680:, and as cities grew and industry consolidation led to larger, more comfortable, better-appointed movie theaters. Longer films caused ticket prices to double from five cents to ten cents. Although their heyday was relatively brief, nickelodeons played an important part in creating a specialized spectator, "the moviegoer", who could now integrate going to the movies into their life in a way that was impossible before. Miriam Hansen has noted that the term "spectator" had become common by 1910. The nickelodeon explosion also increased the demand for new films, as thousands of theaters needed new product. The growth of longer films, which nickelodeons played a large part in stimulating, also led to the development of
360:. Film exchanges would buy films from manufacturers and then rent them out to exhibitors. With a steady supply of different films, exhibitors finally had the possibility to open venues, where films were the central attraction. They did not have to worry about finding new audiences because the same audience would return again and again to watch different films. Exhibition practices greatly varied and programs lasted anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half or more in length. Often, programs ran continuously and patrons would join a program already in progress when they arrived and stay as long as they liked. While some nickelodeons only showed films, others offered shows that combined films with
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also more attractive, as the price paid by exhibitors depended on a film's length and the longer a film, the more profit there was to be made. Some exhibitors found longer films more desirable since it made programming easier, faster, and possibly cheaper, as they no longer had to organize their own programs by editing together a variety of short films. Directors had a great desire to make longer films, because it meant greater artistic innovation as they tried to find new ways to engage audiences. The popularity of longer films also meant an increase in production of
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United States doubled between 1907 and 1908 to around 8,000, and it was estimated that by 1910 as many as 26 million
Americans visited these theaters weekly. Nickelodeons in converted storefronts typically seated fewer than 200 – the patrons often sat on hard wooden chairs, with the screen hung on the back wall. A piano (and maybe a drum set) would be placed to the side of, or below the screen. Larger nickelodeons sometimes had the capacity for well over 1,000 people.
167:
684:, which appeared in 1903 and helped make actions and scenes clearer as storylines became more complicated. A side-effect of this change was that it minimized the role of exhibitors, since they no longer had the editorial control of organizing single-shot films into programs, and now their narrative responsibility (some exhibitors would talk and help explain narratives as they unfolded) was also minimized by this "internal narration" in the film.
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393:' 1939 survey, where he wrote: "concentrated largely in poorer shopping districts and slum neighborhoods, nickelodeons were disdained by the well-to-do. But, the workmen and their families who patronized the movies did not mind the crowded, unsanitary, and hazardous accommodations most of the nickelodeons offered."
422:, 23rd Street, and 125th Street were typical locations and the larger movie theaters were set up there. Neighborhood nickelodeons, which were the majority of movie theaters in Manhattan, were almost always located in neighborhoods with high residential densities and spread over a substantial number of blocks.
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The desirability of longer films, which enabled nickelodeons to grow as they would, was the result of many factors. Economic competition between film production companies put pressure on them to create more elaborate, and often longer, films, to differentiate one film from another. Longer films were
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audiences throughout the nickelodeon era and into the later 1910s belief to expand the business. In 1985, Robert C. Allen debated whether movies attracted a middle-class audience as illustrated by the location of earlier movie theaters in traditional entertainment districts, where more nickelodeons
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as actualities decreased. One of the possible reasons for this shift is that fiction films were often easier to plan and cheaper to film than actualities, which were subject to various location-related difficulties. Fiction films quickly became standardized, and the popularity of longer films meant
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were sometimes an important feature. Regarded as disreputable and dangerous by some civic groups and municipal agencies, crude, ill-ventilated nickelodeons with hard wooden seats were outmoded as longer films became common and larger, more comfortably furnished motion-picture theaters were built, a
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The nickelodeon boom in
Manhattan between 1905 and 1907 often functioned as historical shorthand for the rise of the movies in general. In 2004, Ben Singer wrote in his analysis of Manhattan nickelodeons; "for most people ... the image of cramped, dingy nickelodeons in Manhattan's Lower East Side
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Davis and Harris found such great success with their operation that their concept of a five-cent theater showing movies continuously was soon imitated by hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs, as was the name of the theater itself. Statistics at the time show that the number of nickelodeons in the
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theaters as one of the otherwise live acts. Nickelodeons drastically altered film exhibition practices and the leisure-time habits of a large segment of the
American public. Although they were characterized by continuous performances of a selection of short films, added attractions such as
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Nickelodeons radically changed the modes of distribution and the types of films being made. Around 1903, longer multi-shot films became more prevalent, and this shift brought about important innovations in the distribution of films with the establishment of
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At the heart of the image of nickelodeons in traditional histories is the belief that movies were a simple amusement for the working class, and that the middle-class stayed away until after World War I. This idea was reflected in
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in the United States and Canada. Usually set up in converted storefronts, these small, simple theaters charged five cents for admission (a "nickel", hence the name) and flourished from about 1905 to 1915. American cable station
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Nickelodeons usually showed films about ten to fifteen minutes in length, and in a variety of styles and subjects, such as short narratives, "scenics" (views of the world from moving trains), "actualities" (precursors of later
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ghetto stands as a symbol for the cinema's emergence in
America." Nickelodeons consistently appeared in the densest areas of the city in terms of residential concentration and the amount of pedestrian traffic. Areas such as
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Though strong throughout the years from 1905 to 1913, nickelodeons became victims of their own success as attendance grew rapidly, necessitating larger auditoriums. Nickelodeons further declined with the advent of the
290:. Although it was not the first theater to show films, a 1919 news article claimed that it was the first theater in the world "devoted exclusively to exhibition of moving picture spectacles".
