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Another turning point in film’s development as a mass medium was the arrival of nickelodeons—a type of movie theater whose name combines the admission price (five cents) with the Greek word for “theater.” According to media historian Douglas Gomery, these small and uncomfortable makeshift theaters often consisted of converted storefronts redecorated to mimic vaudeville theaters.¹ Nickelodeons showed silent films that usually transcended language barriers and that provided workers and immigrants with an inexpensive escape from the challenges of urban life. Not surprisingly, they flourished during the great European immigration at the dawn of the twentieth century. Between 1907 and 1909, the number of nickelodeons in the United States skyrocketed from five thousand to ten thousand. The craze peaked by 1910, when entrepreneurs began seeking more affluent spectators, attracting them with larger and more lavish movie theaters.