Hooray for the Hollywood! It opened 83 years ago

In 1936, La Crosse’s Hollywood Theater at 5th and Jay opened its doors, charging 25 cents for matinees and 35 cents at night. The building had nearly a thousand seats, featuring air-cushioned chairs ‘with room to spare.’ The theater received congratulations from several stars including Jack Benny, Gary Cooper, and Shirley Temple. Wisconsin native Fred MacMurray posed for a publicity photo, sitting in a movie studio and reading the La Crosse Tribune.

For the Hollywood’s grand opening, Paramount sent actress Mary Carlisle to La Crosse. Carlisle was a young blonde who had appeared in the Oscar-winning ‘Grand Hotel.’ During her brief visit to town, she got a huge cardboard key to the city from the mayor, and met with kids at St. Michael’s orphanage.

At holiday time, local business owners announced that the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, who had starred in a Disney cartoon, would be featured characters in La Crosse’s downtown Christmas parade. Huffing and puffing and shopping in 1936, yesterday in La Crosse.