Mechanical Memories Magazine

The Kinetoscope, in it's developed format, was housed in a wooden case approximately
four feet high . The film, a little short of fifty feet in length, was wound around a series
of spools, tension maintained by a jockey spool. It is not clear at what speed the
machines ran, but it is thought to be something in the order of forty frames per second,
which would allow a total running time ofno more than twenty seconds.
After the Kinetoscope's premier in May '93, little progress was made in exploiting
the machines commercially. Almost a year later, on the 14 11' April 1894, Holland
Brothers opened a Kinetoscope Parlour at 1155 Broadway, New York City, where ten
machines were installed. The machines were arranged in two rows of five, and were not
at this stage coin-operated. Patrons were charged twenty-five cents to view all the
machines in one row, so to view all ten would have cost half a dollar - a considerable
amount for little more than a total of three minutes viewing time. But it was a great
success, and within weeks the Holland brothers had opened parlours in Chicago and
San Fransisco. Others followed, and within months Kinetoscope parlours had opened
all over the United States.
A rare photograph of a Kinetoscope with it 's door open.
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