Movie calendars from Ogden Theater in Denver in the 80s.
April 7, 2016 2:49 PM Subscribe
These were printed schedules, I think four color, listing the monthly movie schedule for the Ogden Theater in Denver in the 80s. They were everywhere at the time, and are apparently nowhere now. But there must be some floating around somewhere, scanned or no, and I need them. It's, um, an emergency. Yeah, emergency!
I've been searching the internet for these on and off over the past year or two, I guess, and have not only not found them, but I haven't even found anyone else mentioning them.
I'd just let this go until yesterday, my brother told me he has been looking for them too. We are both really weirded out that we can't find them, and doubly weirded out to find out that we'd both been searching for them.
My best description, as I recall them: These were printed on thin, matte but not newsprint quality paper, they were probably 8.5x14" or so, and I think they were trifolded. They were in calendar format, listing the movies showing by day, with at least one graphic for each date. It was very cluttered, as the theater would have double- triple- or more features that would sometimes change daily, and I think they had three screening rooms at the time or so. And the program director(s) obviously really knew their stuff. They'd have themed multi-features, director retrospectives, things like that, so there would be lots and lots and lots of movies on each calendar. I used to arrange my schedule around the Ogden's.
Like I said, these were everywhere at the time. They'd have stacks of them in newspaper stands all around the city. I had the vague impression that it was a common format, like a standard 'revival/art house' style schedule that other theaters would follow as well, but my brother thought it might be specific to the Ogden.
Are these the most ephemeral of ephemera? Did they all just magically disintegrate somehow, taking their memory along with them, and my brother and I share some genetic anomaly that rendered us immune to the forgetting?
Ideally, someone is just going to answer with a ready link to a complete archive of high resolution images of the calendars, but I will also accept similar style schedules, leads, or any other details that might help me locate them.
Hell, I would be happy for someone else to tell me they remember them too.
I've been searching the internet for these on and off over the past year or two, I guess, and have not only not found them, but I haven't even found anyone else mentioning them.
I'd just let this go until yesterday, my brother told me he has been looking for them too. We are both really weirded out that we can't find them, and doubly weirded out to find out that we'd both been searching for them.
My best description, as I recall them: These were printed on thin, matte but not newsprint quality paper, they were probably 8.5x14" or so, and I think they were trifolded. They were in calendar format, listing the movies showing by day, with at least one graphic for each date. It was very cluttered, as the theater would have double- triple- or more features that would sometimes change daily, and I think they had three screening rooms at the time or so. And the program director(s) obviously really knew their stuff. They'd have themed multi-features, director retrospectives, things like that, so there would be lots and lots and lots of movies on each calendar. I used to arrange my schedule around the Ogden's.
Like I said, these were everywhere at the time. They'd have stacks of them in newspaper stands all around the city. I had the vague impression that it was a common format, like a standard 'revival/art house' style schedule that other theaters would follow as well, but my brother thought it might be specific to the Ogden.
Are these the most ephemeral of ephemera? Did they all just magically disintegrate somehow, taking their memory along with them, and my brother and I share some genetic anomaly that rendered us immune to the forgetting?
Ideally, someone is just going to answer with a ready link to a complete archive of high resolution images of the calendars, but I will also accept similar style schedules, leads, or any other details that might help me locate them.
Hell, I would be happy for someone else to tell me they remember them too.
Best answer: I used to plan around them too so I can definitely confirm they were a thing. Harold and Maude on Thursday! Koyaanisqatsi is coming!
The Ogden is a live venue now but it was part of the Landmark theatre chain. Maybe call the Esquire or the Mayan and see if one of the managers know if there are any hanging around.
Definitely a slower, simpler time.
posted by BoscosMom at 3:08 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Ogden is a live venue now but it was part of the Landmark theatre chain. Maybe call the Esquire or the Mayan and see if one of the managers know if there are any hanging around.
Definitely a slower, simpler time.
posted by BoscosMom at 3:08 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Hi-- are you thinking of this style of movie theater calendar?
