CHICAGO CINEMA PRODUCTS CATALOG (1936) Successors to GALLAGHER ORCHESTRA EQUIPMENT CO.

A thorough search through the Lantern reveals that Chicago Cinema Products has a presence in trade magazines from 1920 to 1942 under various names, including Chicago Cinema Company and Chicago Cinema Equipment Co.   This 1920 ad indicates that they had been in business a while, at least long enough to corner the business of "90% of Chicago's leading theatres."

About 1931, Chicago Cinema took over the Gallagher Orchestra Equipment Company, which had provided the elaborate leader and music stands for most of the nation's movie palaces.  Many of Gallagher's 1920's stands can be seen at the back of this catalog, including the Deluxe Leader stand, "replete" with an Emergency push button.   "The most pretentious theatres of North America" shown on page 24 are sadly unidentified.

Presumably this 1936 ad was for the undated Catalog 36, below.

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June, 2023