Tag: Towers Theatre
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Jesse P. Johnson
Jesse P. Johnson was born around 1873 in Des Moines, Iowa, and moved to Camden, New Jersey, around 1890. The 1890-1891 Camden City Directory lists him living at the corner of 9th and Pearl Streets and working as a salesman in Philadelphia. He married his wife, Jennie, in the early 1890s. By 1920, Johnson had…
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Towers Theatre
The Towers Theatre on Broadway and Pine Street predated movies, and featured both film and live entertainment into the 1950s. During the theater’s glory days, in the vaudeville era, it featured its own orchestra, led by Gus Borchard and featuring Ollie Bundick on drums and Sammy Adams on the piano. Camden’s own Don Traveline also…
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Hotel Walt Whitman
The Walt Whitman Hotel was a venture championed by the Greater Camden Movement, a coalition of business and civic leaders that began to coalesce shortly before and during World War I. They had proven highly effective in raising county-wide funds to support the American war effort. Post-war, their ambitious vision to invigorate economic recovery and…
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Broadway
Broadway, once hailed as the “Mall of South Jersey,” emerged as Camden’s bustling commercial and cultural spine, reflecting the city’s dynamism and diversity. Stretching southwest from 6th Street to Ferry Avenue and beyond to Gloucester City, Broadway epitomized urban vibrancy and vitality during Camden’s industrial zenith. In the wake of the Civil War, Camden embarked…
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Kathryn H. Trado, Singer in Vaudeville
Philadelphia Inquirer – March 24, 1998 By S. Joseph Hagenmayer, Inquirer Correspondent. Kathryn Hamilton Trado, 88, a 1930s and 1940s vaudeville singer heralded as "Camden's own," died Wednesday at West Jersey Hospital-Camden. An Oaklyn resident since 1954, she was born and raised in Camden. Mrs. Trado used the stage name "Kay Hamilton" as a singer…
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Jesse Johnson Dies at Age 77
Camden Courier-Post – May 12, 1950 Jesse P. Johnson, 77, former vaudeville star, was stricken fatally Thursday while in bed at his home, 19 North Twenty-eighth street. Mr. Johnson was found by a son, Willard G. Johnson, manager of the Towers theare, who called police. Dr. R. Dean Cavalli, county physician, and Coroner Robert J.…
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Moore In Camden Speech Demands Fairness at Polls
Camden Courier-Post – October 29, 1931 Towers Theatre Packed at Climax of All-Day Invasion Here TOURS SMALLER TOWNS By RANSLOE BOONE Demanding a fair election and protection to Democratic voters, A. Harry Moore was greeted here last night by the largest crowd to gather at a Democratic meeting in Camden’s recent history. The Democratic candidate…