Butterfly Theater

File:Butterfly Theater at night 1911.jpg" released October 17, 1911]]

The theater was built by Otto Meister and opened on September 2, 1911; it became nationally known.{{cite book |last1=Vollmert |first1=Les |title=Lower East Side Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey |date=1988 |publisher=City of Milwaukee Department of City Development |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |page=32 |url=https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityHPC/Books/LESSurvey.pdf |access-date=April 18, 2024 |archive-date=March 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319205843/https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityHPC/Books/LESSurvey.pdf |url-status=live }} The theater opened to 1,500 people and showed several movies. On opening night, a six-piece orchestra played and the Loos Brothers sang a duet called "My Hula Hula Love".{{cite news |title=Crowd Blocks Sidewalks |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=September 3, 1911}}

The building permit was issued May 7, 1911, and the Milwaukee Wrecking company began demolishing buildings the lot.{{cite news |title=Real Estate News |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=May 7, 1911}} The land was the site of two nickelodeon theaters.{{cite news |last1=Tanzilo |first1=Bobby |title=9 vintage Milwaukee movie theaters |url=https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/9-milwaukee-movie-theaters |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=OnMilwaukee |date=September 21, 2023 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419152919/https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/9-milwaukee-movie-theaters |url-status=live }} Meister partnered with John R. Freuler to create the Central Amusement Company which controlled the Butterfly Theater and also controlled the Vaudette, the Atlas and the Climax Theaters.{{cite book |last1=Widen |first1=Larry |last2=Anderson |first2=Judi |title=Silver Screens: A Pictorial History of Milwaukee's Movie Theaters |date=2007 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-87020-368-8 |page=55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dX0GtdAuYzAC&dq=Otto+Meister+milwaukee+theater+operator&pg=PA55 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |language=en |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201454/https://books.google.com/books?id=dX0GtdAuYzAC&dq=Otto+Meister+milwaukee+theater+operator&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q=Otto%20Meister%20milwaukee%20theater%20operator&f=false |url-status=live }}

In July 1911, construction began on the steel work for the building which was on Grand Avenue between Second and Third streets. The Milwaukee Sentinel reported that the building would be nearly fireproof and the cost of fireproofing was US$10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10,000|1911|r=0|fmt=eq}}).{{cite news |title=Building News |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=July 2, 1911}} One of the advertising claims was that the air in the theater was "completely changed every 3 minutes".{{cite news |title=Milwaukee's Music Palaces in the Spotlight |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=May 11, 1984}} One reason some theater-goers feared stagnant air was the concern about tuberculosis.{{cite book |last1=Widen |first1=Larry |title=Milwaukee Movie Theaters |date=2010 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-0-7385-8445-4 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNZnc_I4t8oC&dq=theatorium+milwaukee&pg=PA26 |access-date=23 April 2024 |language=en |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201508/https://books.google.com/books?id=GNZnc_I4t8oC&dq=theatorium+milwaukee&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q=theatorium%20milwaukee&f=false |url-status=live }} In America, tuberculosis was also known by the name "consumption" and it was the disease that killed more people than any other from 1800 to 1922 in urban areas.{{cite web |title=Tuberculosis in Europe and North America, 1800-1922 |url=https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/contagion/feature/tuberculosis-in-europe-and-north-america-1800-1922 |website=Contagion - CURIOSity Digital Collections |publisher=Harvard Library |access-date=23 April 2024 |language=en |date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=April 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408045054/https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/contagion/feature/tuberculosis-in-europe-and-north-america-1800-1922 |url-status=live }}

Admission to the theater was 10 cents ({{Inflation|US|.10|1911|r=0|fmt=eq}}) and the theater had a 1,500-seat capacity.{{cite news |title=Butterfly |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=September 26, 1911}} At the time, theaters regularly charged a nickel for admittance, but the Butterfly kept their price at 10 cents. During World War I, the Butterfly raised their price to 25 cents ({{Inflation|US|.25|1918|r=0|fmt=eq}}).

The architect of record was August Willmanns. Willmanns selected theater embellishments and decorative plaster items pre-made from a catalogue. At the time, many businesses offered interior decorative plaster pieces and ready-made building facades. The building cost was US$200,000 ({{Inflation|US|200,000|1911|r=0|fmt=eq}}).{{cite news |last1=Rankin |first1=Jim |title=The Butterfly Theatre |url=https://www.astortheater.org/history/bygone-area-theaters/#5-the-butterfly-theatre |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=Astor Theater |date=2022 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419003253/https://www.astortheater.org/history/bygone-area-theaters/#5-the-butterfly-theatre |url-status=live }} The theater hired a doorman who said he was Oscar award–winning actor and boxer Victor McLaglen, but he was an imposter. Victor McLaglen exposed the man as a fraud and revealed that the man was actually his brother Leopold McLaglen.{{cite news |last1=Ehrmann |first1=Pete |title=A new kind of madness: How a future Oscar-winner had to fight to restore his own identity from an unlikely Cream City imposter. |url=https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/victormclaglenoscar |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=OnMilwaukee |date=February 21, 2015 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419004442/https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/victormclaglenoscar |url-status=live }}

