Jun 29 2011
Posted by cheokhong.yu under June 30 Assignment
Consumer Culture – Movie Theaters in Chicago
Chicago’s first generation of movie theaters, most of which opened in the early 1910s, were mostly small establishments located wherever a vacant storefront could be had. By the late 1910s and early 1920s, increasingly large theaters were constructed throughout Chicago. Every neighborhood had one or more movie houses to call its own. As profits from existing theaters soared, promoters opened ever-grander theaters which entertain the masses of movie-goers. These so-called movie palaces were distinct from their predecessors in a number of ways. The city’s theater circuits, the most notable of which was Balaban & Katz, expected their movie palaces to draw audiences from across the city, not just the immediate neighborhood. Also, by incorporating classical architectural details in the new palaces, they hoped to allay middle-class fears that movie theaters were corrupting the minds and morals of the city’s youth. Their efforts worked. By the end of the 1920s, movie-going was one of the city’s most popular leisure activities, due in large part by the increased willingness of middle-class Chicagoans to go out and see a show.
