Special to 1808Delaware
On Wednesday, August 18, the Delaware County Historical Society will hold a live program on 19th Century Opera Houses in the City of Delaware.
Benny Shoults, Society volunteer, will take you back over one hundred and forty years in a new program titled, “That’s Entertainment.” This will be The Delaware County Historical Society’s first live program of the year and will be held at the Barn at Stratford, 2690 Stratford Road in Delaware.
This program will cover a time from 1879 to 1934 and will revolve around the once grand City Opera House in downtown Delaware (pictured), as well as other Delaware entertainment venues during “The Golden Era of Entertainment” in which the entertainment possibilities were quite progressive and numerous.
This time in Delaware’s history and the history of the United States, the momentum of progress was going full steam ahead, and many inventions and industries were filling the daily news. More and more citizens had something called, “Leisure time”, which led to an expanding entertainment industry, a time when classical forms of entertainment met the newest technologies of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
A 1,050-seat auditorium known as the City Opera House graced the second floor of the City Hall building. It was the city’s social center for graduations and theatrical productions. Here, also, John Philip Sousa led his band in “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
Other celebrities who appeared here included Mark Twain, William McKinley, temperance advocate Carrie Nation, statesman William Jennings Bryan, Hollywood director Vincente Minnelli, Ben Hur author General Lew Wallace, and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher.
This program will begin at 7 PM. Admission is free but donations will be appreciated. Facial coverings are encouraged. Please register on Eventbright – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thats-entertainment-tickets-162819402215
