Category Archives: Amusements

Louis Lehmann (band director)

Posted on July 27, 2015 by editor

Professor Louis Lehmann (1851-1923) led the Illinois Watch Factory Band for 42 years, until he collapsed and died at a band rehearsal. William Dodd Chenery described the scene in 1933: For forty-two years, almost to a day, he carried on, … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Amusements, Local government, Prominent figures, Social life | Leave a comment

Assembly Ball, 1889 (photo)

Posted on July 25, 2015 by editor

This obviously staged photograph was taken by William Patton in the lobby of the Leland Hotel, Sixth Street and Capitol Avenue, in 1889. The photo was later printed in the lllinois State Journal. The caption said, in part: Here in … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Hotels & taverns, Photos and photosets, Social life | Leave a comment

Esquire theater

Posted on July 22, 2015 by editor

Springfield’s Esquire theater opened in late 1937 via an unusual alliance between two central Illinois  movie chains. Kerasotes Theaters of Springfield and Frisina Amusement Corp., founded in Taylorville, had almost simultaneously announced plans to build separate “suburban” theaters within a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

The Coal Palace

Posted on June 10, 2015 by editor

Sangamon County showed off its most valuable mineral by building a “grand coal palace” for the 1889 county fair. The idea for the palace apparently originated with an unidentified Illinois State Journal staff member only two weeks before the scheduled … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Buildings, Business, Coal mines and mining, Industry, Labor unions, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Bobby Watson (movies’ Hitler)

Posted on April 24, 2015 by editor

Bobby Watson (1888-1965), born Robert Kuecher in Springfield, portrayed Adolf Hitler in movies more times (nine) than any other Hollywood actor. The most  colorful account of Watson’s show business career is his IMDB biography, which says Watson got his showbiz start at … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters | Leave a comment

The potato matinee of 1925

Posted on March 30, 2015 by editor

The “potato matinee” of Christmas 1925 was the brainchild of longtime local theater manager Harry Thornton. It quickly went awry, the victim of its own success. Illinois State Journal editor/publisher J. Emil Smith, a friend of Thornton’s, heard the potato … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Children, Media, Prominent figures, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

Myers Brothers’ monkey

Posted on March 26, 2015 by editor

A monkey was a mainstay attraction of the second-floor boys’ shop at Myers Brothers Department Store in Springfield for much of the 1950s. Actually, there were at least two monkeys – “Weegee,” who went on display at Myers in 1952, … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Children, Department stores | 1 Comment

Elizabeth Magie (‘Monopoly’ precursor)

Posted on March 3, 2015 by editor

Elizabeth Magie, who designed the heart of what later became the board game Monopoly, spent much of her youth in Springfield. Magie (1866-1948) moved with her family to Springfield in the late 1870s, after her father, formerly a newspaper editor … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Media, Politics, Prominent figures, State government | 2 Comments

Smokey’s Den

Posted on January 30, 2015 by editor

Smokey’s Den, originally at 127 N. Fifth St., was the first bar in Springfield that openly catered to gay men and women. When Smokey’s closed in 2003, after nearly four decades in business, it was thought to be the oldest … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Social life | Leave a comment

Joey Mack, dance man

Posted on January 23, 2015 by editor

Perhaps the most famous Lithuanian-American in Springfield in the 1940s was in show business: Joey Yanaitis (Janaitis or Jonaitis) Mack. Famous in Boston, Rockford, Cleveland, Augusta, Ga., and dozens of places in between from the late 1930s through the 1940s, … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Ethnic groups, Lithuanians, Social life | Leave a comment