Friday, May 15, 2009

Dear MMP, Arthur and friends,

MMP, you are correct about the Capitol/Center Theater, as a 75 year old frequent visitor of downtown Pawtucket in the early 1950's said Thursday the theater proved situated on the southwest side of the Main Street bridge. Adjacent to the theater, an "all you can drink" coffee shop seemed packed 24 hours.  

My friend's wife said another entertainment spot in downtown Pawtucket seemed to be Frank Crooke's Chevrolet at the corners of Main Street and Garden Street, near the old Hamlet Bowling Lanes, now the Slater Cotton Mill condos.   Outside the car dealership, teenage girls from Pawtucket West would look in the huge glass window of the car dealership and see the local radio station deejays broadcasting live to the public.   One woman said the top early 1950's Pawtucket radio personality was Chris Schenkel, a future ABC-TV sports announcer.  Girls would pack the sidewalk to view the radio station.

Nevertheless, the mass production of television in 1949 removed the fans from the radio station's sidewalk.

Peace,  Ludlow1

Wow...great facts and we hope to put together the session on this for the Pawtucket Arts Festival. Joe Palmer at the Oak Hill meeting on the 13th was excited to be part of it, and maybe these folks can share their stories and we can record via audio or video for future generations to see how much we have changed and maybe lost too..

Dear Ludlow, I wonder if I am the Mary you are responding to?  I don't remember being on this particular site before, but it's possible.  I worked at the Strand in Pawtucket during my senior year in high school, leaving my job there as "candy girl" in the summer of 1949 after I graduated.  I'm sure the Strand was not razed in 1950 -- probably took place in the late 50s.  I remember going there with my husband after I was married in 1954 until at least 1956 or '57.  I have so many fond memories of the Strand, my co-workers, and my growing-up years in Pawtucket.

I'm new at this, so please bear with me -- I'm not sure I'm replying in the right spot!  The Fairlawn Theater was my home-away-from home in the 40s when I was growing up.  For years I have tried to find out just when it was built, because I had been attending the Strand and Leroy all by myself for a couple of years (I was much too young to be doing this), and I've wondered when I started going to the Fairlawn.  It might have been around 1941 or 42, but I can't find exact info.  The manager's name was Harry Fisher, and I recall that he lived on Cobble Hill Road in Lincoln, not far from the theater.