Custer County
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Early residents of Mackay
felt the same need for entertainment that we feel today but their options in
1910 were restricted to local dances, an occasional traveling minstrel or stage
show, and sporting events. That is until the spring of 1910 when two
enterprising businessmen, a Mr. Jackson and a Mr. McKibbon, took a lease on the
old H.E. Gilbert building, and readied it for Mackay's first moving picture
shows. It would be called thereafter the Crystal Theater and would be the site
of the debut of "silent films" for the residents of this growing community.
According to an article in the Mackay Miner, on May 3, 1910 a large opening
night crowd was thoroughly entertained. Illustrated songs were sung by a Mr.
Williams who also played the piano, and was accompanied by one of the
proprietors, Mr. McKibbon, with a set of trap drums. It may be difficult for
today's movie goers to grasp that "silent films" were just that, silent; that
the actors' words were printed at the bottom of the screen to be read and that
all mood and background music and any sound effects were added by in-house
musicians. There was no electricity in those years, so the pictures on the
screen were projected by a carbide lamp and the film fed through by means of an
operator turning a hand crank. The "Crystal" featured new pictures three times a
week and for the adult price of 15 cents and 10 cents for children, theater
goers got their money's worth.
With the coming of electricity to the town
in 1912, better and more elaborate pictures shows followed, leading to the
establishment of the "Louise", "Madios", and "Paramount Empress", theaters which
all had their days of popularity. The "talkies" would come to Mackay some years
later, and will be the subject of another "Bit of Mackay History."
Contributed by Earl A. Lockie, President of the South Custer County Historical Society
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This page was last updated 12/07/2023