- Collection:
- The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s: Selections from the Records of Macon's Douglass Theatre
- Title:
- Letter: Columbus, Georgia to William M. Smith, Macon, Georgia, 1925 Apr. 4
- Creator:
- Williams, Homer H.
- Date of Original:
- 1925-04-04
- Subject:
- Theatre Owners Booking Association
Theaters--Georgia--Columbus
Revues--Georgia--Columbus
Vaudeville--Georgia--Columbus
Entertainment events--Georgia--Columbus
Business referrals--Georgia--Columbus
Douglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)
Smith, William M., theater manager
Reevin, Sam E.
Liberty Theatre (Columbus, Ga.) - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324
United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/jpeg
text/html - Description:
- Letter from Homer H. Williams, manager of the Liberty Theatre in Columbus, Georgia, to William Smith, manager of the Douglass Theatre, dated April 4, 1925, regarding the availability of vaudeville shows for the Liberty Theatre. Williams asks Smith if it would be possible for Smith to send vaudeville shows to him, if only once a month. He explains that he did not answer Smith's last letter right away because his stage was not yet complete, but that now they are prepared to accommodate almost any show that travels south. Williams claims Mr. Reevin, probably Sam E. Reevin, treasurer and manager of Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.), answered a letter stating that the Dream Theatre, owned by Ma Rainey and a member of the T.O.B.A. circuit, would get bookings on all shows coming to Columbus. He expresses his feeling that this is unfair to the show people traveling south who must pass up Columbus, when he has an eleven-hundred person capacity house to accommodate their shows. Williams asserts that if they can pack people in with a movie, then there is no telling what they could do with big acts. He asks for any information that Smith can give or attractions that are available to play their house.
Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. - Local Identifier:
- dbr081
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/dtrm/id:dbr081
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_dtrm_dbr081
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_dtrm_dbr081/presentation/manifest.json
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [title of item], Theater Records Series, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. Business Records, 1906-1967, Middle Georgia Archives, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.
- Extent:
- [1] p.
Manuscript held by the Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. business records, 1906-1967, box 22, folder 223, document 3. - Holding Institution:
- Washington Memorial Library, Middle Georgia Regional Library
- Rights:
-
Page: [1]
[Note: This document contains typewritten, handwritten, and printed text.]
[printed text:
PHONE 9366 P. O. BOX 914
MARTIN THEATRES
Photoplays of Quality
Columbus, Ga. [Georgia]]
[typewritten text: April 4th 1925.
Mr. Wm. [William] Smith Mgr. [Manager]
The "Douglas" Theatre,
Macon Ga. [Georgia]
Dear Sir --
I hope that in writing you we are not inclined to be a bore or uncalled for worry, but as it seems you are in position to place us in the right channel to grasp the thing that will eliminate this worry in the future. That is, having noticed the various good vaudeville shows that have played your house lately, if could be possible to send some of them over my way if only once a month.
In regards to your last letter, why I did not answer right away was because we hadn't completed our stage with the proper scenery to take care of a show. Now as before stated in a previous letter our stage is complete and we can accomadate [accommodate] most any show that travels south.
Having written Mr. Reevin of the T.O.B.A. [Theatre Owners Booking Association] a few days ago, we received a reply from him stating that the Dream theatre would get the bookings on all shows coming to Columbus. Of course that is all right in a way but it does'nt seem quite fair to the show people traveling south, having to pass up Columbus when we have a 1100 capacity house like ours to accommodate their show, and a drawing power from patronage that has'nt been tested to date. If we can pack em [them] in with a movie there is no telling what can be done with The Sandy Burns Co [Company] or Mamie Smith and a score of others that booked south.
If I'm not asking too much will appreciate any information that can give or any attraction that is available and can play our house that will take the time to write us their details. Would like to hear from any teams or tabs coming your way.
yours very respectfully]
[Signed] [written text: Homer H Williams]
[typewritten text: Mgr. [Manager] The Liberty Theatre Columbus Ga. [Georgia]]