Kinetoscope Parlors

In April of 1894, the Holland Brothers set up the very first Kinetoscope Parlor on Broadway in New York City. There were a total of five Kinetoscopes set up with a different film in each one and customers paid five cents per film or twenty-five cents total to view them all. The films shown ranged from sparring boxers, body builders, animals to clothed women dancing. Each film lasted between thirty and sixty seconds. Needless to say the viewing audiences were mostly male. Below is an example of a boxing film that would be shown. This is a one minute clip of Michael Leonard-Jack Cushing Prize Fight. Each Kinetoscope would be set up to show one round of the six round bout each round costing ten cents, or the entire fight costing sixty cents. [10]

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