While conducting research on the Star Theatre in Burns Oregon, I have been challenged with the facts that Burns is a very small city, and along with that there were multiple operating theaters in Oregon that were names “Star” at the time, there were other in Astoria, Bend, Medford and many more across the State at the time. However using the historic Oregon Newspapers collection I was able to find an advertise
This advertisement gave me a few pieces of information, first we know that it was considered a new theatre in 1908, and that at the time it was open every night showing moving pictures. The show ran from 7:00 to 10:00 pm and the admission was 15 cents and 25 cents, also in this particular issue of the newspaper, it was the only theatre advertising, which gives us the assumption that is was either the only theatre in the area, or there were very few. This is also backed up the the fact that geographically, Burns is in the eastern side of Oregon, far from any of the big cities in the state at the time. A few questions I raised about this advertisement were first, what are the different prices for, were they based on the prices for adults vs children, man vs woman, or did they depend on the show that was being produced. Also this Advertisement doesn’t show how many tickets are issued or how many seats are in the theatre itself. Going forward in my research on this theatre the capacity of the theatre will be something I will look for along with of there were any rival theaters in the area. But overall this Advertisement I was able to find helped me with a good basis for my research to start with.
Star Theatre, advertisement, The Times-Herald, October 3, 1908 p. 2