In the earliest days of film exhibition, any place that could accommodate a sizable crowd could be used as a theater. In larger towns, live performance venues such as theaters or opera houses could easily be converted to the showing of motion pictures. In rural areas such as Boone, the places for film exhibition were more limited. County courtrooms were one of the most common places used for temporary film exhibition: there was seating for several hundred spectators in a large room, everyone knew the location, and many courtrooms even had balconies for additional viewers. School auditoriums, gymnasiums, churches, hotels, and other public buildings were also used on occasion. Any place in which a relatively large screen--often just a light-colored drop cloth--could be hung in front of a few chairs could serve as a place to project a motion picture. Carnivals and circuses often set up a screen and projector in canvas tents--often colored black to limit the amount of light on the screen. The following account focuses on Boone, the county seat, before moving out into Blowing Rock and other county towns in a Part 2 . . .

The first projected static images were seen in the magic lantern shows beginning in the 1890s. The earliest known projected motion picture in Watauga County occurred in Boone in 1905. There may have been earlier travelling shows in the area exhibiting films, as well as devices designed for individual motion picture viewing such as kinetoscopes, but there is no evidence in the newspapers of anything earlier than 1905. By the early 1920s, a regular motion picture show run by various local entrepreneurs had begun in the second-floor courtroom of the Courthouse. This was the immediate predecessor to permanent film theaters in the county, such as the ones at Blowing Rock (the Wonderland Theatre, 1922) and Boone (the Pastime Theatre, 1924). An earlier theater in Shulls Mills, the American Theatre (1918), appears to have been operated in a multi-purpose building and then only for a brief period of time; it was, in essence, another temporary theater.

The following account surveys some of the early shows in Boone, beginning with the magic lantern shows and continuing into the 1950s, when film exhibition had become commonplace.

Magic Lantern Shows

The technology for exhibiting images from a glass slide was invented in Europe in the 17th century. By the late 1800s, painted slide shows were often augmented with photographs. In October 1892, there were two magic lantern shows in the Watauga County Courthouse surrounding the fall session of court. This would have been in the second or 1875 Courthouse on the northwest corner of King and Water Streets. The notices are extremely brief and there is no indication that this was an entirely novel technology for local residents:

There was a magic lantern show in the court house Tuesday night, by an aged paralytic by the name of Jackson. Our good people, as usual, helped him on his way by shelling out their nickles. (Watauga Democrat 10/6/1892, p. 3)

LOCAL NEWS . . . A magic lantern performance was held in the court house Monday night by Prof. Reid. (Watauga Democrat 10/13/1892, p. 3)

The first exhibitor can be identified by a similar show in Lenoir eight years earlier:

LOCAL NEWS . . . Prof. James H. Jackson, a cripple travelling in a wagon with a magic lantern apparatus, showed in the court house Monday night to a slim audience. (Lenoir Topic 10/1/1884, p. 3)

This identifies the showman in Boone as James H. Jackson and leads to a notice of another show just a few months before the Boone exhibition giving some idea of the contents of his show:

Prof. James H. Jackson will give a magic lantern entertainment at the College Saturday night, June 18th, showing scenes in the life of Christ, the late civil war, etc., etc. (Lexington Dispatch, 6/16/1892, p. 2)

In all likelihood, Jackson used both photographs and painted images in his show. The use of religious material would have given the proceedings an air of seriousness and respectability; the Civil War slides--quite possibly including photographs--would have garnered broad interest in the relatively recent event within living memory of many present.

