Rather, the nickelodeon phenomenon began in urban, industrial cities of the Midwest like Pittsburgh and Chicago.

By summer 1905 something new was in the making: the nickelodeon era was getting under way.Īlthough New York City was the center of the American film industry and the source of many innovative commercial practices, nickelodeons did not appear there first. 3 This move pointed toward new patterns of exhibition since the previously standard once-a-week program change had been based on vaudeville's weekly rotation of acts. While such changes were gradual and cumulative, a turning point of sorts was reached after the Miles Brothers began to advertise a semiweekly change of films for their customers in July 1905, and George Spoor's National Film Renting Bureau followed in September. These new elements included a large and growing audience base, a minimal level of 'feature' production, a rental system of exchanges, the conception of the film program as an interchangeable commodity (the reel of film), frequent program changes, a continuous-exhibition format, and cinema's relative independence from more traditional forms of entertainment (except illustrated songs). The storefront theater, a minor venue for picture shows since 1895, rapidly became the dominant site of exhibition because changes in motion-picture practice had created new conditions that made it immensely profitable. Burlesque, penny arcades, vaudeville: each found its circumstances challenged by the nickelodeon craze. 2 Theaters presenting melodramas had shown films between acts suddenly they saw a falling off of business, and some would eventually be converted into picture houses. Saloons, particularly around amusement parks, had shown films to customers now picture houses as inexpensive sources of entertainment and socializing began putting many of them out of business. These make motion pictures and illustrated songs the chief, sometimes the only numbers on their program.' Nickelodeons transformed and superseded earlier methods of film exhibition.

Commenting on this new development, George Kleine noted that 'many circuits of so-called ten-cent houses are springing up, some of them of pretentious construction and heavy investment. By the fall of 1905, nickelodeons were becoming recognized as important outlets for films.

In retrospect, the period between 18 witnessed the establishment and finally the saturation of cinema within preexisting venues. It is not too much to say that modern cinema began with the nickelodeons. Their explosive demand for product would not only increase film production but force its reorganization. 1 They would alter the nature of spectatorship and precipitate fundamental shifts in representation. The rapid proliferation of specialized storefront moving-picture theaters-commonly known as 'nickelodeons' (a reference to the customary admission charge of five cents), 'electric theaters,' and 'theatoriums'-created a revolution in screen entertainment. 13 Nickels Count: Storefront Theaters, 1905–1907 Harry Davis and the 'Pittsburgh Idea' Exhibition Practices in the Early Nickelodeons A New Generation of Film Exchanges Implications of the Nickelodeon Era for Those Involved in Exhibition The Projection Booth Becomes a Sweatshop Film Fires in the Nickelodeon Era Traveling Exhibition as the Nickelodeon Era Begins

Bijou theater seating