174 Comments for Palace Theater

When I was a teen and into film, I had a piece of nitrate film. Just because I was curious I set a match to it. It was only a little piece of film but that thing ignited and burned in seconds. Later I learned that once that catches fire, you can not put it out. It has to burn itself out. Pretty scary when you think of it and the many films they ran in those theaters that were nitrate film.

It's pretty sad that so much of the original plasterwork disappeared, it must have been fantastic to look at when it was new.

Breathtaking

thank you 12baumarobi

Oh My Word! How Lovely! Wouldn't you love to have this Motts for your Seafoam Palace!?!

Certainly gives the viewer a look into the past. Great perspective here!

Looks like the remains of a family crest or shield on the wall to the left in the middle of an arch.

Good photo! Like the springs! A person never thinks about what they were sitting on until you see a photo like this one.

Looks like there was two pianos one white one, and one brown one to the right.

Well, theres my answer! lol. :)

Was that real blue tiling up there? or was it just painted?

What a great view! Love the shades of blue.

New Gallery and Cool Hallway...You are Too Much! Thanks!

Boy if that was nitrate film, it would be a ticking time bomb. And the further it deteriorated the more flammable it would have got.

This is some info about Nitrate film from Wiki
"Nitrocellulose was used as the first flexible film base, beginning with Eastman Kodak products in August, 1889. Camphor is used as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose film, often called nitrate film.

Nitrate film was used until 1933 for X-ray films (where its flammability hazard was most acute) and for motion picture film until 1951. It was replaced by safety film with an acetate base.

The use of nitrocellulose film for motion pictures led to the requirement for fireproof projection rooms with wall coverings made of asbestos. The US Navy shot a training film for projectionists that included footage of a controlled ignition of a reel of nitrate film, which continued to burn when fully submerged in water. Unlike many other flammable materials, nitrocellulose does not need air to keep burning as the reaction produces oxygen. Once burning, it is extremely difficult to extinguish. Immersing burning film in water may not extinguish it, and could actually increase the amount of smoke produced.

Cinema fires caused by ignition of nitrocellulose film stock were the cause of the 1926 Dromcolliher cinema tragedy in Limerick County in which 48 people died and the 1929 Glen Cinema Disaster in Paisley, Scotland which killed 69 children. Today, nitrate film projection is normally highly regulated and requires extensive precautionary measures including extra projectionist health and safety training.

Projectors certified to run nitrate films have many precautions, among them the chambering of the feed and takeup reels in thick metal covers with small slits to allow the film to run through. The projector is modified to accommodate several fire extinguishers with nozzles aimed at the film gate. The extinguishers automatically trigger if a piece of flammable fabric placed near the gate starts to burn. While this triggering would likely damage or destroy a significant portion of the projection components, it would prevent a fire which could cause far greater damage. Projection rooms may be required to have automatic metal covers for the projection windows, preventing the spread of fire to the auditorium.

It was found that nitrocellulose gradually decomposes, releasing nitric acid and further catalyzing the decomposition (eventually into a flammable powder). Decades later, storage at low temperatures was discovered as a means of delaying these reactions indefinitely. It is thought that the great majority of films produced during the early twentieth century were lost either through this accelerating, self-catalyzed disintegration or through studio warehouse fires. Salvaging old films is a major problem for film archivists"

The good news is though it is probably not nitrate as the theater would have operated long after its discontinuation in 1948 and they likely would have removed it.

This is likely Cellulose triacetate film, which is less flammable, only burns like regular paper and was easy to put out. and about deterioration;

"Although triacetate does not decompose in as dangerous a way as nitrate does, it is still subject to a process known as deacetylation, often nicknamed "vinegar syndrome" (due to the acetic acid smell of decomposing film) by archivists, which causes the film to shrink, deform, become brittle and eventually unusable."

Cellulose triacetate would mostly get phased out in the 80's and 90's and replaced by polyester, but it can still be found here and there today. So that ends my history lesson for today :)

Thank YOU! Yay a new Gallery.