I do remember other theaters using this template.
posted by calgirl at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I do remember other theaters using this template.
posted by calgirl at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You might also want to contact the Stephen Hart Library and Research Center at History Colorado. I know they have a bunch of ephemera in their collection, which may or may not be in their online catalogs.
posted by heurtebise at 4:44 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by heurtebise at 4:44 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Was the Ogden Theater part of the Landmark Theatres chain back then? Because you just described the '70s-'80s movie calendars from the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee. (Though I remember those as two-color. Each month would have a new second color to the black.) Anyway, I bet if you contact Landmark they would have an image or sample. I wish I still had one!
posted by quarterinmyshoe at 5:11 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by quarterinmyshoe at 5:11 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone.
I did check the library and other archives I could find, but I figured I'd bother internet strangers before I bother a librarian or curator directly. That is my next step if I don't find them. (I had NOT found that History Colorado site before, though, and it is now threatening to distract me from my search.)
I had totally misremembered the Landmark thing! I thought this was from before it was bought by Landmark, but I re-checked, and they bought it in 1977, so that opens up the possibility of harassing Landmark as well.
That linked calendar is a similar format, but not exactly. They were much messier and busier, and on second thought, I think I'm wrong about the size. They must have been much bigger than legal paper. And yes, they easily could have been two color. I can definitely picture that now that you mention it.
I'm making progress now! I'm going to leave this unresolved for a little while to see if I can gather more clues.
Still. It is incredibly bizarre that there aren't at least some of those schedules readily available on the web. They were everywhere. You'd think at least one of the people who obsessed over those things would have been a hoarder who got around to scanning some at least.
posted by ernielundquist at 5:44 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
I did check the library and other archives I could find, but I figured I'd bother internet strangers before I bother a librarian or curator directly. That is my next step if I don't find them. (I had NOT found that History Colorado site before, though, and it is now threatening to distract me from my search.)
I had totally misremembered the Landmark thing! I thought this was from before it was bought by Landmark, but I re-checked, and they bought it in 1977, so that opens up the possibility of harassing Landmark as well.
That linked calendar is a similar format, but not exactly. They were much messier and busier, and on second thought, I think I'm wrong about the size. They must have been much bigger than legal paper. And yes, they easily could have been two color. I can definitely picture that now that you mention it.
I'm making progress now! I'm going to leave this unresolved for a little while to see if I can gather more clues.
Still. It is incredibly bizarre that there aren't at least some of those schedules readily available on the web. They were everywhere. You'd think at least one of the people who obsessed over those things would have been a hoarder who got around to scanning some at least.
posted by ernielundquist at 5:44 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The closest example I could find was this lo-res one of the River Oaks, Houston schedule. I remember the calendar looking a lot like this, but maybe more varied in the layout.
posted by quarterinmyshoe at 5:55 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by quarterinmyshoe at 5:55 PM on April 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I figured I'd bother internet strangers before I bother a librarian or curator directly.
It's no bother! In fact the largest collection of public librarians in the country, maybe the world, is in Denver right now. They live for this stuff and if the first person you ask isn't jazzed to help you, ask someone else. It's quite possible they have a flat file somewhere with local stuff like this. If they're not helpful I know a great academic librarian in Colorado Springs who would probably be up for it if the people in Denver aren't happy, drop me a note.
posted by jessamyn at 6:47 PM on April 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's no bother! In fact the largest collection of public librarians in the country, maybe the world, is in Denver right now. They live for this stuff and if the first person you ask isn't jazzed to help you, ask someone else. It's quite possible they have a flat file somewhere with local stuff like this. If they're not helpful I know a great academic librarian in Colorado Springs who would probably be up for it if the people in Denver aren't happy, drop me a note.
posted by jessamyn at 6:47 PM on April 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I collected Landmark schedules from the early 80s for a time, mostly from Milwaukee but also Chicago and a couple from CA. Unfortunately I tossed most of them 25 years ago when downsizing. I know people that have collected them locally so you should be able to find someone in Denver who collected them. Hit up antique shops and paper memorabilia shows and ask around. Most likely you will find them.
Assuming you are looking for when a specific movie was shown you can look through newspaper microfilm and find the same information.
posted by JJ86 at 11:56 AM on April 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Assuming you are looking for when a specific movie was shown you can look through newspaper microfilm and find the same information.
posted by JJ86 at 11:56 AM on April 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thetortoise at 2:56 PM on April 7, 2016 [2 favorites]