October 2004 Interview - City of Alexandria

Interview with Sigmund Bernheimer, October 2, 2004 Page 22 of 26
Sig Bernheimer: Twenty, about twenty-five, thirty minutes.
MB: And it cost you about seven cents?
Sig Bernheimer: Seven cents yes.
MB: And where would you go to pick up the streetcar to get on it?
Sig Bernheimer: Just down on King Street.
MB: Did they have a little …
Sig Bernheimer: No, no stands or seats…
MB: …stand or station…
Sig Bernheimer: …you just waited for the car.
MB: Ok, you just knew where to go to wait for them.
Sig Bernheimer: The streetcar went from Royal Street to Columbus Street, Columbus [Street]
to Cameron [Street], Cameron [Street] down to the 1600 like you know
[unintelligible], comin’ up to King [Street] two blocks back on
Commonwealth Avenue and then to Washington [D.C.].
MB: And then into the city. Where would you go when you went into
Washington [D.C.]?
Sig Bernheimer: The…[unintelligible] theater at the 15 th [Street] and New York Avenue, at
14 th [Street] and F [Street] had a theater. And we had [unintelligible] you
know those things. I was on the stage once.
MB: Oh, you were?
Sig Bernheimer: Ya. I was on the second floor balcony and leaned out too far and fell down
on the stage.
MB: [laughs] And did they applaud for you?
Sig Bernheimer: No.
MB: No [laughs]. That’s interesting. So did you frequently go into Washington
or was that like a special—
Sig Bernheimer: No, I’d probably go every other week.
MB: Every other week—
Sig Bernheimer: Right. We went on because Washington vaudeville, which we didn’t have.
They had three movie theaters in Alexandria. The Nincomar, the Igle was
on the 300 block of King and the 600 block was the Nincomar, and the
Green Theater was in the 1700 block.
MB: And, you worked as a teenager you said at that one site…