c. 1907-1912
Cinema etiquette
Experience the novel wonders of film! Please don't spit on the floor.
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
With the release of the first motion pictures in the last years of the 19th century, movie theaters emerged to exhibit the wondrous new form of entertainment.
Silent films were screened in converted auditoriums and specially-built theaters called nickelodeons, with the musical accompaniment of a pianist or organist.
By 1910, tens of millions of Americans were visiting nickelodeons every week, drawn by the five-cent price of admission. Films, shown continuously through the day, could be as short as 10 minutes, but patrons could arrive in the middle of a film and stay as long as they liked, taking in comedies, melodramas, dance numbers and scenic travelogues.
With so many crowding into the small theaters, a few projected reminders of basic etiquette were necessary (even if there were no cell phones to be silenced).
c. 1907
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
Image: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1907
Image: Library of Congress
c. 1912
Image: Library of Congress
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