although some recall it taking place at the courthouse (Watauga Democrat 7/3/1941, op. 8):

It might be that the event outdrew the size of the venue and was moved up to the Courthouse, which held more than twice as many people. In either case, this is the convention in which Appalachian State professor Amos Abrams recorded the young Doc Watson for the first time. 

In May of 1955 an exhibition of "girl" wrestlers arrived, including "Hillbilly Kate . . . The Only One-Arm Girl Wrestler" (Watauga Democrat 5/19/1955 p. 3):

Note that the photo in the ad above is of Violet Ray; no good images of Kate have been found. How wrestling, which was normally viewed from a central ring with the audience completely surrounding it, worked on the stage of a theater with the audience on one side only, is not known; it was not entirely uncommon in the early days of both wrestling and boxing, however. How the one-armed "Hillbilly Kate" managed to wrestle successfully is an entirely different question . . .

Two late photos from the Palmer Blair Collection show an unadvertised country music show from 1957. The first image shows a group of six men including string bass, two electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, an electric steel guitar, and one gentleman without an instrument, serving possibly as an emcee:

The steel guitar certainly indicates a country and Western band, although by 1957, a rockabilly number or two would not have been out of the question. Note that the stage is relatively small, although it can still accommodate the whole group.

The next image shows a more traditional acoustic band of string bass, fiddle, 5-string banjo, and guitar. Some members of the band have been identified as locals:

The backdrop in both images was clearly designed for a live show; the screen for films would have been quite a bit larger than this. Since the last known film shown at the Pastime had occurred two years earlier in 1955, perhaps the theater had been converted to live performances only and had been stripped of the equipment to project films.

If the date of 1957 is correct, there was no show advertised at the Pastime that year. However, what would have been a very similar show occurred in June 1958 (Watauga Democrat 5/8/1958, p. 6):

By this time, the stream of films had dried up and there was little revenue left in small-time music shows and wrestling matches. The next step was inevitable: conversion of the building to non-theatrical purposes . . .

The End: 1959

Aside from the disappearance of ads, the first real sign that the Pastime Theatre had reached an end was the sale of seats (Watauga Democrat 11/12/1959, p. B-2):

A week later, a small front-page notice gives the reason for the sale:

Pastime Theatre To Be Modern Office Building

Mr. L.E. Dimmette, President of Dimmette Realty Corporation of Lenoir, announces the purchase of the Pastime Theatre building in Boone by his corporation.

Extensive remodeling operations are now in progress on the building, which is being converted into what will be known as the Professional Building. It will contain suites of modern offices, most of which have been spoken for. . . . (Watauga Democrat 11/19/1959, p. 1)

Rob Rivers' "King Street" column summarizes its history, as well as giving an overview of much of the early film history of Boone, from someone who had live it:

The Old Theatre . . A New Addition

The old Pastime Theatre is being rebuilt by Mr. L.E. Dimmete, of Lenoir, its new owner, into a professional building which will house a number of offices, and this represents a real improvement on the street. . . . Constructed in the middle twenties the building provided the first standard type of motion picture show in this vicinity and was constructed by A.E. Hamby, Sr., who with W.R. Winkler built the Appalachian Theatre building. . . . These gentlemen went into the theatre business in the courthouse which served as the movie house for many years. . . . The old Pastime saw the advent of the talkies and the death of the tinny pianos as the medium of sound.

Few perhaps, would remember it, but we recall having heard of the old magic lantern show which came from afar and operated in the old courthouse building, and featured only slides.

In later years, A.J. Campbell of Mabel, bought himself a full-fledged movie show, a lot of films and slides, and made trips to Boone with it now and then, to the delight of all. . . . Many still remember the pioneer showman, his original narration of the Great Train Robbery, and the group singing of the Ninety and Nine, and Nearer My God to Thee, while each verse was illustrated with a slide. . . . The Campbell Amusement Company brought good entertainment to the folks back when it was needed and did the spade work for the fine movie establishments we have today. (ellipses in original; Watauga Democrat 11/19/1959 p. 4)

A final photo shows the rather spartan results of the final makeover (Watauga Democrat 10/20/1960, p. B-1):

The building looks quite similar today, as seen in these contemporary images from 2014:

The original brick arches and windows remain from the theater, but five windows have been added between these original openings that would make renovating the facade tricky. But perhaps some day a portion of the original Pastime Theatre can be brought to light again. As stated above, the interior has been altered extensively, with a new level floor replacing the older sloping theater floor and an entire second story added replacing the balcony.

The back of the building shows some of the original brick and what would have been the old backstage entrance:

Thanks to Dr. Eric Plaag for assistance in creating the early maps and in getting copies of photographs from Digital Watauga. Also, thanks to Bill Dixon for letting me tour the existing building and talking about some of its architecture.

Dr. Gary R. Boye

Music Librarian and Professor

Appalachian State University

boyegr@appstate.edu

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