As if the price weren't enticing enough, theater owners often used all manner of stunts to attract patrons, even live chicken give-aways. Audiences responded en masse: Going to the movies became a popular form of entertainment and leisure.
These early days of movie-going are documented by film studies professor Michael Aronson in his new book, Nickelodeon City: Pittsburgh at the Movies, 1905-1929 (University of Pittsburgh Press). Aronson chronicles the rich, vibrant history of these theaters in the Steel City, focusing on the players behind the screens.
Another colorful example: When the state government censored "objectionable" material out of the films, one distributor inserted slides in place of censored content to inform the audience that scenes like matrimonial smooching had been removed. At the Penn Theater, live actors sometimes performed forbidden scenes.
Aronson writes about the city and its exhibitors, distributors and audiences, "about their desires, investments, and actions -- some collective, many competing -- to define what the movies were and what they might become in this place and time."
- Amanda Miles
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