That these shows were not necessarily static slide shows in the modern sense of the word can be seen in a contemporary notice where more complex special effects are described:

MAGIC LANTERN WONDERS

. . . An interesting and familiar application of the magic lantern is made by revolving two glass dishes with concentric painted patterns in the lantern, working the two in opposite ways by a simple wheel contrivance, so that the patterns are mingled in a beautiful kaleidoscopic fashion. . . . But the more curious and useful is the idea of placing living organisms within double slides of glass inclosing [sic] water so that the organisms in question are exhibited upon the screen alive actually, for the study of the knowing and the ignorant. Even the growth of crystals in process, is shown in a singular way, though not less extraordinary is the method practiced with the aid of the magic lantern of causing figures upon the white sheet, by a simple device, to grow to be giants that threaten to devour the spectators. -- Washington Star (reprinted in the Lexington Dispatch 3/26/1891, p. 1)

No such elaborate descriptions occur in local papers, but the magic lantern shows made an impression that remained more than fifty years later, as when Rob Rivers, Jr. (1899-1975) recalled not only the shows but the old courthouse: "The pointed roof of the old courthouse, where the 'Magic Lantern' show packed the house, and was the talk of the town for days . . ." (Watauga Democrat 5/19/1949, p. 1) Whether or not Rivers was referring to one of the shows advertised above or another show that was not in the papers, it would have had to take place before the gabled roof on the courthouse was flattened in 1906. By then, motion pictures had mostly supplanted the magic lantern show, however elaborate, for popular entertainment.

Not all exhibited technology was visual. There is one notice of a graphophone "concert" given in the courthouse in 1900:

LOCAL NEWS . . . Mr. Ralph Spainhour, of Lenoir, gave a graphophone entertainment at the court house on Monday night, for the benefit of the Watauga Library. There were near one hundred present. (Watauga Democrat 8/23/1900, p. 3)

The graphophone was an early cylinder player, the predecessor to the record player, which recorded audio only. In 1900, such devices were commercially available, but far beyond the means of most audience members; this was a chance for them to encounter the new technology in a public venue without having to purchase one.

For educational purposes, the magic lantern show survived as part of lectures well into the 20th century. These lectures could involve formal classes, such as these at the Appalachian Training School (now Appalachian State University):

Training School Items . . . Dr. Randolph gave a lantern slide exhibit on the dangers of Tuberculosis and Typhoid Fever on Saturday evening in the School auditorium, Mrs. Randolph reading the lecture as the Doctor threw the picture on the screen. (Watauga Democrat 7/5/1917, p. 3)

Training School Items . . . On last Friday evening the students and people of the community enjoyed a lecture by Professor Brown on "Birds" at the gymnasium. The lecture was accompanied by lantern slides of many interesting birds. . . . (Watauga Democrat 3/21/1918, p. 3)

Note that here the "lanterns" were no longer magical; the wonder of the projected image would have faded for audience members by the 1910s. The slides merely assisted in the lecture, providing images for all to see. Photographic slides were often used in later shows:

LOCAL AFFAIRS . . . Rev. R.M. Courtney of Thomasville, who is Conference Missionary Secretary of the M.E. Church South, will preach in the courthouse on Sunday morning June 19, and at night he will give stereopticon views of conditions in foreign mission fields. Everybody is cordially invited to be present. (Watauga Democrat 6/9/1921, p. 3)

With large windows in the courtroom, the slides would have shown up much better at night.

In the 1920s and 1930s, illustrated lectures become relatively common in schools and at the Appalachian State Teachers' College. A later example shows how photographic slides could be used for local booster organizations outside of the classroom, combined with a separate talk by a local sports' hero and a full dinner at a restaurant:

Chamber Commerce To Meet Thursday Evening

The Boone Chamber of Commerce will hold a dinner meeting at the Gateway Cafe Thursday evening at 7:45, according to an announcement by the President, Herman W. Wilcox.

A short program has been arranged. Harry Hamilton, Jr., will entertain, with colored lantern slides of many pictures he has made in the county, while Coker Triplett is scheduled to tell us something of the world champion baseball club with which he plays, the St. Louis Cardinals. . . . (Watauga Democrat 2/11/1943, p. 1)

No doubt many of the early projected photographs were black-and-white or, at best, hand-colored images. By the 1940s, colored film photography had become affordable and many notices stress this aspect of the display:

Farm Gatherings To Continue All Of Next Week . . . Colored slides are used to point our suggested activity, and add interest. (Watauga Democrat 3/3/1955, Sect. 2, p. 1)

The combination of slide and lecture never really went away; it continues in the present day as PowerPoint presentations, obviously with far different technology . . .

