In the early 1900's viewing films was a popular way to spend an evening for the working class masses. Kinetoscope parlors and store front theaters were soon being converted to Nickelodeon Theaters. The theater's admission rate was usually a nickel and so the word Nickel was attached to the greek word for theater "odeon" which resulted in the term Nickelodeon. The first Nickelodeon was opened in June of 1905, in Pittsburg by Harry Davis and John Harris. All people alike enjoyed this cheap form of entertainment and the variety of short-films that were shown. The demand for more films increased film production as well as the money being pocketed by the producers. There was a slight draw back in the conversion of the different establishments into Nickelodeons however. Newspapers were very critical of the morality behind the programs being shown at these Nickelodeons, usually being deamed as immoral or wrong due to them being sensitive in nature. These shows involved; crime, seduction, sex and more. Due to the makeshift nature of some Nickelodeons, newspaper companies were critical of their unsanitary environments and unsafe conditions. This criticism lead to the development of more luxurious theaters that overcame these obstacles. Continuing to grow in popularity, by 1908 there were close to eight-thousand Nickelodeons. With this sort of fan following and popularity, we see as the motion picture industry continues to grow and steadily grow more and more complicated up to even present day. With this I conclude that with the development of motion film in the Gilded Age, the motion pictures industry was a hit and a major success thanks to all of the individuals that contributed to the field. [10]
