The Star Theater (or Theatre, both spellings are used in primary sources) opened on July 5th, 1911. The attached news clipping is the first mention of the Star in the Bend Bulletin. The announcement is simple and includes key information like the proprietors, Hill and Newman, and that their intention is to show only high class films approved by state censorship boards. To start my research into the Star, I’ve dived into the Historic Oregon Newspapers database to explore the news coverage about the theater. From my initial searches I have gathered a lot of fascinating information. As someone who grew up in Bend, spending time looking at the Bend Bulletin, a publication that is still in operation today and has a certain nostalgic place in my memories, has made the experience fun and rewarding.
The Star’s coverage in the Bulletin is very diverse. Interestingly, the most common mention of the Star Theater in the paper has nothing to do with movies or motion picture exhibition. In fact, this theater was much more than a local movie spot, it was a community hub. The Star was rented out to local businesses, entities and groups for a wide range of meetings, events and benefits. Most commonly, the space was used by local churches as a place of congregation. There was a Presbyterian congregation who frequented the Star, a Methodist congregation, an Episcopal congregation and some Catholic benefits. Additionally, I’ve found records of Library benefits, Ladies Clubs, The Boy Scouts, and the Arnold Irrigation Company using the Star Theater as a community meeting place.
Another initial pattern I’ve noticed in the newspaper coverage is the interesting advertising tactics that the Star used. In addition to the occasional traditional block-image type advertisement providing information like price, promising a family-friendly environment and mentioning the exhibition of popular films, there were also other strategies to entice people to the theater. For instance, there is a recurring section where the Star Theater advertises their competition to crown “The Most Popular Girl in Bend.” For six weeks the patrons of the theater were able to vote for the most popular girl in town with their purchased ticket and the winning girl would win a “$75 Talking Machine”! I found this marketing strategy quite funny and clever, and it really documents a unique perspective of the contemporaneous time period. Overall, the start of my research into the Star Theater has been illuminating and has presented many more questions I hope to answer in the rest of the research process.
University of Oregon, Knight Library. “The Bend Bulletin. (Bend, or.) 1903-1931, July 05, 1911, Image 2.” The Bend Bulletin. (Bend, Or.) 1903-1931, July 05, 1911, Image 2 , M. Lueddemann, https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96088235/1911-07-05/ed-1/seq-2/.
