The Nickel Theatre was the first movie theatre in Newfoundland. Part of the five-cent picture show craze that brought daily movies to almost every city and town all across North America, the Nickel opened in the Benevolent Irish Society's St. Patrick's Hall on July 1, 1907, one of a chain of B.F. Keith 's Nickels in New England and Eastern Canada. Three more five-cent shows opened in St. John's by October 1907, all in large pre-existing community halls like the Nickel, rather than the small storefront nickelodeon typical of the time in the United States, Ontario, and larger cities in Canada. The Nickel is remembered fondly as the beginnings of moviegoing in Newfoundland, its name is used today for the local film festival. While cinema had debuted in December 1897, and moving pictures played in St. Patrick's Hall before 1907, the Nickel indeed offered the people of St. John's daily public amusement for the first time.
7-650: Located in the top floor of the Benevolent Irish Society (BIS) building at 48 Queen's Road. in St. John's, Newfoundland . Apparently, the 1000 chairs came from John Lake's furniture factory in Fortune, Newfoundland. Longtime Proprietor, J.P. Kiely from Montreal, first came to St. John's as an employee of the Keith's chain, often singing illustrated songs between the moving pictures. He later became owner until
14-556: A month before the Feast of St. Patrick , in St. John's, Newfoundland . It is the oldest philanthropic organization in North America . Membership is open to adult residents of Newfoundland who are of Irish birth or ancestry, regardless of religious persuasion. The BIS is a charitable, fraternal, middle-class social organization founded on the principles of "benevolence and philanthropy", and had as its original objective of helping
21-633: The Saint Bonaventure's College and the opening of St. Patrick's School. In 1996, the then Taoiseach of Ireland , John Bruton , visited the BIS in St. Patrick's Hall on St. Patrick's Day . The headquarters of the BIS, fronting on Queen's Road, backing on Military Road opposite of the Basilicia, with its side on Garrison Hill, was converted into a condominium residence in the late 1990s/early 2000s;
28-536: The Nickel closed in 1960. He was one of the few survivors of the SS Florizel disaster, and in later years owned and operated other movie theatres in the city. 47°34′00.61″N 52°42′34.21″W / 47.5668361°N 52.7095028°W / 47.5668361; -52.7095028 Benevolent Irish Society The Benevolent Irish Society (BIS) is a philanthropic organization founded on 17 February 1806,
35-471: The growing numbers of poor in St. John's , and providing the necessary skills which would enable people to better themselves. The rules of the BIS prohibited members from formally discussing political or religious questions, but the Society occasionally took a public political stand. In 1829 it participated in a large parade through St. John's to celebrate Roman Catholic Emancipation . In the early years of
42-488: The nineteenth century, St. John's had a large Irish population with some members of affluence. Many of these Irish both saw social needs which were not being met by government, and desired to belong to a fraternal, gentlemanly organization. Under Bishop O'Donel 's patronage, they founded the BIS under the motto He that gives to the poor lends to the Lord . By the 1820s, many BIS members were beginning to play prominent roles in
49-594: The political life of Newfoundland and the Irish community in St. John's. By the 1840s the BIS had become so wealthy and influential that, next to the House of Assembly and the governor's council, the BIS was able to marshal considerable resources to address social problems and needs. In 1876 it sponsored the establishment in St. John's of the Irish Christian Brothers , and assisted with the maintenance of
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