What was the hottest topic in New York in June 1875?
The answer is definitely "dianying".
That is the Chinese Pinyin transliteration of the movie.
A month ago, New York's Broadway, although this movie theater was renovated on the basis of an old theater and could accommodate 800 people, from the day it opened, it was under the influence of New Yorkers. The first movie theater in the United States -
—Universal Cinemas finally opened.
As soon as it opened, it received a lot of love from New Yorkers. Every day, there was a sea of people in front of the cinema, and every New Yorker was proud to see the "movie".
"This is nothing short of a miracle!"
When Americans were surprised by the magic of movies and called movies miracles, Chen Shao certainly thought it was a miracle as well.
What a miracle.
Of course it's a money-making miracle.
Although the daily turnover of the cinema is only more than 200 US dollars, the profit is extremely considerable. After all, there is no need for a band or actors in the cinema, as long as there are film reels and record players.
Chen Shao was undoubtedly lucky. He wanted to open a movie theater and he was very lucky to become a partner of Universal Cinema Company - and also the owner of the first movie theater in the United States.
Although this movie theater is just a reconstruction of an old theater, it does not prevent it from becoming the most fashionable topic in New York. Whether it is poor or rich, they are all talking about movies and "putting them in".
Moving photos on the curtain."
"Morgan, are you going to the Universal Cinema on Broadway today?"
Ketchum's tone was slightly hopeful. After all, movies are the hottest topic recently.
"Anyway, I have nothing to do today, so let's go watch a movie,"
Morgan stood up with a smile, then walked to the coat rack and took off his hat.
"They have been talking about this topic recently, and I am actually quite curious about it."
"This is really a miraculous invention. Everyone who has seen it says it is a miracle."
Along the way, Ketcham kept repeating the movies he learned about from newspapers and other people's mouths.
But Morgan's curiosity was very limited.
Movie?
It's just a play that doesn't require actors to perform live. It's a movable photo, nothing more.
The reason why Morgan came here today was entirely to spend time with friends.
Soon, they arrived at the cinema. At 6pm, this is the time when feature films are shown. Movie tickets for feature films are very expensive - a full ten cents. Although it is very expensive, there is still a long queue in front of the cinema.
.
But as soon as Morgan and his carriage stopped, someone stepped forward to open the door for them, and then the guy whispered.
"Two distinguished gentlemen, do you want to watch a movie? The feature film shown today is "Nanhe Hydropower Station". It is a full thirty-minute movie! It only costs 15 cents, and it is in the center of the front row.
."
Movie tickets are hard to come by, which directly gave rise to the business of ticket sellers. They can always tell at a glance who will pay a high price for a ticket.
Everything is easy to do if you have money. After spending 30 cents to buy two movie tickets, Morgan walked into the cinema with Ketcham. While waiting to enter, Ketchum specially bought a movie ticket at the concession stand.
Movie package.
"Coca-Cola and popcorn, this is the standard configuration for watching movies, Morgan, according to reporters - it is a ritual for watching movies, especially when watching such a feature film."
"Coca Cola?"
After taking the paper cup and feeling the coldness of the paper cup, Morgan was surprised.
"It's actually iced?"
Ice... is very expensive in the summer, but you can actually drink ice-cold Coke here.
"So, this is the ceremony!"
Ketchum laughed.
"You see, ice-cold Coca-Cola in a paper cup, popcorn, and movies. This is life in 1875, a modern way of life."
While Ketchum was talking about "modern lifestyle," Morgan became interested in the paper cup in his hand.
"Is it a paper cup?"
"Yes, after drinking it, just throw it away."
"It won't leak?"
"It's amazing, isn't it? This little invention comes from the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the principle of this wax-coated paper cup is very simple. There is a layer of paraffin on the inner wall to make it waterproof. Although it cannot hold hot water that is too hot, it can be used to hold frozen Coke.
It couldn’t be more appropriate.”
Ketchum didn't know that this disposable paper cup was invented by Emperor Zhu Da, specially invented for his great movie business. After all, the profit of a movie theater is not just movie tickets.
"That's true. Is this paper cup imported from Daming?"
"These cokes, too, and the movies we watch, all of them come from Ming Dynasty, even the boss comes from Ming Dynasty..."
Although everything comes from the Ming Dynasty, people in New York are not very resistant. After all, everyone is always curious about new things, and in the propaganda of newspapers, this has long become a way of life.
Finally, they entered the cinema. After finding their seat in the second row according to their ticket number, Morgan looked around curiously. It was just a theater with a big white cloth hanging on the stage.
After a few minutes, the lights suddenly went out.
What's going on? Just when he was puzzled, the dark theater suddenly lit up, and then he heard the deafening sound of the whistle. Along with the whistle, he heard the sound of the train rolling over the rails.
There was a loud noise, and then a train roared directly towards him, spraying steam.
"ah……"
Morgan screamed and almost rolled off the table and chair, and the same happened to Ketcham.
There were even some people in the theater who rolled to the ground and fled outside while crawling.
Before they could even run a few steps, bursts of laughter could be heard all around them.
"Don't worry, don't worry, this is just "The Train Arrives", the beginning of the feature film..."
Putting "The Train Arrives" at the beginning of the feature film was a rule specially set by Chen Shao, in order to scare those who were watching the movie for the first time.
"It's just a shadow, just a shadow..."
Morgan looked at the light beam above his head, and then at the picture on the curtain. He understood that the train was just a shadow on the curtain.
"But the sound is really realistic! It's just like a real train whistle."
Can it not be realistic?
It was recorded at the train station and played through the loudspeaker. The next moment, the music started to sound.
"It's the sound of a record player."
Although the record player was just invented not long ago, it has already entered the American market. In the past few months, the record player has not only been very popular in the American market, but has also been called "
One of the greatest inventions".
There is a record player in Morgan's home. Because of this, he knows a lot about record players.
In the sound of music, Morgan saw the scene changing, and what appeared in front of him was a bustling construction scene.
Like everyone else, Morgan was extremely immersed in watching it. After all, the scene of hydropower station construction was extremely grand and spectacular.
The bustling construction scene is undoubtedly very new to people in the United States. From the screen, they saw the process of building a hydropower station from scratch.
At the end of the movie, as the switch was pulled down, a dark city suddenly became brightly lit.
At this moment, everyone was stunned, as if they had seen a miracle - water, the seemingly inconspicuous water turned into electricity.
A steady stream of water brings a steady stream of electricity, but what does electricity bring?
It's light!
It's industry!
They saw how electricity generated by hydropower stations dispelled darkness and powered machines in factories.
Compared to the surprise of many people, Morgan thought more while being surprised.
"water!"
After leaving the cinema and sitting on the carriage, Morgan said with some emotion.
"We thought only coal could be turned into electricity, but now? Water, seemingly useless water can be turned into electricity... I think we need to go to Daming!"
This chapter has been completed!