The "Casino" name predates
the existing Casino Theatre building and business, and
goes back to a landmark dance hall built on the same spot
in 1922.
Several years later the building was transformed into a
movie house, with seats placed on the flat dance floor
and the screen on the stage.
The "Casino Theatre," complete with British spelling of
"theater," was born.
Why
"Casino"?
The Italian word
casino first meant a cottage or country house.
(In Italian, casa means "house," and
casino means "little house.") Then the word came
to mean a social gathering place — a room or building
where people could dance or listen to music.
The word came into the English language in the mid 1800s,
and for many years during the Victorian era, "casino" was
simply a fancy, exotic-sounding name for a place for
social amusements. Casinos were places where one might
find billiards, bowling, concerts, dancing, dining, tea
parties and theatricals.
"Casino" became popular as a proper name for these spots
in the late 1800s. The first campus center at Princeton
University was called the Casino Theatre. It opened in
1895, and contained tennis courts, a dance floor and a
bowling alley, as well as a stage for theatrical
productions. There was a Casino Theatre on Broadway in
New York City, a stage for operettas from 1894 through
the early part of the century.
"Casino" stuck as a popular name for movie houses when
they came along, much like "Ritz" or "Rialto." There were
once hundreds of theaters named Casino across the
country. In fact, there is another "Casino Theatre" still
operating across the state in Vandergrift, Pa., that was
built in 1900. It was a vaudeville theater until the
1920s, when it was remodeled for movies.
And so, the "Casino Theatre" has been a landmark on the
main street of Mount Pocono for generations.
That
other casino ...
These days, of course, the
word "casino" primarily means a place used for gambling.
And the irony is that even though the Casino Theatre has
a long and well-established history as a family
entertainment spot, strangers to the Poconos are
confusing the Casino Theatre Entertainment Center in
Mount Pocono with the Mount Airy Casino Resort, which
opened in the fall of 2007 only about three miles to our
south.
(Mount Airy's mailing address is also Mount Pocono,
although technically it is in Paradise Township.)
We get calls for "casino" business many times a week,
whether it's people looking to make room reservations or
vendors looking to deliver beverages.