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'Pop' Rock and the Vitascope Hall
Having purchased the rights to the use of Thomas Edison’s Vitascope on the 16th June 1896, William T. “Pop” Rock, the manager of a billiard parlour in Harlem, and Walter J. Wainwright, a carnival showman and former tightrope walker, opened the world’s first cinema at 623 Canal Street, corner of Exchange Alley in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 28th June 1896. The cinema screened scenics and actualities, and ensured a healthy audience turnover by advertising heavily and offering special deals (free entry for children under ten accompanied by an adult, etc.,). The theatre was called the Vitascope Hall; it had 400 seats, and admission was ten cents. A further ten cents would buy you a peek into the projectionist’s booth and, for the wealthier patrons, yet another ten cents would win you a frame of discarded film. There were two shows a day: the first ran continuously from 10am to 3pm, and the second from 5pm to 10pm. The location is now the site of a Burger King. [ADD]
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