Do You Know This Building?
 Answers: 1.d) Delta; 2.c) 1928; 3.c) Egyptian Revival Located on Delta’s Main Street within the downtown commercial area, the theater was constructed in 1928 at a cost of $75,000. The 1920s were the golden age of motion picture theater construction, with many theaters across the country designed in exotic architectural styles. The Egyptian Revival’s potential for exotic, mysterious theatricality lent itself well to the design of movie palaces during this period. However few examples of exotic revival architecture exist in Colorado. Denver architect Montana Fallis designed this theater. He is also known for the well-preserved Mayan Theater in Denver. The building’s smooth monolithic exterior finish, battered walls, straight-headed windows with inclined jambs, deep cavetto (concave) cornice, and large vulture and sun disk motif are characteristic of the Egyptian Revival style. Indirect lighting was installed throughout the building, along with 16 gilded plaster Egyptian busts. The foyer had leather furniture and an ornamental drinking fountain. The state-of-the-art mechanical systems ventilated air along the floor, creating a constant 69-degree temperature. There were 750 air-cushioned upholstered leather seats, and a drapery expert installed over $3000 dollars of silk marquisette and gold braid with fringe drapes. The "cry room," ladies lounge, men’s lounge, and projection room (which could only be accessed from the men’s lounge) were located behind the balcony seating.
The Egyptian Theater had undergone substantial interior changes over the years, but was returned to its original appearance utilizing several State Historical Fund grants after being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |
The winter of 1932-33 was one of the toughest in the history of the amusement
business, and theater operators were faced with poor attendance, particularly on weeknights. About a
third of the country’s regularly operating movie houses closed by midsummer. Those that survived used
all kinds of promotions to attract customers. One of the most successful was Bank Night, which began
in this theater. Originally advertised as "Gold Night," the Egyptian Theater began giving away thirty
dollars in gold every Thursday (starting March 2, 1933) for ten weeks. On the eleventh Thursday, $75 was
given away. Entry blanks were obtained with each 25-cent purchase at a participating business, and
entrants had to be present at the theater with a paid admission ticket to win. The promotion was so
successful that within two months, the Egyptian Theater headed the list of 28 Fox theaters in five
Rocky Mountain states. By December of that year, Charles Yaeger, the Fox district manager who devised
the idea, had organized Affiliated Enterprises with his boss, Rick Ricketson. The two set up an office
in Denver, patented "Bank Night" and began promoting their copyrighted plan nationwide. Four years later,
Bank Night had "blossomed into an American institution" with more than 100 million moviegoers in 5,000
theaters nationwide participating. Bank Night was not without controversy, and eventually the United State
Post Office would rule it a lottery and illegal.
