What's in a name?

[radstockjeff]

Having to find something to keep me amused in this awful weather and current lockdown I decided to do some tidying of the bookshelves and as I did so my mind wandered from the matter in hand (not difficult these days) when I came to the section marked cinemas etc.

We have all heard of the "supposed" origin of ODEON -   Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation, but of course with a much older derivation, from Roman and Greek times when the odeon was a building for entertainment. I believe that there was a picture house somewhere in France in the early cinema days before the ODEON circuit came into being with that name.

Likewise Gaumont...strange sounding name for a cinema chain, but of course relevant to Leon Gaumont a pioneer of the French movie industry.

But then I came to Palladium and could find no apparent reference to link that with any entertainment persona or activity. All that I could find was a reference to a silvery metallic element or the Godess Pallas from the ancient times of Troy.

Has anyone got any bright ideas on this one please just to satisfy my curiosity or have I missed something? (again)

[Kiltpin]

Palladium  a reference to a silvery metallic element  - The "Silver Screen" maybe? 

Regards 

Chas

[andrewalston]

I think that the name is a reference to safety. Lots of places of entertainment were associated with fires - bright lights needed extreme temperatures.

Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_(protective_image)

Lots of cinema names came from earlier entertainments, such as Hippodrome (one of my distant cousins rode horses in these places).

[KGarrad]

The London Palladium was formerly the National Ice Skating Centre, based at Hengler's Circus
Rebuilt and renamed in 1910.

[Gone]

Ahhh! The Gaumont.
I spent many a happy hour in the Southampton Gaumont, an excellent venue for bands.
I'm pretty sure the first I saw was 1969, The Moody Blues.
The Regent Cinema had entertainment in the interval, anyone could get up on stage and have a go.
The Classic Cinema had all night horror films.
The Odeon...... My gran was an usherette there so I kept away, except when she had free tickets.... 😁🎟️

[guest141721]

Pallas Athena was Greek the goddess of war, wisdom and patroness of handicrafts so could the word Palladium possibly be connected with wisdom and handicrafts in some way?

Two versions of how she got the name Pallas are these.

In Greek mythology Pallas was the daughter of Triton the river god and best friend of the goddess Athena. During a game Athena accidentally killed Pallas and in honour of her memory is said to have taken the name Pallas Athena.

In another version the name Pallas was given to her after she killed the giant Pallas.

That's a possible Greek connection.

Then there are the paladin, fictional knights of Charlemagne, and the Roman palatine so there's plenty of room for speculation.

[guest141721]

Not forgetting the Ritz and Savoy cinemas.

[radstockjeff]

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Quite a fascinating topic to find the derivation of and for the various cinemas. One which used to be in Trowbridge (Wilts) was called The Focus..it puzzled me for ages until the penny dropped.

[andrewalston]

One which used to be about a mile from where I'm currently sitting was called the Regent, which seems to have been a "normal" cinema name.

It is on the corner of Regent Street and Mill Lane, and this particular cinema was named after the street, as it was originally called the Electric Palace !