Hadley McSunas is a senior at UW-Madison and in the graduating class of 2024. She is majoring in History with certificates in Archeology, Digital studies and Folklore. After graduating this May, Hadley is planning on taking a gap year and then proceed to earn a Master Degree in either Public History or Library Sciences. She looks forward to exploring her interest in history more and helping others find their passion for history through archives and libraries.
By This Author:
Object History: Ringling Theater Usher Uniform
Movie palaces were a curated experience, where one would be led to their seat by an usher and greeted by live music that would play along with the film. While movie theaters today serve as a venue to watch movies, these early cinemas were even more so about the experience of visiting a movie palace and enjoying all of the high-end services that came with it.
The Al Ringling Theatre
Al Ringling's passion for offering entertainment did not confine itself to circuses, and in 1915 he decided to build and operate a movie theater in Baraboo. Even though the Ringling Brothers Circus may have put Baraboo on the map, the Ringling Theatre was one of Al's greatest contributions to the city.
Stars of Silent Film
In the 1910s/20s, the popularity of silent films had reached an all-time high, and movie studios began churning out films at an unprecedented rate, and as a result they were continuously looking for actors for their films. This was especially evident with the genre of silent comedies as a few key players came to be extremely popular actors in the genre including Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, two men who would later be known as defining the genre of comedy as a whole.