Researching a story about the first U.S. policewoman, who worked on the Los Angeles “purity squad,” I read up on nickelodeons, one of the places she patrolled. The nickelodeon was the first indoor exhibition space dedicated to showing projected motion pictures. The word “Nickelodeon” was concocted from the five-cent coin charged for admission and the ancient Greek word odeion, which was a roofed-over theater. A popular form of entertainment from 1905-1915, as many as 26 million people went every week to watch “the flicks” (so called because the images flickered). Read more about nickelodeons in BEHIND THE STORY.
