Megan ByrneAnd Paul McCartney Was In A Band Before Wings, Too!!!
October 8th 2006 20:33
After reading TechyBites today, I decided on the topic for this post. It wasn't so much the great content of TechyBytes that caught my attention. A few things were mentioned that caught my fancy and, rather than hog up his comment discussions, I'll talk about them here.
Although always part of entertainment, Penny Arcade didn't always refer to a comic strip and Nickelodeon wasn't always associated with TV.
The penny arcade (it only cost a penny to operate), dates from the nineteenth century; they were called bagatelles—a game that combined pinball and billiards. Later, penny arcade machines grew closer to modern pinball. Other machines in the penny arcades were slots, love testers, fortune teller machines as well as peep show machines (yes, that was the real term) where the viewer could watch moving pictures.
Early 20th century mutoscope machines
were the introduction to 'moving pictures’ for many people. (The mutoscope works like a flicker book. Each frame of the movie is printed on a separate postcard.) Turning the handle rotates the drum and flicks the cards past the eyepiece.
The late 1890s was the beginning of the Nickelodeon era. At that time, film was becoming popular entertainment and the nickolodeon, aka 'nickel .
theater' came to be in April, 1896 at Koster and Bial's, a New York City music hall.
All over the country, old shops and restaurants were being turned into makeshift theatres where patrons sat at tables and watched the 'flickers' that wouldn't be complete without the piano or violin musical interludes.
Kinda looks like everything used to be something else, huh?
Although always part of entertainment, Penny Arcade didn't always refer to a comic strip and Nickelodeon wasn't always associated with TV.
The penny arcade (it only cost a penny to operate), dates from the nineteenth century; they were called bagatelles—a game that combined pinball and billiards. Later, penny arcade machines grew closer to modern pinball. Other machines in the penny arcades were slots, love testers, fortune teller machines as well as peep show machines (yes, that was the real term) where the viewer could watch moving pictures.
Early 20th century mutoscope machines
Mutoscope
The late 1890s was the beginning of the Nickelodeon era. At that time, film was becoming popular entertainment and the nickolodeon, aka 'nickel .
Koster and Bial's Music Hall Poster
All over the country, old shops and restaurants were being turned into makeshift theatres where patrons sat at tables and watched the 'flickers' that wouldn't be complete without the piano or violin musical interludes.
Kinda looks like everything used to be something else, huh?
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