Electric Theatre Opens: The Dawn of the Movie Era
Thomas Tally's Electric Theatre opened at 262 South Main Street in Los Angeles on April 2, 1902, charging ten cents admission to watch projected films in a dedicated indoor venue. Before this, movies were shown in vaudeville houses between live acts, in traveling tent shows, or at penny arcades where viewers peered into individual kinetoscopes. Tally created a space designed solely for watching projected images on a screen, with rows of chairs facing forward and a darkened room. The concept spread rapidly. By 1905 Pittsburgh had its first nickelodeon, and by 1910 there were over 10,000 movie theaters across the United States. The physical infrastructure of cinema as a communal experience began on that single Los Angeles block.
April 2, 1902
124 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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