The Beginnings of Motion Picture Exhibition in Watauga County: 1905-1923

Actual motion picture exhibition begins with this notice in 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)

Note that this would have been in the 2nd (1875) Courthouse, since the 3rd (1905) Courthouse was not quite open to the public at this point.

No other mention of Prof. Wallin can be found, but itinerant tradesmen with a handful of films were common in the era, moving from town to town with the same basic set of films and other entertainments. In these early days, the number of professionally produced films was small; it was easier to move to different audiences than to try to run regularly scheduled shows in one venue. Many of these exhibitors came and went over broad territories of several adjacent states, although a few were more local. The most important of these for Watauga County was, by far, Jack Campbell . . .

Andrew Jackson Campbell (1868-1930)

A.J. "Jack" Campbell was born in Cove Creek on 4 June 1868 and, by the early 1900s worked as a professional photographer. Although his main studio was in Mabel, NC, Campbell traveled periodically throughout the county making portrait photographs for a fee. This early ad places him near the Watauga Academy building, the oldest structure associated with what became Appalachian State University:

LOCAL NEWS . . . All persons wanting photograph work done at near one-half price, call near Watauga Academy on April the 9th. Satisfaction guaranteed. A.J. CAMPBELL, Photographer. A.J. Campbell, of Mabel, will be here, near Watauga Academy, on April the 9th, for the purpose of making photographs. Call, see samples and get prices. (Watauga Democrat 3/26/1903, p. 3)

Many of these ads occur during court weeks in Boone, taking advantage of people travelling to town for possible jury duty or simply to observe court proceedings. In the days before movies, radio, television, and other types of popular entertainment, the summons to the jury by a noted judge could be enjoyed as a type of performance; the court proceedings as a soap opera lived out on the courtroom stage. From early accounts, it appears that virtually the entire population of the county would attend court weeks in Boone.

By 1908, Campbell had begun exhibiting motion pictures in addition to his commercial photography work:

COMING! COMING!

The Campbell Amusement Co. See the great pictorial lecture on the Niagara Falls, Yellowstone Park, Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Cliff Dwellers,--five hundred and more views--fine subjects too tedious to mention. Also near 3,000 fetes [sic] of moving pictures, some of the finest ever seen in the mountains. A fine assortment of illustrated songs and instrumental music will be gotten up. A wonderful panoramic entertainment. Remember you will witness the same scenes and realize the same views that are being cheered by thousand[s] of people in the large cities. People tell us they had rather visit our Panoramic Entertainment than to visit a circus. We guarantee satisfaction or refund the money. One-tenth of the proceeds will be given to the schools and religious work of the town. This great pictorial lecture and Moving Picture Show is educational and amusing--a feast for the eye, pleasing to the ear, inspiring to the mind. Everybody come and bring everybody else and see the greatest and most amusing show that has ever bee in The mountains. Dates and places will be seen later.

CAMPBELL BROS, M'G'S (Watauga Democrat 12/3/1908, p. 2)

Starved for entertainment, locals who may not have had the chance to travel to a large city could see their first moving picture show. The films shown would have been rather crude by modern standards--black-and-white and silent, with inter-titles, and rarely more than a few minutes in length--but again these shows were to be remembered for decades after they took place. Rob Rivers asked his readers in 1939 if they remembered not only the magic lantern shows in the 2nd courthouse but later: ". . . Jack Campbell's Wonderland shows, with pictures which actually moved?" (Watauga Democrat 8/17/1939, p. 4).

