Storefront 

The success of the Nickelodeon Theatre helped to spark the rapid growth of small storefront theatres. While there had been a few prior to the one in Pittsburgh, there were 313 by the end of 1906 and 10,000 by 1910.

Theatorium, Main Street, Perry, New York (circa 1907)


For a modest investment, an exhibitor could open a motion picture show in a narrow store or any empty space with enough room for a projector, screen (a wall would do), and wooden benches or kitchen chairs (not fastened).  

If not a barker to attract patrons then at least a phonograph with a large horn bawling out the latest pop tunes.

Competition and new city ordinances brought improvements to many storefront nickelodeons while closing others. Noisy barkers, blaring phonographs and garish posters replaced by prefabricated exterior ornamentation purchased from a mail-order catalog.  

Germantown Theatre, Philadelphia  

Numerous dark, poorly ventilated, badly converted store theaters closed during the teens as  larger more ornate movie houses opened. Others shut their doors with the advent of talkies and the onset of the Great Depression.

Still there were those that lingered on, especially in the rural areas or in the big city neighborhoods where they became affectionately know as the local "itch", "dump" or "flea pit."






Village Theatre, 189 Eigth Avenue, New York City