ENTERTAINMENTS’ THRIVED IN THE EARLY 1900S

In the early 1900s, a certain kind of traffic jam was common in many small towns in Chester County.
It happened whenever a troupe of entertainers came to town, bringing along fleets of scenery and even live animals by the train-car load.
These groups had nothing to do with the circus, though. The elaborate stage sets that floated through the streets – “on a daily basis,” as one newspaper reporter in West Chester observed in 1907 – were headed for the local opera house.
Before movie houses, residents came in droves to such places for what was known as “dramatic entertainments.” Yet “opera” rarely meant a night with Caruso.
Judging from the old advertisements and playbills, the performances included everything from poetry readings to “sensational” musical performances, with casts of 20 to 60 people. Patrons demanded, the reporter in 1907 noted, “a different scene for every act,” whereas only “a few years ago, a few sliding scenes . . . answered for every performance.”
At West Chester’s Grand Opera House in 1912, the management “was forced to disappoint” after a traveling act went to Chester “by mistake.” But otherwise, audiences got a seemingly endless dose of melodrama.
The play roster in 1908, for instance, included A Poor Relation, The Poisoner, and The Lost Trail.
When the building, which now houses part of the Chester County Historical Society, was built in 1848, it was known as Horticultural Hall.
In 1880, it was purchased at a sheriff’s sale and converted into a theater by local entrepreneur Uriah Hunt Painter, who enjoyed only brief success.
A reporter noted that Painter, a nationally known Civil War correspondent, had a “nose for the news” but no ability when it came to “securing suitable” dramatic attractions.
Still, minstrel shows, vaudeville acts and one-act plays could be found elsewhere – even in smaller communities such as Parkesburg.
In early postcards, the Parkesburg Opera House resembles a newsstand or small store. But early notices describe it as having a 1,000-seat theater, “two stores,” a “pool room,” and rooms for “secrete societies.”
About the same time that West Chester audiences were enjoying a “romance of the Western Plains,” the Parkesburg Opera House featured “home talent shows” and magic acts.
The latter perhaps did not match the “brace of horses,” including a $5,000 Morgan mare that appeared in the Western romance. But it apparently was entertaining enough, with acts that turned “a Mrs. Holliger’s watch” into a “bunch of carnations,” as one paper reported in 1909.
At the Downingtown Opera House on Brandywine Avenue, the entertainments included basketball games, boxing bouts, and high school graduations.
Built in 1903 in the popular Romanesque Revival style, the building was among the few in the county designed as a opera house. Yet it also featured removable seats.
In Coatesville, notices of a “Poultry Show,” followed by the annual ball and “Mazy” formal dance, appeared in the local papers in 1900.
Such events might seem contradictory, but according to an 1893 description of the Coatesville Opera House, the three-story building was designed in 1870 as both a “town market” and an “amusement hall.”
Although it initially floundered, the “largest” opera house in Chester County was soon attracting “New York- style” productions with its dressing rooms, and a special backstage exit for “star performers,” as early ads proclaimed.
In 1909, those stars included “Kaiser and his performing dogs.”