Browse Items (104 total)

In their "Note on the Shift from Live Acts to Filmed Entertainment," Daniel Brunjes and Evelyn Simental point out that from 1904 to 1920, films rose from being overshadowed by minstrel shows and plays to becoming the primary source of commercial…

Advertisements for shows in newspapers from 1913 and 1914 indicate that movie tickets were relatively cheap and that pricing changed by showtime, reflecting greater demand in the evening hours. The existence of lower prices throughout the day and…

Early movie going in Columbia involved not only coming to grips with a new technology and but also learning proper behavior inside the theaters. Take a look at the article “Silence and Fun at the Movies” which appeared in The State newspaper in…

From its beginning in spring of 2009, the University of South Carolina's course in Film and Media History (then FILM 300, after fall 2016 FAMS 300) included a research exercise asking students to use a relatively small number of primary sources of…

A critical review of Columbia newspapers and city directory materials dated from 1904 to 1922 brings to light the development of stardom, especially among actresses. At the turn of twentieth century, there was only one theater in downtown Columbia…

As the "Note on Black Theaters” suggests, fire insurance maps can indeed illuminate the vastly different experiences of Black and white moviegoers in Columbia during the early 1900’s. “Colored” businesses such as theaters were indicated with…

Index page for the 1904 fire insurance map.

Index page for the 1910 fire insurance map.

Key for 1919 fire insurance map.

Columbia experienced two separate histories of movie exhibition. This excerpt from the 1920 City Directory shows an example of how theaters were listed. Colored businesses including theaters were indicated with an asterisk. Other editions of the…