Beale Street Monster Club – Phantom Centennial Celebration 1925-2025

Nov17

by Lin on November 17, 2025 at 4:18 pm

Posted In: Blog

This past weekend my wife Nicki and I headed downtown to Beale Street to attend the Beale Street Monster Club‘s showing of the 1925 silent film “The Phantom Of The Opera“.

“The Phantom of the Opera” is a horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel of the same name. It was directed by Rupert Julian and starred Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

Now, although it is considered a black & white film, there are parts that are actually in color…well, there was some scenes with a bit of green or spot red such as the masquerade scene. It was a VERY expensive process to do back then, so it was used sparingly and for effect.

This special Phantom Centennial anniversary celebration showing was held upstairs at A. Schwab on historic Beale Street in Memphis, TN.

And the Phantom himself was there to greet us and entered on cue, “Sing for me..!”

Unlike the movie Phantom, this Phantom was much more social and was happy to pose for pictures- even with another Phantom that showed up!

This Beale Street Phantom and host was actually Michael Cox, one of the founders of the Beale Street Monster Club. He and co-founder Tony Kail introduced the film, and Michael took questions from the audience after the special screening of the movie.

Michael also had a lot of great Phantom collectible items on display

He has been known to take them on the road to events around town like the Monster Market, Memphis Monster Con, and Germantown Community Theatre during their recent run of “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” and our Mid-South Cartoonists Association‘s “Drawn Of The Dead” art show there.

I really enjoyed his “King Kong” collectibles he had on display at a previous Monster Club meeting when they had a showing of the original 1933 Kong movie back in February 2024.

Before and after the Phantom movie screening, Tony was giving guided tours of his Beale Street Hoodoo Museum that’s located across the hall upstairs at A. Schwab as well.

It’s really expanded since the last time I was there!

Tony and Michael really know their stuff, and are happy to share that knowledge. Tony’s even written books about Hoodoo! One of his published books was on display in the museum. You can purchase a copy of it “A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers & Spirituals” or “Stories of Rootworkers & Hoodoo in the Mid-South” ($21.99 USD) through Schwab’s website, in-store on Beale, or on Amazon.

A lot of the fear behind hoodoo/voodoo had to do with a lot of racism- kind of “Satanic Panic” back before movies like “The Exorcist” and “The Amityville Horror” or the heavy metal court trials in the ’70s and ’80s. Hollywood has played a big part in sensationalizing voodoo and perpetuating the stereotypes and myths over the years such as the James Bond flick, “Live And Let Die“. And there are also blues legends like Robert Johnson and the stories of his deal with the Devil at the Crossroads.

There were about 15-20 attendees that showed up to watch the Chaney film on it’s 100th anniversary, including local news man and monster kid, John Beifuss from the Commercial Appeal newspaper. John interviewed both Phantoms, as well as other attendees including Nicki and myself. After the movie I did a quick interview with Michael for my “Drawing Funny” podcast.

Oh, and speaking of Beifuss, his first professional byline appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine! John was an integral part of the birth of the “SIVADS OF MARCH” tribute celebration we did here in Memphis to honor “SIVAD” back in 2010. Watson Davis, who created and portrayed the southern vampire persona, passed away in 2005.

Sivad was the local horror host and “Monster of Ceremonies” for “Fantastic Features” on WHBQ/Ch.13 from 1962-1972. (Click HERE, HERE, and HERE for more info on SIVAD and Fantastic Features.)

You can see a video (click HERE) about him and experience some footage from the art show and Brooks events, which features Kevin L. Williams‘ SIVAD puppet as your horror host. Keep an eye out for John and my cameos in it, along with some of my art and other local artists. I was at the art show, but somehow missed all of the ballyhoo at Brooks and other events going on that year. I have no idea how that happened, and barely remember what I did attend. Missing the other festivities and folks involved is a major regret and bummer for me, and I really hope that another SIVAD celebration can happen again. I won’t miss this one even if I have to be carried there in a casket!

You can check out some of SIVAD’s actual costume and classic collectibles currently in the lobby of the movie theater at the Pink Palace Museum & Mansion on Central Avenue in Memphis. I almost missed seeing them in person myself!

