The Airdome Theater

Movies, Moonlight and Ragtime
 
Today it’s possible to see the latest Hollywood movie on demand with a personal DVD player or even a cell phone. But in 1915, in Greensboro, entertainment events were less common. Occasionally a small opera troupe or circus would come to town, but there were no theaters that showed the latest amazing invention, the motion picture. The new glamour of Hollywood’s silent films was a world away.
 
In time, a few enterprising local folks had a great idea. They erected a large tent right behind the row of buildings on Main Street.  A player piano was wheeled into the tent and the temporary Airdome Theater proved to be just fine for viewing the most popular films of the day.
 
It is said that sometimes the action on the screen did not exactly match the music emanating from the player piano. Now and then, a tender love scene might be serenaded with an up-tempo ragtime tune. But no one really minded because it was such a delight to spend an evening with Mary Pickford, Tom Mix or Francis X. Bushman. 
 
By the late 1920’s, the town had a real movie house--The Greenland Theater, where children and adults could sit and watch films all day on Saturdays. Owners kept that old player piano until the “talkies” were invented.
 
There are movie bills in the Museum that have the name Airdome Theater stamped on them. An online search of the movie names indicate they were silent films released in 1915. The first “talkie” was The Jazz Singer by Al Jolson, released in 1927. Local residents report that some silent films were shown when the real Greenland Theater was opened. Ragtime music was popular around 1895, so it’s likely the player piano offered ragtime!