The curtain will go up on the Elmhurst History Museum’s new exhibit, “Chicagoland Movie Palaces: A Century of Follies and Film,” on Friday, Sept. 6.
The exhibit will include looks at the first movie palaces built in the Chicagoland area, some of the architects who built them, the movie-going culture during the early age of Hollywood and the Blockbuster era, and the evolving digital movie experience. The exhibit will also highlight Elmhurst’s own movie palace, the York Theatre, celebrating its centennial with a special section on famous performances and films that have made a splash on the familiar marquee since 1924.
“This one’s going to knock people’s socks off,” said Dave Oberg, the Museum’s executive director, in a phone conversation with Pioneer Press. “It’s a great show.”
The exhibit includes not only historic photos, but artifacts from movies and some of the “palaces” that showed them, according to Sarah Cox, the Museum’s curator of exhibits.
That includes a 1925 popcorn popping machine, an Eclipse model made by Cretors, a local company now in Wood Dale that still makes commercial concession equipment. Oberg called the machine a cast iron work of art, with a clown figure appearing to turn the crank on the popper above a peanut roaster that’s part of the machine.
Jim Toth, director of marketing for Classic Cinemas, the company behind the York, said the company’s late leaders, Willis Johnson and his wife Shirley, were avid collectors of movie and theater memorabilia. Toth said some pieces from the collection will be part of the exhibit.
Classic Cinemas, headquartered in Downers Grove, operates 16 locations, including the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove and the Lake Theatre in Oak Park. The company is now headed by Chris Johnson.
One item particular to the York, Toth said, is a Naugahyde bound day planner log of every movie that played at the York back into the 1970s.
Other items include a beautiful Art Deco chandelier from a Chicago-area theater, a brass stanchion set with velvet rope and an old-fashioned paper ticket machine.
“All this wonderful stuff,” Toth said, “given a second life.”
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Ober and Cox said one section of the exhibit will focus on the York, which celebrated its centennial with special events on Sunday, Sept. 1.
Cox noted the role movie theaters have played in our culture, helped shape the entertainment industry and have over the years brought people together for shared experiences.
“This is an exhibit for people who love movies, who love theaters.”
In conjunction with the exhibit, the Museum is offering a variety of public programs and events. Programs include an Oct. 6 lecture, “Lights, Camera, Action: The History of Chicago Film,” by Chicago’s first female film camera assistant and recently retired University of Chicago Cinema and Media Studies Professor, Judy Hoffman.
“Chicagoland Movie Palaces: A Century of Follies & Film” will be on display from September 6, 2024 – January 5, 2025. The Elmhurst History Museum is open to all ages and offers free admission. The Elmhurst History Museum is located at 120 E. Park Ave. in Elmhurst, a short walk from the Elmhurst Metra station. The Museum is open Sundays and Tuesdays to Fridays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.
More information on the exhibit and related events and programs can be found at www.elmhursthistory.org.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.