Alvin Svoboda
.5 linear feet
A1996-025
1890-1945 (unknown)
Alvin Svoboda owns Ganado Theater in Ganado, Texas. Alvin was born in Ganado, attended high school there and still lives in Ganado. In the 1960's he was at boot camp at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. After serving in the army he returned home and bought the Ganado Theater, slowly he upgraded the old theater, providing it with digital sounds and pictures. It is one of the single-picture theaters that is still operating in South Texas today.
Alvin Svoboda's love for the one screen theaters of small town America led him to collect ephemera from various theaters in South Texas. He became the owner of the Ganada Theater in Ganada, Texas to preserve the culture of this type of entertainment which began in the early 1940's.
Alvin Svoboda's collection of movie theater booking sheets of movies shown at the Ganado Theater in Ganado, Texas from the 1940's, including lead actors, number of weeks the movie ran, and attendance at some showings. Negatives of one screen theaters in Edna, Ganado, Texas City, Bay City, El Campo, Madisonville and many other small Texas towns are included. In some of the images the title of the movie can be seen. Movie tickets from 9 cents to a $1.25 have been saved and donated. As Brad Richards wrote, "At one time, the American theater was an integral part of a small town. In the small town of Ganado, Texas, one can find a treasure trove of information about the diversity of culture that is claimed by South Texas. Three things that can help to recall the days of the one screen theater are the booking sheets of movies that were shown at the theaters in years past, photographs of the inside and outside of these theaters, and the ticket prices. “ "The booking sheets will yield a large amount of information about entertainment in the city of Ganado, opened in 1944, it remains the only theater in Ganado. Its one screen was home to many movies including westerns, regional releases, Czechoslovakian, and Spanish speaking films. Spanish films were shown on Tuesday afternoons while English speaking films were shown every evening. Czech films were shown only once a month depending on availability."
Arranged in Folders
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
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Svoboda Theater Collection, A1996-025.xxx, South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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A1996-025 – Gift of Alvin Svoboda
Svoboda Theater Collection was processed and the Finding Aid created in 2015 by Lori Atkins. The EAD coded Finding Aid was created by Lori Atkins in 2016.