Note also that this was more than a night at the movies: as was common in the era, songs and other types of live entertainment padded out the program. One could even combine both mediums, as when illustrated songs combined painted slides projected in full color with live music relating to the images. Live music would have also accompanied the motion pictures. Rob Rivers gives us quite a few details of these shows, waxing nostalgic from a distance of nearly fifty years after they occurred, asking if readers remembered:

. . . When Mr. Campbell brought his moving picture show to town, the kids were delighted, and reveled in the reels, showing the great western train robbery, and in the numerous magic lantern slides, which interspersed the program. . . . Most of the folks in the community gathered in the courthouse in those days when the picture show was advertised in the Democrat, and one of the most liked features of the evening was the illustrated song, "The Ninety and Nine" . . . Slides depicted each verse, and Mr. Campbell led the singing, while switching the pictures at the proper moment, and no such vocalizing had ever been heard, not even when the county's leading citizen was funeralized. . . . And so far as we know we'd never heard the song since Mr. Campbell's show went out of business. ... It fetched us a good deal of pleasure and we enjoyed reliving for a moment some of the most joyous incidents in our growing up. (Watauga Democrat 1/30/1958, p. 4)

Note the use of first person plural for singular, an editorial device common in Rivers' later writing.

The ad above promises dates and places of the show later; the show was eventually to take place at Walnut Grove Institute in Sugar Grove on 21 December 1908 and the following night at the new courthouse in Boone:

LOCAL NEWS . . . The Campbell Amusement Co. will exhibit in the court house in Boone next Tuesday night. The exercises will consist of moving pictures, illustrated songs, etc, one of the most enjoyable shows ever exhibited in the mountains. Come one, come all. Admission fee returned to all dissatisfied persons. . . . Come one, come all, and see the greatest animated moving picture shows that has ever been in the mountains, consisting of 3,000 feet of moving scenes, 100 stationary views and illustrated songs, together with [anoth?]er machine and string music and various other subjects too tedious to mention. Fifteen per cent. of admission fees to be donated to school to pay on piano. If not satisfied with performance, money refunded. At Walnut Grove Institute Monday night, Dec. 21, 7, p.m. The Campbell Amusement Co. (Watauga Democrat 12/17/1908, p. 3)

At one point, the text is unfortunately garbled and reads only "with er machine" in the original. It might imply "another" machine, indicating the possibility of a cylinder or disc device for playing sound. Rob Rivers was later to recall records being played in these early shows, as mentioned below.

There were 15 more shows by Campbell advertised, with the final one coming in 1923: March 1909, September 1909, March 1911, April 1912, July 1912, December 1912, May 1913, March 1915, June 1915, November 1915, March 1916, March 1917, August 1917, July 1919, and May 1923. In between July 1919 and May 1923, several longer running weekly shows ran in the courthouse, to be discussed below. All of the Campbell shows featured a variety of motion pictures, slides, songs, and music. New material is used for each date, accounting for the lapse of time between shows. Some, but not all, of the shows line up with a court week, such as the following one from 1909:

SHOW COMING.

Come one, come all to the greatest pictorial lecture and moving picture show ever in the mountains, consisting of Machine and string music, and nice, Biblical illustrated songs, and near 3,000 feet of moving scenes, such as the Great Wild West Train Robbery, 1,000 feet in length. The crucifixion and death of Christ, and a great many other scenes too tedious to mention. A feast to the eye; pleasing to the ear, and inspiring to the mind--a treat for all.

At the court house in Boone on Saturday night, March 20th, beginning at 7 o'clock.

CAMPBELL BROS. Man'g'rs. (Watauga Democrat 3/18/1909, p. 3)

This was the Saturday night before spring court opened on Monday. Although specific film titles are mentioned in the ad-- The Great Wild West Train Robbery and The Crucifixion and Death of Christ--there are, unfortunately, multiple films with these titles and no way to distinguish which ones were shown here.

That court week was a huge event for the local populace can be seem in this nostalgic reference from 1934, where the early days are compared to the Depression era:

BOONE SKETCHES / By J.C.R.

