[An exceptional souvenir photo album documenting not only the lavish Renaissance Revival exteriors & interiors, but also visually chronicling the elaborate musical production and Vaudeville set designs for the State Symphony Orchestra at the height of the Roaring 20's].

[ARCHITECTURE & MOVIE THEATRES & VAUDEVILLE SET DESIGN]. [KUNSKY. John A. (Theatre Owner); CRANE, C.[harles] Howard (Architect), MANNING William & John (Photographers).]

Published by State Theatre, 2115 Woodward Ave., Manning Bros. Commercial Photographers, 504-505 Lincoln Building, 1926-1927]., [Detroit, MI:, 1926

Oblong 4to. 11.5 x 8 in. With 69 linen-backed silver gelatin photographs, sized 7.5 x 9.5 in., all mounted on linen hinges at gutter margins, most dated w/ negative numbers w/in negative at lower fore-edge, nearly all stamped on verso w/ Manning Bros. Commercial Photographers stamp, many dated in pencil on verso, 1 signed by organist. Flexible faux leather Emerson post-binder, punch-sewn w/ brown cotton braid at gutter margin to the inner canvas flaps (very minor shelfwear, slgith rubbing), NF exemplar. A superb souvenir photo album capturing the first two years of the historic Detroit movie Palace, the State Theatre on Woodward, reflecting the exuberance and excess of Art Deco architecture, design, and theatre stage design productions during the Jazz Age. The theatre was originally named the Palms after the Francis A. Palms Building, and was designed for the Detroit movie & vaudeville palace king, John Kunsky. The marquee depicted in the first photo was a cantilevered style with sunburst design, and towering above was a 50 foot tall exterior lighted sign. The interior shots capture the lavish and palatial lobby with rich draperies, dripping chandeliers, and the ornate auditorium which seated 1524 in the orchestra, 267 on the mezzanine, and 1203 in the balcony, with a silent film screen size of 20 x 24 feet, and performance vaudeville and orchestra stage 70 feet wide, and 28 feet deep. A veritable army of set designers, scenery builders, and seamstresses were apparently employed in order to continually change out the sets for the nightly Loews Supreme Vaudeville shows, and musical production numbers featuring the theatre's State Symphony Orchestra. As with Kunsky's neaby Capitol Theatre, the State Theatre was fitted with a 4/20 Wurlitzer pipe organ, Publix #1 at a total cost of $ 46,475 originally, but was eventually removed in 1972 by Roy Davis and the console and resold were sold to control the Wurlitzer organ in the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, CA. Two of the photographs depict organist Marguerite Weiner at work, with one inscribed to "Walter" thanking him for the "Buzz(y ride)." The myriad of sets, backdrops, and costume changes depicted in over 50 different images include Toy Soldiers, Giant Watermelon, the Frozen North, Naval band with battleship looming above, Tartan backdrop and all musicians in kilts March 24, 1926, the Matterhorn, a Southwestern cowboy set, Carnival side-show with posters and marching band uniforms, Japanese production with musicians in kimonos and Mt. Fuji on the rear backdrop. Of particular interest is a fantastic Halloween set with the musicians in puffed Halloween costumes, wearing pointed witches hats, and giant grinning Jack-o-Lantern to stage right below a barn backdrop. During the 1940's and 1950's as the Palms Theatre, the movie palace played movies around the clock, premiering It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Red River (1948). Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Hatari (1962). After a restoration by Charles Forbes in 1979, and several changes, Live Nation took over the theatre for concerts in 2003. Crane (1885-1952) designed over 250 movie theaters, with elaborate attention to decorative details, and typically seating fewer than 2500 people, with fantastic acoustics. He also designed Detroit's Olympia Stadium, the Lafayette Building and after losing all his money and business in the Great Depression, he moved to London where he continued to design theaters. Manning Bros. Commercial Photographers was first established in 1906 by twin brothers William and John Manning, whose first studio at 96 Miami (now Broadway) was destroyed in 1913, and from there moved to the Trowbridge Building, and then the Lincoln Building. The family continued as successful commercial photographers until the firm was sold in 1989 to Charles A. Forbes by Bud Manning. See: Hauser & Weldon, Detroit's Downtown Movie Palaces, pp. 39-44; Manning Brothers Historic Photographic Collection, Detroit, Michigan. Seller Inventory # 60608

Bibliographic Details

Title: [An exceptional souvenir photo album ...
Publisher: State Theatre, 2115 Woodward Ave., Manning Bros. Commercial Photographers, 504-505 Lincoln Building, 1926-1927]., [Detroit, MI:
Publication Date: 1926
Binding: Hardcover
Signed: Signed by Author(s)