1930s: November 2008 Archives

Lavish 1938 movie ad for the York theater

My post yesterday covered some of the movie theaters in York County and the variety of films they were showing Labor Day weekend in 1938. Now I'll tell you what else those avid movie goers had to choose from.

Click here to read the first movie post.

I checked city directories at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives today, so I can also let you know where the theaters were located.

Feel free to respond below with memories of those days 70 years ago when movies were king.

I've heard the theory that entertainment does well in a period of recession because people want to escape for just a little while. York County's many movie theaters were certainly showing a great variety of films in September 1938, when America was just starting to come out of the Great Depression.

As shown below, some theaters even added an extra incentive--free snacks. Others advertised that the films they were showing provided clues to a nationwide $250,000 contest being run by the motion picture industry.

What was playing?

Princess Street Chapel from Atlas of the City of York by Frederick Roe, 1903

A recent post told how the Ladies' Aid Society of the Princess Street Evangelical Chapel successfully carpeted their church by raising the funds with an autograph quilt in 1909.

Click here to read that post.

I was curious as to what happened to that congregation and to their building. I found a trail that illustrates how many religious groups and sites change. New congregations are formed; some disappear or merge with others. One church body outgrows a building and another moves in.

The Princess Street Chapel story fits in with all of the above.

The York Gazette reported that when a favorite teacher was let go, seemingly as a cost-cutting measure, Codorus Township High School students took matters into their own hands.

The teacher didn't let matters rest either, and the case ended up on court. Even then the Codorus Township school board didn't exactly rush to follow the court order.

The article reads: