Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Temple Tuesday: Dressed-up in Dayton



I would never have guessed that Shirley Temple ever went to Dayton, Ohio, but here’s the photographic evidence. Next to her is a mic from radio station WING. Originally licensed as WDBS in 1924, its call letters were changed in 1939 to WING to become synonymous with Dayton's aviation history. At that time, the station was located above the Loews Theater on Main Street in downtown Dayton. As progress would have it, Loews was demolished and is now a GORGEOUS parking lot! I am guessing that Shirley was here for a premiere, standing in front of the theatre. Here’s a pic of the theatre I found on the Cinema Treasures website:



…and during its 1975 demolition:



This dress must have been a favorite of Shirley’s. You can see it in this shot from her Sweet Sixteen party:



…and in this lobby card for “I’ll Be Seeing You”:



See more Shirley photos at my main website.

4 comments:

Fifthrider said...

"and is now a GORGEOUS parking lot!"

Was drinking coffee when I read that. Am now mopping up coffee.

Irene said...

Incredibly sad to see movie theater treasures like this demolished! Reminds me of the song "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot".

Darryl said...

Her dress also appears to be the same one in the poster as well

Daveland said...

Bryan: Cleanup in Aisle 5…

Irene: The Old Garden of Allah hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Now people are boo-hoo-ing about the upcoming loss of the 1960s bank that they dozed the Garden of Allah for.

Darryl - Yes; the lobby card shows her in the same dress. She also wore it for her high school graduation.