ONE-MAN THEATER HELPS KILL TIME (Jun, 1936)
Filed under: Movies — @ 11:27 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1936
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1936
| Buy on Ebay
This is the precursor to those little coin-op TVs they used to have in airports.
ONE-MAN THEATER HELPS KILL TIME
To help travelers while away the time when waiting for trains, a one-man movie theater, suitable for installation in railway terminals, has been designed by a New York inventor. Entering the booth of one of these devices, a patron would seat himself before a miniature screen and insert a coin in a slot. An automatic projector would then entertain him with a current film production until he was ready to leave. A number of booths of this type would offer a choice of films.
They also had these at malls and arcades. They used to show old cartoons.
Comment by cks2008 — January 13, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I remember something similar at some airports in the 1960s: chairs with a little TV set built into one arm. You’d drop in a coin or two and watch while waiting for your flight. As a five-year-old, I thought they were pretty cool.
Comment by Max — January 13, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
cks2008
I saw one too!
1980s? 1990s?
Apollo Mall in Montecello NY?
They should have those again, but with a DVR loaded with public domain cartoons.
Comment by jayessell — January 13, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
Hasn’t the iPod come a long way!
Comment by Skipweasel — January 14, 2008 @ 9:13 am