Ascher Brothers Explained

Ascher Brothers was a theater business in Chicago and Wisconsin.^[1] It was owned by brothers including Max Ascher, Nathan Ascher, and Harry Ascher who established it in 1909.^[2] The business owned more than two dozen theaters^[3] and was one of the city's largest owners of theaters along with Balaban and Katz and Lubliner and Trinz.^[4] The brothers exited the theater business in 1929.

Ascher Brothers was founded in 1909 and operated nickelodeons and acquiring, leasing, and constructing additional theaters through the 1910s. By 1919 Ascher Brothers operated at least 15 theaters including the Adelphi, Calo, Milford, Cosmopolitan, Metropolitan, and Crown. They added the Portage Park Theatre Building built in 1919.^[5] Their theaters succeeded the simple storefront operations and preceded the grand theater houses of the 1920s.^[5]

One of their theaters opened across from Marshall Field and Company on State Street.^{[6] [7]}

Their theaters included organs and five-piece orchestras^[8] including at the Portage Theater. Henry L. Newhouse designed several of their theaters.

By 1923, Goldwyn Pictures owned a 60 percent stake in Ascher company stock.^[9]

Theaters

• Adelphi^[5]
• Calo^[5]
• Milford^[5]
• Cosmo Theater (1913) at 7938 South Halsted
• Frolic Theater (1915) at 951 East 55th Street
• Colony^[10]
• Columbus Theater (1916) at 6236 South Ashland (63rd St. And Ashland Avenue)^[11]
• Roosevelt Theatre
• Metropolitan
• Oakland Square^[12]
• Portage Theater (1919), leased by Ascher Brothers^[5]
• Commercial Theater (1920) at 9150 South Commercial

Notes and References

1. Book: Schiecke, Konrad. Downtown Chicago's Historic Movie Theatres. February 10, 2017. McFarland. 9780786488650. Google Books.
2. Web site: Max Ascher, Chicago Theatre Owner, Dies After Long Illness. July 23, 1934.
3. Web site: The Chicago Banker: A Weekly Paper Devoted to the Banking and Financial Interests of the Middle West. May 1, 1922. Chicago Banker Company. Google Books.
4. Book: Balaban, David. The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz. October 13, 2006. Arcadia Publishing. 9780738539867. Google Books.
5. Web site: PORTAGE PARK THEATRE, Final Landmark Recommendation adopted by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. March 7, 2013. City of Chicago.
6. Book: Schiecke, Konrad. Downtown Chicago's Historic Movie Theatres. February 10, 2017. McFarland. 9780786488650. Google Books.
7. Web site: Movie Theaters Previously Operated by Ascher Brothers Inc. - Cinema Treasures. cinematreasures.org.
8. Web site: The Moving Picture World. August 22, 1916. World Photographic Publishing Company. Google Books.
9. Web site: Millard County Progress Review | 1923-05-18 | New Yorker Buys Chicago Theatre. newspapers.lib.utah.edu.
10. Book: Schiecke, Konrad. Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois, 1883-1960. February 28, 2011. McFarland. 9780786449200. Google Books.
11. Web site: The Moving Picture World. October 13, 1916. World Photographic Publishing Company. Google Books.
12. Profile No. 4 - Eddy Hanson. M.H. Doner. The Tibia. journals.shareok.org. 8. Summer, 1957.