THESE CHANGING TIMES. Court week, so far as Watauga is concerned, ain't what it used to be. Just dig back in the past and take a look at the "first Monday" . . . then compare it with the present. Great long strings of Nissen wagons and Babcock buggies, carefully supervised by a regiment of Henkel's best traders . . . patent medicine men in frock-tailed coats and checkered vests, cracking jokes at awkward hill-williams, exchanging quick cures for shiny dollars . . . herds of women in poke-bonnets and checkered aprons, babes in arms, lining the streets . . . jennets and jackasses and plug hosses tied to every available fence in town . . . Jack Campbell distributing bills for his Great Wonderland Moving Picture Show . . . Mose Harshaw and Rom Linney and Coot Jones and all the old-time lawyers shaking hands with friends en route to courthouse . . . bacon sizzling in a score of skillets as campers prepared their meals . . . tricksters from "fur-places" betting their cash on "which shell the pea's under" . . . hundreds and hundreds of men and women and children enjoying their first visit to town for a long time.

But this week there wasn't much to it . . . just a scattering of folks summoned as witnesses or for jury duty . . . just a couple of covered wagons behind the courthouse . . . just three or four hoss traders trimming the fetlocks and currying the welted sides of a dozen broken-down, flea-bitten equines . . . just two or three pot-gutted magazine salesmen . . . no patent medicine vendors, no magic-lantern shown, no bonnets and crying younguns, no grub-wagons . . . nothing but court-week, deprived of all its erstwhile splendor! Ho-hum, times ain't improved any! (Watauga Democrat 4/26/1934, p. 1)

J.C.R. was Rob Rivers Jr.'s younger brother, James C. Rivers (1901–1975), who worked at the Democrat for both his father and later his brother. Again, no specific show is referenced in the column, but the notice proves that the picture show was just one of many events that highlighted a busy court week.

Later that fall, Campbell appears to sell off his old equipment, shortly before updating his entire show: "I have for sale one of the best Moving Picture Show outfits ever in the mountains. This outfit will be sold for less than one-half first cost." (Watauga Democrat 9/2/1909, p. 3). Motion picture technology was changing rapidly throughout this period and Campbell's next show takes advantage of a newer machine with multiple capabilities for film, slide, and recorded sound:

SHOW COMING.

The Campbell Amusement Co. will operate their new Moving Picture Show in Boone during court week; one of the best machines of the kind ever seen in the mountain sections, consisting of string and machine music, illustrated songs and a variety of 150 stationary views magnified to life size, and over five thousand feet of moving scenes. Subjects such as Barnum & Bailies' [sic] greatest circus shows in the world; the 'Drunkard's Progress' and Peck's Bad Boy and his Pa, and a great many other scenes too tedious to mention. Nice, decent and respectable for all. Educational and amusing. Will work adjoining counties. See posters and dates later.

A.J. CAMPBELL Manager. (Watauga Democrat 9/9/1909, p. 2)

All of these shows took place in the second-floor courtroom of the 1905 Watauga County Courthouse. Later ads tend to contain less description of the actual contents of the shows; apparently, just the notice of a coming Campbell production was enough to garner a full house. Occasionally, a special film would draw more specific notice, as when films involving the Titanic's sinking were shown in July 1912:

CONCERT COMING! Come and bring the children to see the great Titanic Disaster exhibited. First on the program, music by string band. 2nd, Titanic Disaster in stationary pictures with lecture. Also moving pictures of Titanic. 3rd: 2,000 feet moving pictures, such as comedies and western pictures and illustrated songs. Clean and up-to-date amusement, instructive and educational. Come and bring the little folks. Don't miss this treat. . . . (Watauga Democrat 7/11/1912, p. 3)

Of course, there was no film of the Titanic's actual sinking, but there were films of the ship leaving port in Ireland, as well as some film from the sister ship, Olympic. There was also a clip of the survivors in New York and lifeboats ominously drifting about the otherwise empty dock where the ship would have been moored.

