Automaticket & Icon

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Uploaded on: February 26, 2014

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“Automaticket” machines like this one were widely used before computerized box offices. They were actually much faster than what we see today because the colored ticket stock was completely pre-printed with theatre name, admission price, etc. A cashier need only press a single button (the numbers seen here on each button were for the quantity of admissions requested) and a strip of “punch & fold” tickets would instantly appear. At UA Cerritos Mall, the color of each ticket directed patrons to their matching red, blue, yellow, or green auditorium. Sprocket holes used by the machine on the ends of each ticket created that iconic ticket shape which we still see used today as a symbol for the movie business.

As with other United Artists Theatres, Cerritos Mall upgraded to a computerized system in the 1980s (the Pacer Dataticket). This allowed for titles and showtimes on tickets, advanced sales, and the elimination of manual box office reports. However, unlike other UAs, which periodically remodeled and updated their theatre décor, the Mall 4 retained its red-blue-yellow-green color scheme (in its auditoriums, on its poster cases, above its snack bar and in the theatre lobby) long after the era of colored “punch & fold” tickets had ended.

Photograph: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1457194/vintage-automaticket-ticket-machine