Movie theater "dish nights" like the one advertised in this ca. 1936 photograph ...

Movie theater "dish nights" like the one advertised in this ca. 1936 photograph of Miller's State Theatre were once a popular sales incentive that originated in the Great Depression. While the film industry had boomed in the years before the stock market crash of October 1929, economic uncertainty meant that, by the end of 1933, ticket sales had declined sharply, with weekly attendance numbers dropping about 45% nationwide.

 

While many theaters failed to survive this challenge, those who did looked for ways to entice audiences facing economic uncertainty. Pairing a popular film with a cheaper one as a double feature was one cost-conscious solution. Others turned to 'Screeno' nights, where films would be paired with games like bingo that offered prizes to audience members. In many cases, theaters chose to market specifically to women, based on the idea that mothers and wives were most likely to be responsible for families' discretionary budget and leisure time planning. Theaters hosting 'dish nights' would partner with tableware manufacturers to purchase inexpensive dishes in bulk, which would be given away on nights that were typically characterized by low attendance. The dish would vary over time, incentivizing repeat visitation by offering the promise of assembling a full dinner set of matching tableware.

 

This photograph comes from an album assembled by the York Oil Burner Company of York, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1922 by Edwin Kraber (1895-1962) and Bob Hoffman (1898-1985). It manufactured, sold and serviced oil-fired residential and commercial oil heating equipment. At the time that this picture was taken, the company was also facing some significant economic constraints. Not long after, in 1938, Kraber and Hoffman were forced to sell their company to Thomas Shipley, Inc., who continued to operate the business as a subsidiary until 1943, when the name was changed to York-Shipley, Inc., which manufactured, installed, fueled and serviced oil furnaces and boilers. Today, the business operates as York-Shipley Global, a division of AESYS Technologies.

 

The York Oil Burner Company's industrial oil burning equipment album (Accession 1969.083) consists of one album containing 80 black & white photographic prints of oil-burners, oil-burner components, and buildings and boats serviced by the company. The photographs are from the period in which Kraber and Hoffman still owned the company, but business was failing.