ii. Movies, Politics, and the Working Class

The age of "modern movies" began in Pittsburgh in 1905 with the opening of the first nickelodeon--a slang word that joined together the price of admission with the Greek term for theater. The first movie theaters with very modest affairs--often storefronts converted into theaters (fig. 2, 3).

fig 2: Bijou Dreams, Camden, N.J. (c.19--)

Moving pictures proved so popular that the number of theaters skyrocketed from a few hundred by the end of 1905 to 14,000 by 1914. Movie exhibitors attracted audiences by building nicer theaters (fig. 4, 5) by changing film programs daily (fig. 6), and by advertising their theaters as child-care centers where parents could leave their strollers and children for the day (fig. 7).

fig 7: Baby carriages outside a Nickelodeon (c.1910)