Automatic Vaudeville
| Other Name(s) | Automatic Theater Automatic Exhibit |
|---|---|
| Type | Arcade |
| Park Section | North Midway |
| Built | 1909 |
| Opened | 1909 |
| Closed | 1909 (replaced) |
| Manufacturer | The Automatic Vaudeville Company |
| Replaced By | The Destruction of Johnstown |
The Automatic Vaudeville, also called the Automatic Theater[1] and Automatic Exhibit,[2] was an attraction in the Olentangy Park Midway.[3] It was built in 1909,[4][5] and was replaced with the Johnstown Flood the following year.[6]
The Automatic Vaudeville Company was founded in 1903 and owned a chain of penny arcades.[7] Their first location in New York offered patrons a variety of coin-operated machines that showcased short films, animated scenes, and mechanical performances. It most likely was a penny arcade that focused on kinetoscopes and mutoscopes. An automatic vaudeville was mentioned in 1914, so the features could have been moved to another building in the park.[8]
Similar attractions at other parks featured a variety of amusements, including penny-operated machines like kinetoscopes, mutoscopes, punching bags, shooting galleries, and fortune-telling.[9]
See Also
References
- ↑ "Olentangy Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 11, 1909. Page 5.
- ↑ Advertisement. Columbus Evening Dispatch. April 20, 1909. Page 7.
- ↑ Postcard. 1916. "Olentangy Park midway, postcard." Columbus Metropolitan Library: Columbus in Historic Photographs. 708O451916. Last modified on Dec. 23, 2021.
- ↑ "Olentangy." Columbus Evening Dispatch. April 11, 1909. Page 5.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park Opens April 25th." The Union County Journal (Marysville, Ohio). April 22, 1909. Page 3. Accessed through Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Postcard. "Olentangy Park, Columbus, Ohio." Columbus Metropolitan Library Digital Collections.
- ↑ "Automatic Vaudeville Company." Wikipedia.org, Accessed on July 22, 2022.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park." The Daily Journal-Herald (Delaware, Ohio). May 13, 1914. Page 7. Accessed through the Delaware County Historical Society via OhioMemory.org.
- ↑ "Crystal Hall." Cinema Treasures. Accessed on July 22, 2022.