Vanished from Victoria: Uptown Theatre had its own generator
Uptown Theatre had its own generator, powered by Ford V-8 engine
Rubin Frels (1887-1954) built the Uptown Theatre in 1931. It was a refined example of Art Deco architecture in vogue at that time.
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Rubin Frels (1887-1954) built the Uptown Theatre in 1931. It was a refined example of art deco architecture in vogue at the time.
For 47 years it stood across Constitution Street from De Leon Plaza until it was demolished as First Victoria National Bank expanded westward to Bridge Street.
When it opened, the Uptown sported jet-black sinks and commodes in the bathrooms, a black water fountain in the lobby, a stunning art deco chandelier in the lobby, as well as period furnishings. Minerals in the city water supply proved an impediment to having the fixtures "look" clean, so the black sinks, commodes and water fountain were replaced with white ones.
For film distributors and exhibitors, the movie week began on Friday. A typical week in theaters would be: double feature on Friday and Saturday; kid shows and serials Saturday morning, plus a midnight show that night; Sunday-Tuesday would be a different double feature; Wednesday-Thursday would bring the third set of double features for the week.
Remember that in Hollywood's heyday, there were movie theaters everywhere. Downtown alone, there were the Uptown, El Rancho, Rita, Queen/Princess/Venus, and Victoria theaters. The Tejas-Aztec drive in-theater sat just north of Mockingbird on the Hallettsville Highway. In the 1950s the Twin Ranch (Gemini) and Lone Tree both opened.
It took a lot of manpower to change the marquees, clean the auditoriums, sell the popcorn, usher the patrons in and out of the theaters. Many present-day Victorians worked in one of the Frels theaters as their first jobs.
As the result of a feud with CP&L over frequent power outages/blackouts, the industrious Frels built his own power generator, which hung outside the back wall of the theater. Powered by massive Ford V-8 engines, movies were able to play on into the night.
Frels bought the component parts and assembled the first air conditioning system installed in a theater in Victoria. The compressors shared the "shelf" with the power generator. The V-8's ran at least 12 hours a day at the Uptown. The vibration of the engines caused teeth to chatter and mortar to crack, but "the show must go on!"
The nameless 1942 hurricane blew the "U" off the Uptown Theatre sign; briefly, the Uptown became the Ptown. The hurricane caused the town to lose power, but not the Uptown. It remained open and air conditioned while the town was dark.
In the late 1950s, Rubin S. Frels (Little Rubin) had the façade of the theater modernized. Large, square, porcelain panels covered the art deco brickwork completely obscuring the three large Palladian windows and the decorative trim. Lights from the marquee shed a glow across the Plaza. Only when the Uptown was gone did we realize that an era truly had ended.
