Cowboys and Indians on Elm Street — 1915
by Paula Bosse
Photo by Joe Lawrence, circa 1915
by Paula Bosse
The photo above, showing two not-terribly-thrilled children dressed up in Old West costumes, was taken by Joe Lawrence in his “Crystal Electric Studio” at 1608 Elm Street, one of many small businesses located above the Crystal Theater.
The Crystal Theatre — with office space above (click for larger image)
Joseph Z. Lawrence (1884-1943) was born in Romania and settled in Dallas in 1909. In 1915 he was doing business as a photographer at 1608 Elm Street. Lawrence later owned the Lawrence Art Galleries, and, along with his son Harry, was an early supporter of the Dallas Nine artists.
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Sources & Notes
Top studio photo by Joe Lawrence, found on eBay.
Photo of the Crystal Theater found on Pinterest, here. A photo of the 101-year old building taken during the recent spate of downtown demolition — with the wrecking ball literally INCHES away from it — is here. The Dallas Morning News article it comes from is here.
At some point the address of the building (originally 1608-10) became 1610 Elm, perhaps when it was extensively remodeled in the late 1920s and became a retail store.
1914 — “Comfort & Refinement”!
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Copyright © 2014 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
Crystal Theater photo can also be found at the Dallas Public Library IIRC
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Thanks, Peter. Do you know whether the building pictured (and described in the DMN article linked above as “1610 Elm” is actually the (renovated) Crystal? It looks very similar — I’m wondering if the building’s address changed from 1608 to 1610 at some point — or if the DMN picture shows a building that would have been NEXT to the (previously demolished) Crystal Theatre?
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Looking at this Google Map streetview http://goo.gl/maps/nQHbB there is a possibilty that the building is the old Crystal Theater. looks like a new facade was put over the old one. would have to research the old city directories
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Okay. I should have gone to the Sanborn maps last night when this started bugging me. It IS the same building. I’ve updated the post. Here’s the pertinent detail of the map from the 1920s, showing the cinema directly behind 1611 Elm — the destruction of which set off the recent outcry over the demolition of a giant chunk of that block, on Elm and Main. Poor little theater. 101 years old. Bigger here: http://bit.ly/1tTJr4k
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great. are the Sanborn’s online?
and it was in 1911 that the city changed the street numbering. you can see how the change was presented in the city directory here
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jwheat/worleys1911streets/worleys1911streets.html
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the listing for the Crystal theater can be seen here
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The Sanborn maps are on the Dallas Public Library registered (free) site. I knew that the numbering changed in 1911, and I’ve longed for the day I would find a 1911 directory online showing BOTH numbers and, lo, that day is here!! I had no idea Jim Wheat had that. THANK YOU, Peter!
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didn’t realize the Sanborn maps were available on the DPL site. will have to bookmark. would be nice if all the Dallas city directories were available online
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The Crystal Theatre opened in 1911 at 1608 Elm. There had been in 1910 a Theodoro Bragni listed at 370 Elm which became 1608 when the numbers were changed. The Crystal Theatre was part of a chain of Texas theaters owned by G. K.Jorgensen who owned theaters in Galveston. It was decorated inside to resemble an oriental temple. Wood carvings and huge painted murals and dramatic crystal chandeliers made it twinkle inside. The first Wurlitzer theater organ in the Southwest was installed in the Crystal in 1913 to accompany vaudeville and silent movies.
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I love those old theaters — it’s such a shame when they are gutted like this one was or, worse, demolished. Like this one was.
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I can’t help with the history of the building but can say that the picture dates from about a dozen years after the theater’s 1913 opening. Both the pictured cars are mid-1920s models, tho I can’t name or specifically date either one.
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Thanks, Bob. I’ve updated the post. I was just going by the original poster’s date. I’m horrible with determining the vintage of automobiles. Surely there must be some quick and easy visual chart somewhere?
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[…] Automatic Music Co. soon after his arrival in Dallas, D. L. Whittle was also a partner in the Crystal Theatre and, most famously, the founder of the Whittle Music […]
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