Fox Peninsula Theatre

1419 Burlingame Avenue

We are very grateful to Arthur H. Calvert who sent us some wonderful photos of the Peninsula Theatre and asked us to include them on our website. Mr. Calvert was assistant manager of the theatre from January 1952 to January 1953 and the photos were taken in 1953.

Miss Johnson	Mr. Graham	Mr. Toomosson

The people included in the three photos are (1) Miss Mardelle Johnson, cashier and typist, who worked at the theatre in the evening and worked in San Francisco during the day; (2) On the back of the photo of Mr. Graham was noted “the boss of the Peninsula Theater”; and (c) Mr. Peter Toomosson replaced Mr. Calvert as assistant manager when he was drafted in the army.  This photo shows the candy counter at the left of the front entrance.

The tickets were $1.25 for general admission and $1.50 for loge and either 50 cents or 75 cents for children. The normal size candy was 25 cents and the larger candy was 50 cents. Popcorn was 25 cents and butter was 25 cents extra! 

Mr. Calvert remembers playing the piano and sometimes would turn on the huge Wurlitzer organ and play it in the mornings and afternoons when the theatre was closed.  He remembers the two 9 foot Steinways back stage which were abandoned after the live vaudeville shows stopped. When Bing Crosby and his family would occasionally attend the movies, he would call ahead and the theatre always let him and his family in free. 

Thank you Arthur for giving us a glimpse of the Peninsula Theatre in 1952/53. 

The Peninsula Theatre, originally designed for both vaudeville stage shows and silent movies, opened on Oct. 12, 1926. By 1957, the Peninsula Theatre had been renamed the Fox Burlingame.  The Fox closed permanently on Sept. 13, 1974. After the theatre was destroyed the Fox Mall was built and dedicated in 1979.