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A nickelodeon
amusement invented by Kansas City Fire Chief George C. Hale, Hale's
Tours and Scenes of the World, an "illusion ride," was introduced at
Electric Park during the 1905 season. Composed of train cars
that each seated 72 passengers, a seven to ten-minute motion picture
depicting scenes from around the world filmed from the front of a
train played at the end of the car, while machines vibrated, rocked,
and tilted the car to simulate the motion of the train, with steam
whistle and train wheel sound effects, and painted scenery that
rolled past the windows.
By 1906 there
were Hale's Tours at Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Mexico City,
Havana, Melbourne, Paris, London, Berlin, Hong Kong, and more
cities, becoming one of the top concessions at amusement places
around the world. By 1907 there were 500 Hale's Tours theaters in
the Unites States alone. |
