Credit: Image provided by the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
When Jules Mastbaum (1872-1926), opened his 5,000 seat Mastbaum theater at 20th and Market Street in 1929 it was the nation's third largest motion picture auditorium. Built with a giant 3,500 pipe theater organ and an orchestra pit that rose and descended, the Mastbaum soon proved too big and expensive to operate. The theater closed in 1942 and was torn down in 1958. Of the 177 movie theater buildings in Philadelphia in 1926, only 25 were still open in 1970.
