Watching the Stars Under the Stars

For the most part the picture business in the Northwest followed the exhibition methods seen elsewhere in the country, though their adoption sometimes lagged the practices seen elsewhere. But sometimes we bucked the trend.

One of those was the prevalence of “airdome” cinemas, or, literally, movies shown outdoors. Airdomes were popular in the East and South, particularly during the summer months when the hot and humid weather made moviegoing in a traditional theatre uncomfortable. It would be a while before these venues could install the air conditioning necessary to keep things cool, so airdomes were a nice alternative in the summer, when movies could be shown outdoors, under the nighttime sky, in vacant lots, in tents or behind curtained areas separating the paying audience from the freeloaders.

Airdomes were less common in the Northwest because the moderate climate in western Washington lessened the need, with many theatres able to stay open year-round, even in the warmer weather. This would have been more of an issue in eastern Washington, where the summer temperatures were often higher and seasonal theatre closings occurred on a regular basis, particularly in rural areas. That’s not to say that there wasn’t any outdoor cinema in Washington state, it just wasn’t as common as elsewhere in the U.S.

Nonetheless, the airdome idea wasn’t entirely out of the question. When Abe Hammerstein, son of Oscar, visited Seattle in the summer of 1912, he observed that both Seattle and San Francisco would make ideal spots for airdome shows featuring a combination of high-class vaudeville and motion pictures.  Hammerstein’s idea was slightly different than the typical movie airdome – he envisioned an actual enclosed space with a glass roof where smoking would be allowed, and patrons could enjoy the show under the stars.  While nothing came from Hammerstein’s proposal, at least in Seattle, local dramatic critic J. Willis Sayre noted that he stayed in the Northwest for over a week, meeting local investors to explore possible building sites, then tabled the effort when a suitable location couldn’t be found. (See J. Willis Sayre, “Case Changes His Act Twice Daily,” Seattle Daily Times, 24 July 1912, Page 8; and J. Willis Sayre, “Chorus Girls Get Pleasant Surprise,” Seattle Daily Times, 2 August 1912, Page 9.)

Still, Natatorium Park in Spokane conducted their own experiment when they opened a formal airdome in the summer of 1915 and offered it free of charge to park visitors. The screen was made of aluminum, and seating was in an amphitheater setting that could accommodate up to 1,500 people. A. Courtsey operated a Motiograph machine, showing four or five reels of motion pictures each evening. The General Film Company was contracted to supply these pictures, which were carefully selected for family audiences made up of largely women and children. The program changed nightly, and typically screened on or after 8:30 p.m., or whenever it was dark enough to start the show.  Organizers reported that many from the area drove or walked into the pictures, which were a big hit with the public, particularly over the July 4^th holiday. (“Spokane Amusement Park Has New Airdome,” Moving Picture World, 24 July 1915, Page 686.)

Undoubtedly there were other (temporary) airdomes throughout the Northwest, but they weren’t a regular feature of the entertainment scene – the Natatorium experiment, for example, doesn’t appear to have been an annual event. E.C. Thomas, the Vancouver, B.C. correspondent for Moving Picture World, offered an explanation as to why airdomes didn’t enjoy the same popularity in the Northwest as those in other parts of North America. Although the milder summers made outdoor viewing pleasant, he admitted, “the days in this latitude are too long to make such an enterprise a paying proposition. Just now [Thomas was writing in early August] it is dusk at nine o’clock in the evening, while two months ago it was quite light even at that hour. About the time it is dark enough to start the show, most people are usually thinking of going to bed.” (E.C. Thomas, “Few Airdomes North of 54,” Moving Picture World, 21 August 1915, Page 1344.)