# Cartoon booths in shops **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [August 4, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044 "2021-08-04T19:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/1 "2021-08-04T19:39:29Z")
I have a memory as a small child of visiting a supermarket and there was a little booth like an arcade game where you could sit and watch cartoons for quarters. Was this a real thing? ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/2 "2021-08-04T19:53:46Z")
I don’t personally remember them, but entering “cartoon booth” in Google resulted in a suggestion for “cartoon booth coin operated”, which yielded plenty of results, including images, nostalgia discussions, and videos. Apparently “Kiddierama Theater” was the a (the?) common brand name. So, definitely a real thing. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/3 "2021-08-04T19:54:56Z")
Aha! Yes, I should have Googled it first. Pity they died out. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/4 "2021-08-04T20:11:46Z")
I never saw a coin-operated cartoon booth, but the grocery store where my mom shopped had a little “theater” shaped like a miniature trolley car with a TV set at the front. I spent many hours in that thing. That was in the early 1960s. These days, parents probably wouldn’t want to leave their kids unattended that long. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/5 "2021-08-04T22:14:07Z")
I never saw such a thing at a grocery store. But, back when I was young I saw them at Chuck E Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/6 "2021-08-05T01:12:05Z")
This jogs some sort of distant memory. I’ll bet my parents plunked me down in one back before I turned three or so. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/7 "2021-08-05T17:03:19Z")
I remember them from the 50s, although I preferred the more action-oriented palomino pony. [![](https://carouselworkshop.com/var/images/product/650.650/Rodeo%20Pony%20Pal%20b.jpg) ](https://carouselworkshop.com/var/images/product/650.650/Rodeo%20Pony%20Pal%20b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mavis\_Topholese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mavis\_Topholese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavis_Topholese)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/8 "2021-08-05T18:53:43Z")
I remember them from my childhood in the early 1970s. I believe the local K-Mart had one. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/9 "2021-08-05T19:46:55Z")
I never saw one in a grocery store. I did see one in a porn shop, but it was not showing cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/10 "2021-08-05T20:04:54Z")
My grocery store had a fancy pants one with a pistol mounted to the horse that would make shooting sounds when you pulled the trigger. I was in kid heaven. I also remember the cartoon booths. It seemed to feature Heckle and Jeckle a lot. (The crows) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/11 "2021-08-05T20:08:00Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > That was in the early 1960s. These days, parents probably wouldn’t want to leave their kids unattended that long. The above reminds me of this ad for A&P grocery stores, which appears to be from the 1950s. It depicts a bunch of kids and babies waiting outside of the grocery store, while their moms shop inside. A different era, for sure. [![](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/EXR6BH/1950s-usa-ap-magazine-advert-EXR6BH.jpg) ](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/EXR6BH/1950s-usa-ap-magazine-advert-EXR6BH.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/12 "2021-08-05T20:26:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The above reminds me of this ad for A&P grocery stores, which appears to be from the 1950s. It depicts a bunch of kids and babies waiting outside of the grocery store, while their moms shop inside. My jaw literally dropped at that image. I can only imagine what would happen now if someone parked a kid in a stroller outside a Kroger or Safeway. They’d probably find the cops waiting to arrest them when they emerged from the store. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/13 "2021-08-06T20:23:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > It seemed to feature Heckle and Jeckle a lot. (The crows) Yes! I remember that! ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/14 "2021-08-06T20:28:05Z")
A regional grocery chain called Meijer, used to (early 1970’s) have an area in the middle of the store called ‘the oasis’ which was an unsupervised play area with televisions and fiberglass animals for kids to climb on while parents shopped. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/15 "2021-08-07T00:05:17Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I also remember the cartoon booths. It seemed to feature Heckle and Jeckle a lot. (The crows) Technically, they were magpies. I suspect they used them because they were cheap – Terrytoons probably cost a lot less than Warner Brothers cartoons. > **[Heckle and Jeckle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckle_and_Jeckle)** > > Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical anthropomorphic yellow-billed magpies who usually cause problems to others and for themselves with their bizarre antics. Heckle speaks in a tough New York style manner, while Jeckle has a more polite British accent. They were voiced at different times by Sid Raymond (1947), Ned ... ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-booths-in-shops/948044/16 "2021-08-07T00:13:20Z")
I remember these, as well. My memory is of Deputy Dawg cartoons.