The warning about the proverbial goose that provided the golden eggs, frequently heard in those days, fitted the situation rather well. Upper- and middle-class people did not frequent these shows, or if they did, they hoped not to be seen there. At least this was the situation reported a couple of years later. At the beginning of 1909, with change in the wind, a trade periodical editor remembered, "During the past three or four years... any person of refinement looked around to see if [he were] likely to be recognized by anyone before entering the doors."
1 This does not mean that respectable people in 1907 could not see moving pictures if they wanted. For one thing, they could see them at the high-class vaudeville show, since few variety shows lacked a reel or two of moving pictures. They could see them in museums of curiosities, such as the Eden Musee in New York City, patronized by the "upper classes," or in the town halls, or in legitimate theaters between the acts of plays or as Sunday-evening "concerts." They could even see them in churches.
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