By 1915, Campbell was continuing to adapt to the current news with films showing the early battles of World War I, including the "Great Russian war" (Watauga Democrat 3/18/1915, p. 3) and "the late exciting war pictures" (Watauga Democrat 6/3/1915, p. 3) in two different shows. These were precursors to the later newsreels, bringing images of modern warfare to American audiences--and preparing them for the battles to come when the United States entered the war in 1917.

News' reports from 1930 indicate that Campbell was first seriously ill (Watauga Democrat 3/27/1930, p. 3) and then died later that year. His obituary notice ads some details about his life:

A.J. Campbell Dies After Long Illness

Mr. A.J. Campbell, 62 years old, well known resident of Mabel, died at his home there on the 13th, after a long illness from an incurable malady. Funeral services were conducted from Union Church by his pastor, Rev. R.C. Eggers, and burial was in the nearby cemetery.

"Jack" Campbell was a native of Watauga County and had spent practically his entire life here. He was well known all through this section of North Carolina as being the first man to introduce moving pictures in the early days, when the industry was a mere infant. "Campbell's Wonderland Show" brought delight to the people of the hill country and those who hadn't known Jack Campbell previously learned to love him during his extensive travels with the projecting machine. He was a photographer by trade and followed up that profession after he relinquished the movie business. Jack was a genuinely good fellow and citizen, big-hearted and well loved, and his death brings sadness.

Surviving are a widow and the following children: Will, Spencer, Dick, Mack and Pearl, all of whom are valuable citizens of their native county. (Watauga Democrat 10/23/1930, p. 1)

Other Shows in the 3rd Courthouse

Jack Campbell was the most important early film exhibitor in Watauga County, but he was not the only one. Frank Critcher formed an amusement company in 1909 and made at least two shows in the area:

LOCAL NEWS . . . The Mountain Amusement Co. under the management of Frank Critcher, made its first bow to the public at New River Academy last Friday night, followed by an entertainment in the court house Saturday night. The moving picture feature is very creditable. (Watauga Democrat 10/21/1909, p. 3)

This might have been Lewis Franklin Critcher (1879–1961), younger brother of Critcher Hotel owner Murry Pleasant Critcher (1869-1935). Certainly the hotel was a location for traveling entertainers and a venue for dances and occasional concerts, but no further information about the Mountain Amusement Company can be found.

The courthouse was not the only location for motion picture exhibition in Boone, although it was by far the most common. Occasionally, educational films were shown on the campus of the Appalachian Training School (now Appalachian State University), such as when Congressman E. Spencer Blackburn gave a lecture with motion pictures of the Panama Canal in the auditorium on campus (Watauga Democrat 6/23/1910, p. 3 and 6/30/1910, p. 3). Such shows continued into the 1920s and after.

The remaining courtroom shows were associated with a series of local entrepreneurs who attempted to bring regular film exhibition to Boone in the years following World War I . . .

Appalachian Theater (1919-1922)

Not to be confused with the later art deco structure on East King Street built in 1938, the original Appalachian Theater in Boone was in the second-floor courtroom of the 1905 Watauga County Courthouse:

LOCAL AFFAIRS . . . Messrs. Clarence Ellis and O.L. Coffey have purchased an up-to-date moving picture outfit and a man with several years experience will be here to install it. The court room will be used for the present. It is their intention to run a clean, educational show, and will be open for business within the next two weeks. (Watauga Democrat 7/24/1919, p. 3)

In February 1920, the influenza epidemic hit the mountains of North Carolina and closed down not only the schools and the movie theater, but even the churches:

LOCAL AFFAIRS . . . Owing to flu conditions, the services of all kinds in the different churches of the town have been declared off; and the Appalachian Theater ordered closed by Mayor Thos. B. Moore. Only three new cases have developed in town for several days, and the physicians think they have the malady well in hand. (Watauga Democrat 2/19/1920, p. 3)

After missing 5 Saturdays in a row, the Appalachian was re-opened on 27 March 1920.