In 1929, a film in the projection room of the theater caught fire. The movie patrons had to evacuate as smoke was seen coming out of the windows. The film operator prevented the fire from spreading long enough for firemen to arrive and stop the fire.{{cite news |title=Patrons Flee and Movie Film Fires |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=July 24, 1929}} In December 1929, Warner Brothers negotiated to purchase the Butterfly Theater and other buildings on the site. They planned to build a 10-12 story building with a 2,500 seat capacity.{{cite news |title=City Will Get New Theater |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=December 4, 1929}} By January 1929, it was confirmed that the Butterfly was sold and it would be razed to make way for the US$3 million ({{Inflation|US|3,000,000|1930|r=0|fmt=eq}}) theater and hotel.{{cite news |title=Butterfly Made Movie History |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=January 5, 1930}} In February 1930, workers began demolishing the Butterfly Theater.{{cite news |title=Old Timer Tramps Streets Lost Among New Buildings |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=February 24, 1930}} The theater was demolished in 1930, and the Warner Theatre was built and opened on the site in 1931.{{cite news |last1=Foran |first1=Chris |title=Premieres, prayers and movie stars: The past lives of Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's new home |url=https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/2021/01/08/past-lives-milwaukee-symphony-orchestras-new-home/4128113001/ |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=January 8, 2021 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419003254/https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/2021/01/08/past-lives-milwaukee-symphony-orchestras-new-home/4128113001/ |url-status=live }}

The theater's facade featured a terra-cotta butterfly with 1,000 light bulbs. The butterfly measured {{cvt|27|ft}} wide and at the center of the butterfly was a woman's body. The facade had a total of 3,000 lightbulbs. Many of the decorative items including the butterfly were ordered pre-made. The butterfly was seen in a Decorators Supply Company catalog. A Chicago company supplied decorative elements and terra-cotta items.{{cite book |last1=Treu |first1=Martin |title=Signs, Streets, and Storefronts: A History of Architecture and Graphics Along America's Commercial Corridors |date=October 30, 2012 |publisher=JHU Press |location=Baltimore, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4214-0494-3 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8wmRYF7M64C&dq=butterfly+theater+1911&pg=PA60 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |language=en |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201452/https://books.google.com/books?id=t8wmRYF7M64C&dq=butterfly+theater+1911&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q=butterfly%20theater%201911&f=false |url-status=live }}

The seats were leather-upholstered. On the main floor there were 25 box-seats.{{cite news |last1=Marti |first1=Yance |title=1911 Butterfly Theater Opening |url=https://oldmilwaukee.net/blog/?p=1346 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=Old Milwaukee |publisher=Historic Milwaukee Inc. |date=March 18, 2014 |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508201512/https://oldmilwaukee.net/blog/?p=1346 |url-status=live }} The interior had marble floors and canaries in gilded cages. There were crystal chandeliers and a mirrored staircase. The theater had a $10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10,000|1911|r=0|fmt=eq}}) pipe organ with an orchestra and opera singers. Mrs. Margaret L. Battin of Milwaukee was the organ player.{{cite news |title=Society |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=September 14, 1911}}

File:Butterfly Theater front elevation drawing 1911.png|Butterfly Theater front elevation architectural drawing 1911

File:Butterfly Theater Milwaukee Wisconsin.jpg|Butterfly Theater at night (1912)

File:Butterfly Theater advertisement Milwaukee Sentinel September 1, 1911.jpg|Butterfly Theater advertisement Milwaukee Sentinel September 1, 1911

File:Butterfly Theater advertisement Milwaukee Sentinel September 1, 1911.jpg

File:Warner Grand Theater Milwaukee Wisconsin looking east.jpg|Warner Grand Theater (Milwaukee) on the site of the Butterfly Theater

File:Warner Grand Theater Milwaukee Wisconsin looking North toward the entrance on Wisconsin Ave.jpg|Warner Grand Theater (Milwaukee) facing Wisconsin Avenue

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Category:Event venues established in 1911

Category:Theatres in Milwaukee

Category:1911 establishments in Wisconsin

Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in Milwaukee

Category:Movie palaces

Category:1930s disestablishments in Wisconsin

Category:Theatres completed in 1911

Category:Former cinemas in the United States