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162:, Canada, c. 1910. Nickelodeons often used gaudy posters and ornamented facades to attract patrons, but bare walls and hard seats usually awaited within.
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27:"Nickelodeon theatre" redirects here. For the Nickelodeon Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, see
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282:. On June 19, 1905, they opened a small storefront theater with the name on Smithfield Street in
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Early writers on
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1199:"Manhattan Nickelodeons: New Data on Audiences and Exhibitors" in The Silent Cinema Reader
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The titles of a few of the films released in 1907 and distributed to nickelodeons by the
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wrote: "It is not too much to say that modern cinema began with the nickelodeons."
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The name "Nickelodeon" was first used in 1888 by
Colonel William Austin for his
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The
Landscapes of Western Movies: A History of Filming on Location, 1900 - 1970
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was the first type of indoor exhibition space dedicated to showing projected
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Other 1907 films also distributed to nickelodeons by the Miles
Brothers:
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in Paris, emblematic of a very large and luxurious theater, much as the
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International
Contest for the Heavyweight Championship: Squires vs.
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462:(Herbert, Harry and Earl C.) partially illustrate this diversity.
201:, the name of the U.S. five-cent coin, and the ancient Greek word
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936:. City of Haverhill, Massachusetts. April 8, 2006. Archived from
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were located in or near middle-class neighborhoods than in the
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The Fox Film Corporation, 1915–1935: A History and Filmography
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The Fox Film Corporation, 1915–1935: A History and Filmography
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435:), illustrated songs, local or touring song and dance acts,
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Babel and Babylon: Spectatorship and American Silent Film
1115:. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 4–6.
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they outperformed actualities, which were usually short.
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Squires, Australian Champion, in His Training Quarters
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Nickelodeon City: Pittsburgh at the Movies, 1905–1929
714:, a 1976 film about the early history of silent films
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The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907
385:people who could not afford a higher ticket price.
78:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
466:These are taken from a 1907 article published in
324:and a second one, The Family Theatre soon after.
320:opened his first nickelodeon, The White Front on
1220:and published in the November 23, 1907 issue of
806:"Pittsburg Gave Birth to the Movie Theater Idea"
518:(directed by J. H. Martin; old historical drama)
343:". Other well-known nickelodeon owners were the
1249:Cinemas and movie theaters in the United States
1229:"Story films" distributed by the Miles Brothers
34:Not to be confused with the television channel
1096:. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 26.
396:More recent historians argue the rise of the
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1124:. Berkeley: University of California Press.
351:Changes in film distribution and exhibition
753:sfn error: no target: CITEREFCharles1990 (
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138:Learn how and when to remove this message
1152:. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
1113:The Transformation of Cinema, 1907–1915
887:. McFarland & Company. p. 12.
860:. McFarland & Company. p. 11.
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908:Cristina Stanca Muste (June 8, 2011).
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1180:Greek Americans: Struggle and Success
1085:. New York: McGraw Hill. p. 202.
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804:Lightner, E. W. (November 16, 1919).
241:trend that culminated in the lavish "
227:The earliest films had been shown in
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934:"Where Is Haverhill, Massachusetts?"
