The Garberville Theatre (circa 1952 or 1953?) and...
The Garberville Drive-In ~ (possibly opening night, Friday, July 17th,1953)
The 10 photos below were sent to me via USPS to scan and archive from Jan Byard, granddaughter of Byron Byard, owner of the Garberville theatre for over 30 years beginning around 1941. They were scanned at 600 dpi to preserve as much original detail as possible. Clicking on any of them will open the full resolution photos in a separate browser window. They are rich with detail!
The first 4 photos are of the Garberville Theatre itself sometime after the major remodeling that was completed in January 1952. The remaining 6 have been identified as being from the now vanished Garberville Drive-In entrance, snack bar, and projection room (on the site of the current Cal-Trans yard just north of Garbrville near Renner Petroleum). Judging from the copious number of flowers present in the snack bar photos it seems very likely that these were taken on either the opening night on Friday, July 17th, 1953 or perhaps at an associated official "Grand Opening" within that time frame.
Jan herself was not able to identify most of the people in the photos except for her grandfather Byron and his business partner and co-owner Arthur Earl Vann (he preferred to be called Earl). Most of the names for people in the photo captions below were subsequently supplied Frances Johnson, a woman who had worked at the theatre in the 50's who had sent me an email about having enjoyed viewing the history page at the Garberville Theatre web site. I originally posted this page as a private URL for Frances to examine the photos and supply any information she might have on the individuals in the photos. The captions in quotations have been copied verbatim from her email. Many thanks to Frances for taking the time to help identify so many of the individuals in the photos.
Jan Byard has indicated to me that these photos may used without restriction, but if any of them are to be republished in any manner, including the world wide web, please include the following credit to her for having so lovingly taken the time to have carefully packaged and sent them to me to share with the community.
ANY Re-use of these photos should include the following credit:
"Photo(s) Courtesy of Jan Byard"
>>> If space allows please give credit to the identification of the individuals in the photos to Frances Johnson <<<
Enjoy! - Ed Truthan - Garberville Theatre Webmaster
Please address any questions or additional knowledge about the photos or information on this page to: edtruthan@gmail.comClick here to Return to the Garberville Theatre History Page
Recgonize that pocorn machine? It's still in use at the theatre today! Wanna see the candy bar and cigarette brands available? Click for the bigger picture and zoom in to check them out!
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"First picture: Boy I think was ticket taker Gerry Davis (not sure) behind the candy counter Ada Fuller Zunino,
Mr. Paul Todd manager. The uniforms for candy girl were nylon some pink & some blue".
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"Second picture: Emma Fuller McDaniel – black headed girl, the other girl I don’t know.
The uniforms were gold satin (dry clean) and dark green slacks ".
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"Third picture: Emma McDaniels, Ada Zunino, ...?, Gerry Davis, Mr. Todd.
Gerry Davis was the son of the cashier Mrs. Davis and he also trained to become the projectionist."
The Theatre sometime after the remodel re-opening on January 12th, 1952.
This photo appeared in Box Office magazine in the December 15th, 1952 issue.
The entrance to the long-gone Garberville Drive-In.
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"The picture of the drive-in has Mrs. Davis cashier, and Loyal Kelly on the right. I can’t remember the other person".
Owners Earl Vann (left) and Byron Byard (right) at The Garberville Drive-In snack bar.
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"Opening night of the drive-in, Emma, Mrs. Todd, Ada and Mr. Todd".
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"Fourth drive-in picture: Left to right- Doyal Kelly (he is dead), Emma, Big Boss, Ada , Loyal Kelly, Paul Todd, Mrs. Todd .
You probably have figured out the boys were twins. They would take their flashlights and usher cars in the rows ".
Owner Byron Byard (2nd from right) and unidentified others at The Garberville Drive-In projection booth.
FRANCES JOHNSON:
"The last picture of the man with glasses and hat I think is Mr. Blumenstock"
ANY Re-use of these photos should include the following credit:
"Photo(s) Courtesy of Jan Byard"
>>> If space allows please give credit to the identification of the individuals in the photos to Frances Johnson <<<
Enjoy! - Ed Truthan - Garberville Theatre Webmaster
Please address any questions or additional knowledge about the photos or information on this page to: edtruthan@gmail.com
Click here to Return to the Garberville Theatre History Page