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A negative made positive 139 years ago
Published February 5, 2009
Although photographic magic lantern slides were projected on a screen as early as 1848, according to film historians, the earliest public exhibition of photographs, taken from living subjects in motion and projected by a lantern on a screen, was at an event held in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on Feb. 5, 1870.
The first theater exclusively devoted to showing motion pictures, the Nickelodeon, opened on June 19, 1905 in Pittsburgh.
The name Nickelodeon was based on the cost of admission to the theater, a nickel, and the Greek word for theater, “odeon.”
That in mind, I thought back to my first motion picture theater experiences.
The fondest were of those enumerable Saturdays I spent inside the Wakefield Theatre at 411 Main St. in downtown Wakefield, Mass.
Vividly and indelibly etched in my memory, as a youngster of 6 years of age, is that cavernous wonderland of cinematic fantasy.
Its interior walls were bedecked with heavy floor-to-ceiling drapery. Two carpeted aisles separated three sections of cushioned folding seats with red, carpet-like material.
They offered comfort and a modicum of protection, if you ducked down, from what might exit the screen and attack you.
You know how a child’s imagination can be, right?
However, those foldup seats posed a real danger to a young, not-so-heavy-then, theatergoer.
If you unexpectedly shifted your weight the wrong way, they’d snap shut like a Venus fly trap – nearly squeezing the life out of you – and sending drink, popcorn and candy in all directions.
From the side of every other aisle seat, a small yellow light lit the aisle for those journeying to and from the snack bar or restrooms during the movie.
I always sat at the back of the auditorium, in an aisle seat, because I didn’t like anybody behind me that might pour a drink or popcorn down my back. And trust me, there were those who would.
Now, before I could enjoy those celluloid delights, I had to acquire the 10-cent admission price.
Usually, that was accomplished by scavenging the alleys for wherever someone might discard a drink bottle.
A rare quart-size bottle garnered a nickel, while a 16-ounce was worth 2 cents, and an 8-ounce added a penny to the effort.
The accumulated bottles were promptly exchanged at Toody’s Grocery for the needed cash.
At the theater, I paid the ticket cashier, ran through the turnstile, passing my ticket to the usher. Then I would acquire, if I had extra change, a box of popcorn, a drink and a candy bar or two.
Then I’d lean back in my seat and enter, for an hour, the make-believe world of Hollywood.
That’s all folks!
[George Jones is a staff writer for The Sand Mountain Reporter. His e-mail address is boaz(at)sandmountainreporter.com.]
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