76:adding citations to reliable sources
25:
1083:Film History: Theory and Practice
524:(directed by J. H. Martin; drama)
502:(directed by J. H. Martin; drama)
301:started his first nickelodeon in
195:"Nickelodeon" was concocted from
739:, page 28, McFarland, Inc., 2020
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305:. He owned numerous theaters in
87:"Nickelodeon" movie theater
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786:(9 ed.). M. King. p.
63:needs additional citations for
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1170:The Rise of the American Film
426:Types of nickelodeon programs
331:renovated the Gem Theater in
187:was named after the theater.
274:The term was popularized by
1178:Moskos, Charles C. (2018).
1173:. New York: Harcourt Brace.
364:acts or illustrated songs.
45:Type of early movie theater
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1208:External links and sources
914:Immigrant Entrepreneurship
783:King's hand-book of Boston
322:Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)
33:
26:
1223:The Saturday Evening Post
1090:Aronson, Michael (2008).
644:' Conclave at Los Angeles
626:Life and Customs in India
573:Anarchist's Mother-in-Law
469:The Saturday Evening Post
154:A nickelodeon theatre in
18:Nickelodeon movie theater
1235:Catalog of Feature Films
1131:The Silent Cinema Reader
1120:Musser, Charles (1990).
1081:Allen, Robert C (1985).
881:Solomon, Aubrey (2014).
854:Solomon, Aubrey (2014).
578:Boss Away, Choppers Play
333:Haverhill, Massachusetts
1233:American Film Institute
1218:Joseph Medill Patterson
1148:Hansen, Miriam (1991).
1133:. New York: Routledge.
1129:Grieveson, Lee (2004).
1111:Bowser, Eileen (1990).
621:on His California Ranch
1201:. New York: Routledge.
1167:Jacobs, Lewis (1939).
636:The Petticoat Regiment
590:Cheekiest Man on Earth
409:Manhattan nickelodeons
219:was of a grand hotel.
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792:austin's nickelodeon.
605:Indian Basket Weavers
584:Cambridge-Oxford Race
487:The Coroner's Mistake
449:stop-action sequences
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38:or its film division
29:Columbia Film Society
1197:Singer, Ben (2004).
940:on January 18, 2006.
780:King, Moses (1889).
550:Village Fire Brigade
528:The Romany's Revenge
339:moving pictures and
257:Austin's Nickelodeon
229:"peep show" machines
72:improve this article
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40:Nickelodeon Movies
1189:978-1-351-51672-3
1103:978-0-8229-4322-8
1067:, pp. 84–85.
894:978-0-7864-6286-5
867:978-0-7864-6286-5
844:, pp. 80–81.
631:The Naval Nursery
433:documentary films
341:illustrated songs
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810:The Dispatch
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749:Charles 1990
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70:Please help
65:verification
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1231:, from the
1065:Hansen 1991
1053:Singer 2004
1041:Singer 2004
1014:Jacobs 1939
1002:Singer 2004
951:Moskos 2018
827:Bowser 1990
711:Nickelodeon
702:Film portal
682:intertitles
494:ghost story
481:Alf Collins
299:William Fox
276:Harry Davis
263:located in
261:dime museum
185:Nickelodeon
176:nickelodeon
36:Nickelodeon
1243:Categories
1026:Allen 1985
919:2022-07-06
719:References
453:vaudeville
441:melodramas
362:vaudeville
311:New Jersey
284:Pittsburgh
233:vaudeville
128:April 2015
98:newspapers
724:Citations
556:; comedy)
512:; comedy)
483:; comedy)
327:In 1907,
316:In 1906,
297:In 1905,
191:Etymology
688:See also
642:Shriners
562:(comedy)
540:(comedy)
534:; drama)
455:houses.
437:comedies
405:ghetto.
377:Audience
307:New York
303:Brooklyn
671:Decline
546:(drama)
223:History
160:Ontario
156:Toronto
112:scholar
1186:
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1100:
891:
864:
265:Boston
204:odeion
198:nickel
114:
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612:Burns
491:comic
210:Odéon
119:JSTOR
105:books
1184:ISBN
1154:ISBN
1135:ISBN
1098:ISBN
889:ISBN
862:ISBN
755:help
309:and
278:and
259:, a
216:Ritz
174:The
91:news
788:249
271:.
74:by
1245::
1033:^
970:^
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