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The Chip Board Archive 20

LIDO CLUB Kansas City new info! Long Post!

I started this post this morning but deleted it because some of this story was still developing.
I have several of the LIDO chips that I found in an Antiques store in Hemet, California and have been trying to find history on the club for years. The chip being Hub Mold, Gene Trimble had information that showed the chip being delivered to a John Dolan, 1118 Grand, near 31st & Troost in Kansas City in 1936. Gene had done other research that showed Dolan operated a Liquor store from that address in 1936. Someplace in the research, the name of John Murray came up but I do not recall if Murray was a partner with Dolan at the liquor store or if he was one of Tom Pendergast's people... perhaps Gene will shed some light on that?

Anyway, I was contacted this weekend by a Mr. Charles Bartlow who apparently did an internet search and found a listing that I had made a long time ago on JackPot Auctions for one of the LIDO CLUB chips. He said his Father and Grandfather used to go there and he would like to have one of the LIDO chips if I still had one. I asked Mr. Bartlow if he would please share with us the information he had on the LIDO Club because we had hit a dead end finding the club's actual location. Mr. Bartlow was kind enough sent me the following email:

The Lido Club was one of many illegal clubs that operated in Kansas City, Missouri during the 1930s. It was located at 31st Street and Troost Avenue which was a thriving shopping area located in what was then south Kansas City. There were at least two other clubs like the Lido in this neighborhood. The Premier Club and the 811 Club. The Lido was downstairs below the Isis Movie Theater; and, unfortunately, the Isis was demolished some years ago and that demolition included what was once the Lido Club. The Lido had two crap tables and one poker table. It also had several bookies who took bets on horse races. I have in my home the swivel banker's chair that one of the bookies, Johnny Murray, used at the Lido. My grandfather opened a florist business in 1923 which was across the street from the Isis and Lido. He and my father were "customers" at the Lido Club. When my Dad gave me the chair, we talked about its history and that is how I gained some knowledge about the Lido.

It's fairly well know that Kansas City was an "open" town in those days and was similar to Chicago. The town was run by Tom Pendergast who ran the political machine as well as several businesses which received many city contracts. He also sponsored a local county judge who was a former haberdasher to become a US Senator from Missouri. That Senator later became Vice President and then President of the US. Harry Truman was his name. His haberdashery business was a few blocks from the Lido...who knows, he might have even put a few bucks down on a nag at the Lido.

I would like to have two of the Pink chips and will send you a check by US Mail this next week. If you wish some other form of payment, please let me know.

Charles Bartlow

Here is some info on the ISIS theater

The Isis Theater was representative of a unique component of Kansas City's past: the neighborhood theater. Opened in August of 1918 at the southwest corner of 31st and Troost, the Isis was considered to be the finest suburban theater in the city. The Isis' owners were attuned to the needs of their customers and attention was most readily apparent in the building itself. The entrance was one of the most spacious in Kansas City, and was outfitted in dΣor consistent with the outside of the building and the auditorium itself.

The owners of the Isis have an unrecognized but important role in the history of animation. In the early 1920s, they employed Carl Stalling as an organist and Walt Disney as an illustrator of commercial slides for the theater. Eventually, the two men worked together on a series of small song films and this partnership took them to Hollywood, where they continued their collaboration for a short time before each branched out on his own: Stalling to Warner Brothers, where he became a composer for the studio's famed cartoons; Disney went on to make history as head of his own production company.

The Isis did have its share of bad luck, however. Three fires in 1928, 1939 and 1954 caused considerable damage, but the Isis continued on showing first-run movies until 1968. Dwindling audiences resulted in a switch to adult films, which lasted through 1970. By that time the surrounding neighborhood was in decline, and the theater was frequently subject to robberies. On March 15, 1970, disgruntled youths rioted, breaking theater and store windows and engaging police in violent attacks. The Isis announced its closing less than two months later. While businesses continued to occupy the rest of the Wirthman Building, the theater remained vacant. The structure was finally razed in early 1997.

I have not been able to find a good picture of the ISIS Theater yet.

Messages In This Thread

LIDO CLUB Kansas City new info! Long Post!
Re: LIDO CLUB Kansas City new info! Long Post!
Smitty, great work, and it's not even....
Re: Smitty, great work, and it's not even....
Hey Smitty. I'm not certain, but I'll look around
Re: Hey Smitty. I'm not certain, but I'll look aro
Re: LIDO CLUB Kansas City new info! Long Post!
Re: LIDO CLUB Kansas City new info! Long Post!
Hey Berry... Thanks for the Great Pix!
Re: LIDO CLUB Kansas City Clairfication.
I stand corrected... Thanks Gene!
Thanks,I can read this stuff all day!!!

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