Built in 1914 at a cost of $10,000, this theater at 11th & Broadway was originally named the Apollo. Eight years later, it reopened as the Blue Mouse, operated by theater chain founder John Hamrick. The Blue Mouse was a favorite of Tacoma movie buffs until its demolition in 1960 to make way for a new street escalator. "A Connecticut Yankee" was the first movie shown at the Blue Mouse starting on April 15, 1922. In this April, 1922, photograph, a small boy in an usher's uniform stands outside the theater entrance while another uniformed man is next to the movie placard. The Blue Mouse was the first theater in Tacoma to show "talkies," running "The Jazz Singer" in January, 1928. Its sister theater, the Blue Mouse Junior, opened in the Proctor District in 1923. G64.1-027; TPL-6355 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 4-2-22, E-5-article)

Blue Mouse Movie Theatre (Tacoma); Motion picture theaters--Tacoma--1920-1930; Marquees--Tacoma;

ca. 1926. Many children, boys on left, girls on right, on sidewalk in front of the Blue Mouse Theater, circa 1926. In 1922, the old Apollo theater became part of the Hamrick chain and reopened as the Blue Mouse, named after a theater in Paris. (filed with Argentum)

Blue Mouse Movie Theatre (Tacoma); Motion picture theaters--Tacoma; Marquees--Tacoma; Children--Tacoma--1920-1930;

In May of 1941, Pfc. Kenneth E. Wilkinson counts the cash in his wallet, planning to take in the double feature at the Blue Mouse. The marquee boldly states that "Men of Boy's Town" and "Let's Make Music" are playing. Pfc. Wilkinson is the Army's biggest movie fan, having once enjoyed 13 feature films in one weekend. The soldier from LaGrande, Ore., goes to the movies 4-5 nights a week to forget his troubles and estimates that he has seen 245 full length feature films since he enlisted in October of 1940. The UP wire picked up the Tacoma Times story and Hollywood also discovered Wilkinson. The motion picture industry flew the star struck redhead to Hollywood for a week of wining, dining and meeting the stars. His favorite was Mickey Rooney. (T. Times 4/29/1941, pg. 5; 7/24/41, pg.1)

Wilkinson, Kenneth E.; Blue Mouse Movie Theatre (Tacoma); Motion picture theaters--Tacoma; Marquees;