As in many small towns at the time, universal acceptance of the new medium was difficult to find. Some locals worried about the quality of films and the effect Hollywood would have on Boone:

Boone within the last few weeks has arrived at that point in its history where it can for the first time enjoy the distinction of having a moving picture theater. On Saturday night I found time to witness my first show. I went with some misgiving. "Lone Larry" is not a very promising title. As it turned out I enjoyed the show all the more for this reason. "Lone Larry" proved to be a really good picture, and the "International News" reel was exceptionally fine. There was but a single moment during the entire evening when the most sensitive soul with healthy moral standards could have feared the possibility of a jar. If Messrs. Coffey and Ellis can hold the pictures up to anything approximating this standard, they are to be congratulated. / R.M.B. [Roy M. Brown] (Watauga Democrat 10/30/1919, p. 2)

The only film mentioned by name, Lone Larry (1915), was a 2-reel Western starring Eileen Sedgwick, Kingsley Benedict, and Charles Dorian. Like most films from this era, it no longer survives. The "single moment" that offended Mr. Brown can only be imagined; in general, the overly sensitive tastes of early twentieth-century audiences could be easily offended by things that a modern audience would hardly notice . . .

That Ellis and Coffey had longer term plans for their film operations can be seen in their beginning a weekly serial of 18-chapters starring Marie Walcamp on Christmas Eve 1919. This action-thriller was presented in two reels a week, along with a newsreel and/or a comedy, interrupted only by the influenza quarantine. After the quarantine, the serial picked up where it had left off.

By mid-summer 1920, Ellis was clearly needing to spend more time with other businesses, including a department store, and he sells the Appalachian Theater business, first to David Greene and D.B. Bingham (Watauga Democrat 7/15/1920, p. 3)--who operated it for only two weeks--and then to James Moore and Ralph Winkler:

LOCAL AFFAIRS . . . 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)

Ralph Winkler (1900-1997) was to become owner of first the Pastime and then the Appalachian Theatres in Boone. Moore and Winkler ran the picture show mostly on Saturdays from August to early November 1920. Unlike their predecessor, they closed up for the winter and waited for warmer weather before running occasional shows in the summer of 1921.

At the end of 1921, one of the so-called "blue laws" was passed by the town of Boone, prohibiting non-essential commerce on Sundays. There were general exceptions for certain necessities such as food, medicine, funerals, automotive repair, etc., but commercial film exhibition would have been a violation (Watauga Democrat 11/3/1921, p. 2). This law stayed in effect in Boone until April 1954. Note however that there were occasional Sunday movies for non-profit purposes such as charities and fund-raising drives . . .

Dixie Theater (1923-1924)

Hamby and Winkler started their long term partnership in the courtroom of the Watauga County Courthouse, changing the name of the occasional show from the Appalachian to the the Dixie Theatre:

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)

Note that for the first time, plans for a larger, permanent film venue are hinted at. Obviously, film exhibition in a public building like a courthouse had severe limitations: the seats and lighting were not well suited for theatrical performance, stage area was limited, and the building could not be used during court sessions. Cleanliness was also an issue, as seen in this earlier complaint about how rural people treated their new building:

LOCAL NEWS . . . Some visiting brethren to the new court house on last Monday left some large deposits of ambeer [sic] on the pretty floors. Of course this was done thoughtlessly and we only refer to it with the hope that it may keep others from being so careless. The commissioners have ordered a gross of spittoons that will be placed about the building and surely all decent people will have sense enough to use them. (Watauga Democrat 6/8/1905, p. 3)

When Hamby and Winkler took charge of the picture show in 1923, the local paper emphasized that: "They are not only having the court room thoroughly swept but the stairways and halls below as well." (Watauga Democrat 3/1/1923, p. 5)

A later article, celebrating the opening of the 1938 Appalachian Theatre by Hamby and Winkler, looks back to their humble beginnings in the courthouse and provides a few details or their early career. The author compliments the large new building and states that the pair:

