The Theater
by Harriet Fish
Theater Curtain. Photo by Susan Berg
Theater Curtain. Photo by Susan Berg
It happened not once, but three times, on one of my recent visits to Issaquah. The question asked was: “What is going to happen to the old theater?”
It wonders me too as my mind flips backwards to remember items in the past, which sometimes overshadow the future – such memorable things as revolve around this 1914 structure, and others of its kind which operated even earlier here in Issaquah.
The “earlier” movie houses, dating back to the early 1900s, had several locations. The ground floors of both the Masonic Temple and Odd Fellows’ Hall served in their times, and in the hey-day of the big coal production, one operated up on Mine Hill also, for there was a real concentration of houses and people there at that time.
Since these movies were before the days of “talkies,” I am reminded of the many piano players and their music which provided the background for the tone of the picutres. Not too long ago, I had in my home, for enjoyment, a large carton of dogcared early sheet music from that Golden Era. This music had been used in the local theater by the family of Mrs. Florence Jones Krigbaum, descendent of Jake Jones whose mill stood on the creek at the end of today’s Cherry Place. Mrs. Krigbaum, now living in Kent, had left it in the possession of her son and daughter-in-law, Dotty and Willard Krigbaum of Issaquah, and they loaned it to me for several months.
I played the songs, savoring the warmth, nostalgia and endless memories, and hated the day when a general move prompted me to return the collection. In the melodies, familiar and less wellknown alike, I found appeal and charm, not only in the notes, rhythms and tunes, but in the cover art work as well. Such artists as Norman Rockwell, Windsor McCay, John Held Jr., and Charles Dana Gibson produced covers now adding to the collectibility of this material.
By now, there are at least four types of collectors interested in sheet music: The movie buffs want the star’s photos; the art collectors’ the illustrations; the interior designers, the sheets for coverings; and the musicians, the music and melodies to play. All want to relive those exciting days when the accompaniest watched the movies and changed the tune according to the emotional level of the story. With all of these people collecting, I recently felt lucky to find a modest-sized stack of early music in Issaquah’s unique shop, The Shed.
These double sheets of paper are real history, for in them one can learn of the inventive developments of the world. Such songs as “Get Out And Get Under”, “Lucky Lindy”, and “Three Little Fiddies In an Ity-bity Pooh” tell about historical events – the car, the airplane and the dam. Today we are hearing “The Junk Food Junky”, and that is current history!
We have known other Issaquah folk, Mrs. Jake Schomber and Mrs. Myrtle McQuade, who were also connected with the accompaniment in the theaters. We’ve heard Myrtle, who can still make the keys talk, as she did in the days of the old theater’s prime. She gave the residents of Issaquah Villa a sample several times when her husband was a resident there. The exciting feeling, the springing inner vibes which leap up within one whhen a good key-tickler touches the ivories, is a universal reaction and one to which every music lover thrills.
Still another item about the “Old Theater” which I must mention: it was behind the newer “silver screen” where the old theater drop curtain, with the Ornate early Issaquah business advertisements painted on it, was located. It dates from before the construction of the 1914 building, but must have seen use here also for the advertisements cover well into the 1920s.
The colors are still bright, the condition is good and it is extremely fascinating with the informational material it presents. It is now rolled up in the Issaquah Historical Center for want of a display area large enough for all to see it.
In about 1970, I took some interior shots of the under-stage level of the theater building. Then, one of the old glass globetype, wire-covered fire extinguishers was still hanging from the ceiling. I wonder if it is still there.
When I get to thinking in this vein, I remember other items which could make a contribution to the future use of “the old theater building.”
In the 1960s, before the building of the Holiday Inn, there stood nearby an unused cattle barn with a study loft in it. A young man rented space in the loft for his pipe organ. There he assembled it and spent many hours playing it. You can imagine how the mellow tones, depth of volume and general realness of the pipe organ under full fortissimo sounded, reverberating within the shell of the huge barn. For sure. it was a “jumping joint.”
Not once, but many times, Ed and I passed there and stopped to listen briefly. Now I wish that we had gone inside to visit and meet the organ owner, even if we had to wear ear plugs. It was always, “We’ll do that soon!” “Soon” never came and all that is gone now, but could there be someone in the area with a waiting pipe organ, needing a place to be heard – maybe another Pizza and Pipes in the making in our old theater?