SIVAD was a fun part of the discussion at the first Beale Street Monster Club meeting at A. Schwab and everyone had great memories to share.

A. Schwab Dry Goods Store was established in 1876 by Abraham Joseph Schwab, a Jewish immigrant. Schwab joined the Hirsch family after arriving in Memphis from and opened A. Schwab Dry Goods Store, selling men’s shoes and boots and later expanded into assorted clothing, hardware, and home appliances. “Hirsch, Schwab & Co” was originally located at 66 Beale and later moved to 149 Beale after the families split in 1886. In 1911, the business was moved to the first floor of its current address at 163 Beale.

It had been passed down through many members of the family, and late in 2011 after 136 years of ownership the Schwab family sold the business. It’s got a large variety of items for sale in this huge two story building including tees, harmonicas, ukuleles, magnets, soaps, sock monkeys, and more! Their motto is, “If you can’t find it at Schwab’s you’re better off without it.” You can find more about the Schwab history on their website HERE and read several articles on the store HERE.

Besides being one of the largest and oldest retail stores on Beale, A. Schwab is the only surviving original Beale Street business- and even has a soda fountain that serves old fashioned sodas, floats, ice cream, sundaes, hand made milk shakes, and even some hot beverages like espresso, coffee, and hot chocolate. That half of the storefront (165 Beale) and the second floor of their building was bought in 1924 and doubled the footprint of the shop to it’s current size and I believe I heard the soda fountain was put in around the early 2000s during the store’s renovation.

That side had previously been one of the original Piggly Wiggly grocery store locations. Piggly Wiggly, founded by Clarence Saunders, was the first true self-serve grocery store and originated in Memphis in 1916. I used to shop at one in Memphis, but the closest locations are in Olive Branch and Tunica, MS or middle TN around the Nashville area, and I now only see others when we drive through Georgia or Alabama. My buddy Greg Cravens used to do a lot of the advertising art for their circulars and other promo art.

Piggly Wiggly’s first location was at 79 Jefferson Avenue, and you can see a replica of it on permanent display at the Pink Palace Museum & Mansion (also known as “MoSH”- Memphis Museum of Science & History). The museum and movie theater are amazing, and Tony Hardy who runs the theater has a spooktacular horror and sci-fi personal collection that he occasionally shares in displays there throughout the year.

My buddy Kevin and I have visited and shopped at Schwab’s many times over the years when on Beale, and the first time I visited A. Schwab for a Beale Street Monster Club event I got a root beer float.

This time Nicki and I ordered a couple chocolate shakes from Elliott Schwab (fourth generation Schwab) and watched folks walk (and flip) down Beale Street.

I missed getting a shot of one of the Beale Street Flippers (like seen in the movie “The Firm”), but did catch a pic of the National Guard patrolling on Beale with an MPD officer. Funny thing, I didn’t see them or many Memphis police patrolling after dark..!

We did have a good (and safe) time Walking In Memphis, and look forward to more Beale Street Monster Club events at A. Schwab and around the M-town.

I joined the Beale Street Monster Club during it’s first ever meeting downtown back on Saturday the 13th- January, 2o24. It was a great time and I ran into a couple fellow monster kids like Carlin Stuart and Josh Plock. Unfortunately co-founder Michael had to work and missed that event.

After the meeting, Tony was our guide for a tour of the Hoodoo Museum, the store, and a trip downstairs to check out the basement! It’s off limits to the general public, so this was very special opportunity for us. I wish we could’ve gone down there this weekend to take a pic of the Phantom’s in their costumes. That archway would’ve been perfect for a Phantom photo op!

Lots of cool stuff down there, and while we explored the store’s underbelly Tony told us more history about Beale and Schwab’s, including the tunnels that ran under Beale that were used from time to time for removing dead bodies off the street…YIKES!!! Plus, they were used during prohibition to move illegal hooch. I’d love to learn more about Memphis’ history from back then. I also wish I had a basement like this for my own Batcave! There might be enough space for all of the guano in my collection…