By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Marie Jarisch and Gaston Parsons have an obvious pride when they talk about their grandfather and the Seekatz Opera House. The current Seekatz Opera House owned by Ron Snider is on the exact site of the original building, which burned down in 1941.

Brothers Louis and Otto Seekatz, Louis being the grandfather of Jarisch and Parsons, saw a need in the late 1800’s for a large building downtown to accommodate traveling shows and local entertainment. The brothers were butchers by trade and decided to build their building on the Seekatz homestead next to the butcher shop downtown. They chose local builder Chris Herry and architect James Wahrenberger to come up with the plans. I have seen the architect’s specifications and they read like the instructions for building King Solomon’s Temple. Example: the brick was to be good hard well-burned selected Laredo brick. It’s hard to believe that a building so solidly built could burn like it did.

The two-story building had a wooden floor with removable seating for dancing. The large, beautifully appointed stage was the focal point of the main floor, complete with backdrops, velvet curtains, and dressing rooms.

On entering the front doors there was a bar on one side and barber shop on the other. This bar was quite successful until the advent of Prohibition, at which time it converted to the Staats brother’s Candy Kitchen.

On the second floor were balconies on both sides for viewing the stage and happenings on the floor below. Upstairs were also private clubrooms. The basement housed a kitchen and tables and chairs.

Living up to expectations, the Seekatz Opera House not only became the scene of traveling vaudeville shows but just about every large event in town. There were New Years Eve dances, Firemen’s Balls, Kindermaskenball, Fourth of July celebrations, orchestra concerts, high school graduations and many dances.

Marie Jarisch remembers seeing the famous fan dancer Sally Rand on the stage. Dancing with only two large ostrich feathers to cover her, Rand had introduced this dance at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Supposedly she was good at creating the illusion of nudity while dancing “tastefully” to the music of Chopin. Hmmmm.

Gradually vaudeville and traveling shows became less popular as silent films made their debut. Jack Kaufmann, Sr. leased space to show movies as the stage productions decreased, and his son, Jack, Jr., who lived upstairs at the Opera House along with his parents and sister, Mary Virginia Brinkley, remembers some of those early stage shows. There was the freckle-faced singer and later movie star Arthur Godfrey and he recalls animal shows with live animals, especially monkeys.

Kaufmann said a Mr. Toepperwein did trick shots with a 22 rifle. He said Toepperwein stood in the balcony and fired at a screen over the heads of the audience. Can you imagine that today?

Then there was the 7 day bicycle rider whose bicycle was on a stand outside the theater. He actually rode 7 days and 7 nights.

Eventually movies overcame all the other entertainment. Kaufmann remembers the first silent movie,“The Great Train Robbery”, and the first “talkie” was Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer”. It was half silent and half talking. He said that his dad tried to keep up the show tradition by bringing in live animals when he showed the Frank Buck “Bring ‘Em Back Alive” movies. Otto Locke would bring in the animals and once he brought a giant boa constrictor.

In the 30’s G.A. Cole bought the movie business and the Seekatz Opera House became exclusively the Cole Theater. That’s what it was on January 21, 1941 when it succumbed to fire. “Stella Dallas” was showing at the Cole and outside the billboard advertised the upcoming “Misbehaving Husbands.” They never had a chance to misbehave at the Cole.

In the 1960s Gaston Parsons located the 300 plus pound marble cornerstone, which he still has. You can now view a display concerning the Opera House at the Sophienburg, including one of the 45 star flags flown in front of the building, plus the contents of the prematurely opened (due to the fire) time capsule. Shimmy on up the hill and see it.

The gala opening of the Seekatz Opera House on Dec. 14, 1901.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Activities at the Sophienburg have finally slowed down a little bit after the holidays. After Weihnachtsmarkt, St. Nicholas made his presence known to a huge crowd of children and their parents. Everyone is now getting back to the work of the archives.

Last column about WWII was such a heavy subject about such a sad time, I decided to lighten up and tell you one of those historically unimportant but unique stories taking place in the same time period. The story is significant only because it shows the naiveté of children sixty years ago and about how adults dealt with them. Read on if you want to find out about eight 12 year old girls who had only Shirley Temple on the Good Ship Lollipop as a role model:

Eight girls who entered NBHS as 7^th graders in 1943 got together and formed a club for what we believed was the betterment of the world. Besides myself there was Martha Jo Baetge, Kathleen Karbach, Arlene Krueger, Rosemarie Leissner, Ellie Luckett, Mitzi Nuhn, and Betty Ann Timmermann. We named this club, laughingly, the Eight Date Baits. As twelve year olds, we were neither dating nor baiting. We would meet at each other’s houses to discuss school activities and boys. The telephone was a wonderful activity.

“Number please”

“542”

Then we would just giggle and hang up. With today’s Caller ID we would be in big trouble.

When we got together we acted out the latest movie characters, like Tarzan’s Jane. She was particularly intriguing. We were the Janes of NB in Landa Park. Tarzan was nowhere around. That big tree that still hangs over the water by the children’s wading pool provided a great jungle setting with its big grape vines. We would climb up there and swing down on the vines. Oh what fun!

We had little financial enterprises that involved mostly selling stuff to our mothers. We had accumulated 65¢. Don’t knock it; it would be at least $6.50 these days. This sum was kept by the treasurer in a decorated tin Band-Aid box. Well, our money was burning a hole in the tin, so we decided that we would look into purchasing a clubhouse.

Out on Old Highway 81 on the way to San Antonio was a very interesting tall slender building shaped like a coffee pot. It was three stories and had been a restaurant built in 1938 by Simon Mendiola, Amelia Mendiola, and Joe Villarreal, Sr. It was closed and for sale and would make a perfect clubhouse.

It just so happened that the mayor of NB, Pete Nuhn, was the father of one of the members, so we walked to the City Hall to see if he could help us with this business transaction. He didn’t say, “Go away”, or “I’m too busy”, but at just about closing time we all stuffed in his car (no seat belts) and drove to the Coffee Pot Restaurant.

Disregarding the NO TRESSPASSING sign, we piled out of the car and into this delightful building. After much discussion, we came to the consensus that we would indeed buy it. Our lack of money didn’t seem to thwart our decision.

The next day, however, the mayor sadly informed us that the building was not for sale because it was condemned. We never attempted a real estate transaction again.

Some things just stay with you forever. Occasionally I still sing our song. Sing it to the tune of “Tra La La Boom De A”

We are the EDBs
Of dear old NB Hi
And we are full of pep
That you cannot deny.

Do you think I’m making up this story? Well, go to the Sophienburg or the H-Z and turn to page 20 of their “Images” book. You can buy it at either place.

The Coffee Pot Cafe is seen here in the year it was built, 1938. Restaurant owners Simon Mendiola, Amelia Mendiola and Joe Villareal Sr. pose outside.