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New installment in 'A Sense of Place' blog

Ever since the late 1890s when movie theaters began to pop up in towns across the U.S., people have loved the diversion of watching a story on the big screen.

West Chicago's first moving picture show was the Improv Theatre or “Imp” located in the Atcherson Building on West Washington.

The “Imp,” showing silent films as early as 1912, vowed not to present anything that would “offend the most refined taste.” Anna Steffes Mann's fine soprano voice set the mood with songs like “The Battleship Maine,” “Mockingbird Rag,” and “Moonlight Bay” as film reels were changed.

To read more, visit www.westchicago.org.

-- This is the latest installment in "A Sense of Place," a new blog written by the West Chicago City Museum staff to spotlight the city's local history.

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