On September 4, 1904, the Columbia Theater took out a half-page advertisement in The Sunday Oregonian to announce their grand opening in Portland. The Columbia Theater boldly made sure their arrival was noticed by not filling the large area with graphics or text, but with a simple declaration of the experience Columbia offers and leaving the rest of the space blank.
The design and advertisement choices are simple, but effective. The massive amount of negative space surrounding the advertisement text quite literally separates them from the competition. The eye is drawn to the void in an otherwise busy page full of advertisements from other theaters. In the center of the mess of words on the page, is the Columbia Theater, separate, distinct, and different.
Ironically the Columbia Theater, despite lauding their impressive cast and high-class productions, was short-lived as the Columbia later on became the Belasco in 1905, which was another short-lived theater that similarly pushed their world class productions and impressed upon the public their “ cool” factor, which was a play on words to highlight their air-conditioning and popularity.
“We ask you to come and see us once. That you will want to come again we know.” These are the last words in the Columbia’s half-page spread. They play up their confidence to draw in customers. The “cooler-than-the-rest” schtick is a popular advertising technique and clearly was present even back in 1904 when the Columbia seduced patrons by being “the most beautiful and comfortable theater on the Pacific Coast” and by offering “the very highest-class stock company procurable in America.”
The Columbia Theater positioned itself above their competitors, literally at the top of the page, and also in their self-presentation. Describing themselves in terms of the highest quality possible, the competitors could only be less than them. Unfortunately, the swagger and bravado of the Columbia Theater, and their successor the Belasco, couldn’t draw in enough customers to keep their doors open longer than a year.
Citations:
"Columbia Theater Advertisement," The Sunday Oregonian, September 4th 1904: 21 Oregon Historic Newspapers
