Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1946)

/ SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIfW, March 2, 1946 USEFUL BOOKS Profuse wealth of information on building, remodeling and repair can be found in Don Graf's Data Sheets. All types of building materials, and their uses, are covered in detail. Fourteen pages are devoted specifically to the motion picture theatre: to floor plans, floor slope, seating plans, screen width, projection room plans and the stage; but the entire book relates to structural materials and equipment of importance to the theatre manager. Heating equipment, rooflng, acoustic materials, septic tanks, washroom equipment, exit doors are only a few of the many subjects dealt with. This immense range of subject matter is treated in two ways to suit the needs of both layman and architect. Simple presentation in layman's language is often followed by complex technical detail; so that each reader can take from these pages as much or as little information as his own background enables him to absorb. With Graf's Data Sheets on his bookshelf any theatre manager should be able to consult far more effectively with his architect, contractor or repairmen. Data Sheets by Don Graf. Reinhold Publishing Company, New York. 779 pages, $5.00. 3 IN A BLOCK With the recent installation of Wagner red translucent plastic changeable letters at the Marcy Theatre, a Randforce Amusement Co. house located at Marcy Avenue and Broadway, Brooklyn, N. Y., and Wagner blue plastic letters at the Aster, 276 Broadway, there are three theatres within a single block using Wagner display materials. The third house is the Commodore. Westinghouse Forms Engineer Group to Install Sterilamps A NATIONWIDE Organization of independent distributors to serve as application engineers and as sales and service outlets for the Sterilamp, a bacteria-killing device, has been created by Westinghouse Lamp Division. Consisting of a slender electronic tube made in numerous sizes and shapes, the Sterilamp contains a mixtures of gases and mercury vapor which, when excited bj' a current of electr.'cit^', produces ihe wave lengths of invisible ultraviolet lethal to bacteria, molds and viruses. The purpose of the new Westinghouse engineering and distribation set-up was explained by C. W. Flood, Jr., manager of the Sterilamp department. "To obtain proper benefits in air disinfection," Flood asserted, "more than a lamp and a fixture are required — the right lamps must be placed properly under the right conditions. Bactericidal ultraviolet has opened up a new industry requiring specialists in ultraviolet engineering." The distributors will have on their staffs engineers trained to recommend proper application of bactericidal ultraviolet as well as to provide a service assuring continuance of its effectiveness. Distributors and their engineering staffs convened in Bloomfield, in December for a three-day conference at which distribution policies were coordinated and application engineering panels were conducted. During World War II, Sterilamps were used to reduce crossinfections in Army and Navy camps here and abroad. They stood guard in the nation's pharmaceutical laboratories, where every known scientific precaution is taken against contaimination. They helped in combatting mold and bacteria growth in food processing plants, in food stores and even in domestic refrigerators; and have reduced the danger of respiratory infections in poultry houses, brooders and animal barns. "More important, however, is the role bactericidal ultraviolet will play in the public health field," Flood believes. "We visualize that in the future air disinfection may prove to be as important as water supply purification." In most cases. Flood said, the firms appointed as distributors are handling only Westinghouse bactericidal ultraviolet lamps. Serving as "ultraviolet headquarters" in the various trading centers of America, they can provide close-to-home service for architects, engineers, theatremen and others. DDT Helpful in Theatre DDT, miracle chemical, is proving highly satisfactory in the theatre, according to Mel Glatz, Denver purchasing chief of Fox Intermountain Theatres. Following test experiments in four situations, Glatz reports success with flies, bedbugs, water-bugs and other theatre pests. Chemical is proving easy to use, if instructions are carefully followed. Pressure gun for spraying is being circuited over the territory, Glatz advises. E-27 MARQUEE TIP Many theatremen lay out their marquees by having inventory lists printed or mimeographed of all letters, words, punctuation, etc. in each size. As an example, here are the first six letters of a font totaling 200 letters, each letter written as many times as there are units of that letter in your font. Thiis: AAAAAAAAAA B B B B B B B B CCCCCCCC DDDDDDDD EEEEEEEEEEEE F F F F F F In making up new copy for the marquee, circle each letter which is in your current sign and run a vertical line through each letter you need for the new sign. Those which have both a circle and a vertical line therefore remain for use with the new billing, and those having only a circle are returned to the storeroom, while letters marked with the vertical line and no circle are needed from the storeroom to make up the new sign. Following this simple procedure will save much time and effort otherwise lost running to and fro between store room and marquee. AMMATION Danny's cautioning forefinger wags right while his eyes roll left, and vice versa. Executed by Max Fine for the New York Paramount, this attentionpuller operates through a simple steel rod eccentric lever and a fractional horsepower motor. The effect fascinates the eyes of some youngsters who halt to admire wag in synchronism with Danny's.