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Inside the Bamboo Garden Airdrome

ca. 1922

Highland Beach, foot of Sandy Hook

The interior of the Bamboo Garden Airdrome at Highland Beach, ca. early 1920s. The signage over the projection screen reads BAMBOO-GARDEN AIR-DROME · PICTURES & DANCING COMBINED · ONE ADMISSION. The screen and the surrounding stage frame are lined with the same bamboo poles William Sandlass shipped home from Cuba and used throughout the Bamboo Room. Wicker folding chairs stand in rows on a wooden deck; the outer walls are canvas panels. "Airdrome" is the period term for an outdoor movie theater — the roof is open sky.