The Pastime Theatre

789 Market St. | map |

 

  

Opening: The Pastime Theatre opened c.1910. It's listed in the 1912 city directory. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this photo he located in the July 27, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World. It's on Internet Archive. The photo appeared on a page with various San Francisco news items. Regarding this theatre, they noted:  

 

"The Pastime Theater, a picture of which is shown herewith, has the distinction of being the only five-cent photoplay house West of Chicago which is furnished with leather upholstered chairs. Not content with stopping there, the management is having installed in the lobby a bronze drinking fountain with individual paper drinking cups, for the convenience of their patrons. 

 

"Manager Herzog makes claim that his house has more light per square foot in the lobby and front, than any other theater of its size on the Pacific Coast. Independent service is supplied by the Golden Gate Film Exchange, and is projected by two Motiograph machines."

 

 

A January 1907 view with the Investors Building, on the right, under construction at the corner of Market and 4th. Beginning around 1910 it would house the Pastime Theatre in its far storefront. Art Siegel located the photo by an unknown photographer on the Open SF History Project website. It's from the Helen Sjoberg Collection, appearing on the site courtesy of Vicky Walker of the Bernal History Project.

Beyond the Investors Building it's the framing for the Humboldt Bank Building. That's the gutted Call Building farther east. 

Progress as of October 1907. The Humboldt Building would open in 1908. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the photo. It's another on the Open SF History Project website. It's by Martin Behrman and is from the Martin Behrman Negative Collection in the archives of the Golden Gate NRA. 

 

 

A c.1908 card featuring the newly completed Humboldt Bank Building. It's from the Greg Gaar postcard collection. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it on the SF Memory site.

 

 

Another c.1908 card. In 1909 part of the building this side of the Humboldt would become the entrance of the Portola Theatre at 779 Market. Around 1910 the building beyond the Humboldt at Market and 4th would house the Pastime Theatre in its east storefront. This version of the card is from the site Hip Postcard. This card is also on Card Cow and on the SF Memory website. 

A detail from a c.1912 postcard in the Jack Tillmany collection. The Pastime is in the nearest storefroint of that building on the right. The Portola, in the center, would get a marquee added in 1913. At the end of its life it was called the Paris Theatre.

 

Part of the block on the south side of the street between 3rd and 4th with the Humboldt Bank Building sort of hogging the photo. The building housing the Pastime Theatre is on the right, the Portola is over on the left. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this version of the photo. It appeared in the February 1913 issue of Architect and Engineer. It's on Internet Archive   

 

A detail Jack extracted from the Architect and Engineer photo.  

 

 

The Pastime is indicated as "Moving Pictures" at 787, just below the Humboldt Building, in this detail from page 145 in volume 2 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Stevenson St. is at the back of the building, 4th St. at the bottom of the image. That's a bit of the auditorium of the Portola Theatre in blue with the entrance at 779 Market. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the map as image 39 of a set on the Library of Congress website. 

What a busy block! Here's an annotated view of the south side of the block with the five theatres that were on the map in 1913:   

 

See the pages for the Silver Palace / Hub at 727, the Odeon Theatre at 747 and the Unique Theatre at 757.  Also see a view of the full block as it appeared on the 1949 Sanborn Map.

 

 

"Not another step, Sam, until you come to the Pastime Theater with me." It's a 1913 cartoon by Hamm that features the Pastime. It's one of several from the collection of Frank Calabray. The use the theatre made of these is unknown, possibly ads or flyers. Frank comments:

 

"I found these cartoons/drawings at a warehouse sale in Salinas, Ca., several years ago. Most of them mention or depict the Pastime Theatre on Market St. in San Francisco, dated 1913. Some referenced the San Francisco Seals baseball club. Being a SF Giants fan I found them interesting and purchased them. I have tried to find info on the artist "HAMM 1913” but came up empty."

 

Click on any of these images for larger views. 

 

"When We Were Boys" - Hamm, 1913 - Frank Calabray collection

 

 

"Snipe just got a dime from Mrs. Brown for helpen her with the wood and he's going to treat us to the Pastime Theater." It's a detail from the cartoon above.

 

 

"Some Earthquake, Officer." Hamm, 1913 - Frank Calabray collection

 

 

A detail from the strip above. 

 

 

 

"What I've Seen and Heard At The Ball" - Hamm, 1913 - Frank Calabray collection

 

 

A detail from "At the Ball."

 

 

The condition of the cartoons in 2024. 

 

The back of one of the cartoons. Thanks to Frank Calabray for sharing these images.   

 

The Pastime was mentioned in a Moving Picture World July 15, 1916 article talking about the Silver Palace:

 "...now under the management of N. K. Herzog, who also has charge of the Pastime theater in the same block. Both of these houses make a daily change of program and charge an admission of five cents."  

 

The issue is on Google Books. The Silver Palace was renamed the Hub in 1951. 

 

 

The Pastime is on the far right in this 1916 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. Note the theatre's swing-out sign up on the second floor advertising the 5 cent admission price as well as the 5 cent signs at the entrance. 

 

From the left it's the Odeon (747 Market, with the big marquee), the Unique (757 Market, the building with the light colored arch), the Wonderland, (next door to the Unique at 763 Market), the Portola (779 Market), and the Pastime (787 Market), 5 of the 6 theatres in that block in 1916. Missing is the Silver Palace/Hub Theatre, farther off to the left at 727 Market.

 

Closing: 1916 was the end. It's still listed in the 1916 city directory. The closing was announced in a bit in the Aug 5, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World. It noted that the Pastime was "One of the last two of the five-cent moving picture houses in this part of Market street."

Status: The building the Pastime was located in was demolished to make room for construction of the California Theatre. That theatre was demolished in 1961 for construction of the retail building now on the site.

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