. . . began their theatre career in their home town more than twenty years ago, first used the courthouse as a theatre, where phonograph records supplied the music for the flickering films of the day. The public responded to the efforts of the young men in providing the city with its first regular movie show, and a few years later the Pastime Theatre was built, which was a fine structure for its day. But the business grew and now Messrs. Hamby and Winkler have built a big-town type of showhouse, which has no peer in all small cities of the state. . . . (Watauga Democrat 11/24/1938, p. 4)

A little more than a year after beginning the Dixie Theater in the Courthouse, Hamby and Winkler were on to larger and permanent quarters in what would become the Pastime Theatre . . .

Later Courthouse Shows

There were at least three big shows in the courtroom during the summer when the Pastime Theatre was being built. None of them appear to be connected to Hamby and Winkler, but are rather one-time events. The first was sponsored by the local Davidsons Department Store:

ORIGINAL "BUSTER BROWN" DRAWS IMMENSE CROWDS

The Buster Brown attraction put on in Boone Tuesday afternoon by the Davidson Dept. Store was a signal success, and considered the best advertising stunt ever pulled off in this section. The court house was well filled, children being in the majority. Buster was not at his best, as he explained, for he had just received a telegram from a hospital in Lexington, Ky. that his world famous dog Tige was dead. However, the program was nicely carried out. A series of moving pictures was first which was followed by an address by the midget concerning the excellent points of the Buster Brown shoe, sold by Davidson, and interspersed with jokes on himself and his dog Tige. Many presents were given, the best one being a neat watch, now possessed by little Billy Mack Hardin, being the first boy to get on the stage wearing the Buster Brown shoe. Buster is being accompanied through this territory by Mr. N.C. Uarsots [sic] of Mountain City, who represents the Brown Shoe Co., in this vicinity, and who is well and favorably known in Watauga. Before closing Buster asked all the little folks in the audience to hold up their hands who intended to wear Buster Brown shoes in the future, and almost instantly the little hands shot up all over the room, so we judge that the Davidson Store will enjoy a lively trade in this line of goods hereafter. (Watauga Democrat 5/22/1924, p. 1)

The Brown Shoe Company hired adult little people to play the role of Buster Brown and generally traveled with an American pit bull terrier named Tige (pronounced like "tiger" without the "r"). The children in the audience would not have suspected that there was actually more than one person playing Brown touring the country and thus more than one Tige. No doubt at some future time after the Boone performance a new dog magically appeared for this particular Buster and the shoe selling continued.

At the end of July 1924, a well-advertised showing of James Cruze's The Covered Wagon (1923) appeared at the courthouse (Watauga Democrat 7/31/1924, p. 2). Starring Warren Kerrigan, this was one of the most lavish and popular films of the era and no doubt drew a large audience of locals waiting for the opening of the Pastime Theatre. The next month, the Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal financial services organization, gave a free exhibition of "moving pictures" as well as "a most interesting lecture"--all towards organizing a local "camp" and selling life insurance.

After the opening of the Pastime Theatre in the fall of 1924, there would have been little reason to use the courthouse for commercial films, yet there were occasional educational and informational films shown from time to time. For example, on 27 July 1933 a film on orphanages was shown at the courthouse at no charge (Watauga Democrat 7/20/1933, p. 1). In both 1935 and 1936, free showings of racing and comedy films were sponsored by M. & M. Motor Company (Watauga Democrat 8/22/1935, p. 8 and 6/18/1936, p. 2). Later films focused on such practical matters as agriculture or food handling. The last film documented at the 3rd Watauga County Courthouse was the religious documentary, You Can't Win, from Bob Jones University.

While Boone was, by far, the most active place in Watauga County for film exhibition, it was no the only one. Part 2 examines early motion pictures in the smaller towns of Blowing Rock, Valle Crucis and elsewhere in the era before permanent film theaters . . .

Dr. Gary R. Boye

Music Librarian and Professor

Appalachian State University

boyegr@appstate.edu