Why was the first nickelodeon established in Pittsburgh?

[Kolak_of_Twilo]

Those are great links Exapno. Do you know if that nickelodeon in Pittsburg was the first to show a zombie movie?

[RealityChuck]

@Walloon

An important distinction has to be made here: the first theater built expressly for movie exhibition was opened in Pittsburgh in 1905. Otherwise, American theaters built for stage performances had been showing movies as a sideline since 1896.

This.

There were nickelodeons before there were movie theaters. In general, someone would take a regular storefront and put up a bunch of seats and then project the movies onto a screen. There was often a piano player (originally there to provide music between films; the movies were shown silent in the very beginning).

Theaters didn’t show movies back then; they did well enough with vaudeville and stage plays.

The theater in Pittsburgh was the first to combine the movies with a stage theater.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Kolak_of_Twilo

Those are great links Exapno. Do you know if that nickelodeon in Pittsburg was the first to show a zombie movie?

I don’t know, but judging by what you normally see of silent films, they would have been fast zombies.

Darn you, crotsenburg!

[Guinastasia]

@Kolak_of_Twilo

Those are great links Exapno. Do you know if that nickelodeon in Pittsburg was the first to show a zombie movie?

You’d have to ask George Romero.
Oh, and it’s Pittsburgh, thank you very much. We’re also not a backwater as the OP implied. (Yes, I know it’s an old thread, but I’d like to clarify that for those who are just tuning in)