This collection is composed of business records and clippings related to the operation of Columbia Amusement Co. Santa Rosa, CA theaters.

Columbia Amusement Co. was a show business and entertainment organization that produced "clean" burlesque and variety shows that traveled around the United States from 1902 to 1927. Their San Francisco office ran three theaters in the town of Santa Rosa in the neighboring Sonoma County: The Columbia Theater, the Nickelodeon, and Theaterette. The Columbia Theater primarily showcased live performances in their 700-seat theater featuring the Northwestern Theatre Arts Association and offered Vaudeville shows every Saturday and Sunday, while the Nickelodeon and Theaterette continuously showed licensed moving pictures with accompanying music from a phonograph. The population of the town was around 10,000 people at the time after the 1906 Santa Rosa earthquake. A few years after the town recovered people started moving away and the moving pictures no longer flourished as they once had. The Nickelodeon and Theaterette eventually closed while The Columbia Theater was sold in 1916 to the managers of another theater in town, The Rose.

0.03 Linear Feet 2 folders

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