When you’re spread out in your chair at the megaplex, popcorn in hand and 3-D glasses at the ready, watching a Hollywood blockbuster can feel like the most modern form of entertainment out there. So it might surprise you that the first feature-length film made in America was screened a full century ago. This silent, five-reel rendition of Oliver Twist had been filmed on a simple, indoor stage, more like a recording of a theatrical performance than a made-for-the-screen feature, and it ran a little over an hour. Only eight other feature-length films were released that year, including Richard III, The Count of Monte Cristo, and a Jesus Christ biography entitled From the Manger to the Cross.
In contrast, more than 200 feature-length films were released in 2011, and the titles topping the box office included Harry Potter, Transformers, and The Hangover: Part II—not exactly the Shakespeare and Bible stories of 1912. Many films were nearly three hours long, and most were close to two. Filming locations included Thailand, Bavaria, and a host of California studios, but no indoor stages.
The business of making movies has clearly expanded in scope and cost in the last hundred years, but what about the business of watching them?
From the Saloon to the Cinema
In the early days of commercial movie-making, newspapers celebrated the arrival of the new “nickelodeons,” or movie theaters, not as an innovative new form of entertainment, but as an alternative to the saloon. Instead of hanging out at the bar after work, working Americans would opt to pay anywhere between three cents and a nickel to watch a series of short movies. There were gangster films, period pieces, slapstick comedies—the same plots offered by today’s studios—but with screenings that averaged only twenty to forty minutes of runtime.
The movies themselves might have been silent, but the theater was anything but. Theater owners almost always hired live accompaniment for the films, ranging from a local amateur on the piano to a full-blown orchestra. Studios even started distributing sheet music to go along with the film reels, eager to ensure that the musical accompaniment fit the piece. Of course, that didn’t stop musicians eager for a tip from bursting into “Yankee Doodle” during Richard III or starting Christmas carol sing-a-longs during the manger scene in From the Manger to the Cross. (Now you can see why the theater seemed like a legitimate alternative to the bar.)
In this anything-goes atmosphere, you would imagine that early theater owners let the customers do as they pleased. Not quite. The one thing that theater owners did not want in their buildings during the 1900s? A concession stand.
A Century of Snack History
To modern moviegoers, that might sound a bit strange. Concession stands are now a crucial part of movie theater profit margins and the overall theatergoing experience. Popcorn, candy, and other treats are now as much a part of going to the movie theater as the film itself.
However, it wasn’t always that way. In the early 1900s, movie theaters were accused of being low-brow entertainment, stealing valuable audiences and dollars from proper theatrical performances. In an effort to make themselves look more respectable, and closer to traditional playhouses, movie theaters wanted to avoid appearing like a carnivalesque spectacle. County fairs sold popcorn and peanuts; opera houses did not.
This unofficial attempt at stifling supply did not stifle demand, though, and independent snack vendors would line the streets outside of theaters, hawking their wares from mobile machines such as the Cretors popcorn wagon. Cretors machines, widely celebrated as the first commercial popcorn poppers, made it possible for vendors to produce popcorn in large, efficient batches that were ideal for catering to crowds. They proved to be huge hits with both vendors and customers, and today they’re recognized as the catalyst for the creation of the modern concession industry.
Indeed, these machines soon became part of the novelty of moviegoing. Steam-powered and marketed with mechanical mascots like the Tosty Rosty Man, mobile popcorn machines could roast peanuts, bake chestnuts, pop popcorn, and even prepare a cup of coffee. For the average citizen of 1912, this was a device of the future, and even standing in line to watch the machine at work was a new and interesting experience. There was also a wonderful variety of machines. Some were small wagons that could be wheeled into the theater (and hurriedly wheeled back out if management complained). Most were legged so that they could be carried from sales spot to sales spot. Still others were full-blown horse-drawn wagons.
As movie theaters became more and more accepted, and as the moviegoer love of snacks became clearer and clearer, owners caught on and moved the sales inside.
Today, concessions are an active part of the luxury. Upscale theaters have a bountiful host of options at including nachos, hot dogs, pizza, or fries. For drinks, there are slushies, tea, coffee, and a dozen different brands of soda.
However, some things have stayed constant from the hawk-your-wares heyday of independent concession stands. Popcorn remains the top-selling concession food in America, and many industry leaders of the 1900s are still producing machines, carts, and display cabinets. C. Cretors & Company, the inventors of the first commercial popcorn machine, has continued in the spirit of that initial patent to become worldwide innovators in popcorn and snack production. Spanning over 10 billion U.S. concession businesses, C. Cretors & Company’s product line encompasses the same infinite variety as the 1900s marketplace that gave birth to it. For example, the OriginatAir is a hot air popper and puffer that can make gourmet caramel corn, while the Mach 5 allows concession employees to switch between “salted” and “sweet” corn production. The machines can be decked out with features like salt and sugar dispensers, warming cabinets, butter topping dispensers. There are even eye-catching decorations like programmed LED signs or fluorescent lights.
In short, while the venues and production values may have changed, Americans are still looking for the same things from a movie-going experience that they wanted 100 years ago: entertainment, an escape, and of course, popcorn.
About C. Cretors and Company
Established in 1885, C. Cretors and Company is the leading designer and manufacturer of food processing and concession equipment providing a complete range of innovative food service solutions to companies around the world. Cretors is a renowned industry innovator, who in 1893 introduced the first patented steam driven popcorn machine that popped corn in oil. In 1967, Cretors’ Food Processing Division introduced a patented continuous production line featuring a hot air fluidized bed oven for high-volume popcorn production, ranging from 80 to 5,000 lbs. per hour.
Over the company’s long and storied history, its Foodservice Division offerings have expanded to include machines that produce and/or dispense cotton candy, nachos, caramel corn, and hot dogs, topping and dispensing equipment as well as warming and display cabinets. Today, Cretors continues to reinvest in research and development to ensure constant improvements in everything from equipment manufacture to customer responsiveness to distributor network communications.
For more information about Cretors’ services and products, please visit www.cretors.com
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‘ve seen the previews for Woman Thou Art Loosed!: On the 7th Day and it is a must see. Mark your calendars for April 13th.
