The Beekay Theater

We’ve been hearing a lot about the BeeKay Theatre lately so I decided to add a few of my own facts. Mine are just tales that if not told would someday be forgotten. Can’t let that happen.

The BeeKay Theater was built and opened in 1936; reinforced concrete and strong enough to resist an earthquake! People from Mojave, Keene and Caliente often drove to Tehachapi to view the movies. That year, 1936, was also the year that Green Street was paved for the first time. The rather unique name, “BeeKay” was derived from the first letter of both of the owners names: Bee for Baumgart and Kay for Kanstein -- the two owners’ full names being Louis Kanstein and Frank Baumgart. The marquee lights shining in the evening were the first neon lights in Tehachapi. A marvel to view!

The admission fee was ten cents for children twelve and under; high school students paid twenty five cents and adults had to fork out forty cents. When my parents took the whole family to the movies it cost $1.50. In those mid-depression days that was enough. Later on in another generation the prices were raised accordingly.

The management sent out, by mail, what we called the show bill. It was hung in a prominent place in the home for this told us of the coming attractions. The movies shown were up to date with the best on Sunday and Monday nights. Tuesday and Wednesday would have the B Movies but still very good entertainment. Thursday nights featured Spanish Movies and Friday and Saturday the kids would enjoy cowboy features with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood would come along in a few years. Later on the Spanish movies were deleted and the Sunday/Monday/Tuesday movies were the A movies. The Wednesday/Thursday movies were on the Bill as B movies and Friday/Saturday, still the cowboys. By the way, most days featured double-feature movies. There used to be a joke that one might contract “doublefeature paralysis” after an evening’s viewing. There was always a news reel and cartoon also.

A school friend of mine, whose name I will not reveal, said that he and his friends would find pop bottles and get enough for a ten cent ticket to the “show” (our name for the movies). The pop bottles redeemed for two cents each. The one with the valid ticket would, when the coast was clear, open the Exit door and let his friends in. Tsk Tsk! I think Mr. Kanstein may have known, for they never were “apprehended” and one would think Kanstein would have caught on.

We saw good films; first run, straight out of “Hollywood!” I do recall, one night I had come to the movies alone. I was about twelve. It was perfectly safe, I lived only one block away and could walk it in five minutes. The feature was “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde” with Spencer Tracy. While Dr. Jekyl was being Mr. Hyde and running through the dark streets with his black cape billowing behind him, the lights went out in the theater. Mr. Kanstein said we’d better go home and come back tomorrow. I walked home rapidly with all the city lights also out. I could visualize old Spencer Tracy lurking nearby. Made it home safely though. I also remember watching, for the first time, the Christmas classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

In the early days, we did not eat while being entertained but later on there was a candy counter . Finally, the popcorn machine was added. One could smell the popcorn down the block.

My first date was on a Sunday Matinee afternoon, walking to the BeeKay with an “older man”. I was thirteen and he was already fourteen!

The California Institution for Women, the Woman’s Prison, had honor prisoners, who, for their good behavior, could come to the movies . They sat in the middle bank of seats against the back wall with a matron in attendance.

With the advent of television people began to stay home for their evening’s entertainment. The TV reception in Tehachapi before the cable days, involved an antenna atop one’s home that resembled a giant radar screen but it was necessary to catch those signals. It was such a novelty that we watched pretty corny shows through the “snow” on the screen.

The movie houses were beginning to suffer. Hollywood was reduced to making epic movies such as “Quo Vadis”, “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” to lure people from their comfortable home entertainment. The Hayes Office had, during the thirties and forties, kept cleavage inside the dress and even on-screen kisses were timed . In fact, during that period in time, twin beds became very popular. Apparently the censors insisted one did not photograph two folk in one double bed. It even carried on into the TV Sit-Coms. Remember Margaret and Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best and Ricky and Lucy, of I Love Lucy, always slept in twin beds. Later on , realism set in and somehow , the Hayes Office lost out and movies began to change and there wasn’t much left to the imagination. It’s kind of sad, in a way. Imagination is good for the brain.

The old “earthquake proof” building came through the 52 Shake with flying colors. Then, no longer a movie house, It was pretty well destroyed by a fire a few decades later but still today we find it a charming little hideaway for Tehachapi Community Theater. And, listen to this: People from out of town drive up for an evening’s fine entertainment at the elegantly restored, good old BeeKay Theatre!

How about that?