Babcock Theatre

Inside the Projection Booth.The Smaller Rectangular Window on the Right was the 35mm Projection Port. The Larger Window on left was the viewing Port Window so the Projectionist could see the Screen and look for the Cue Marks on the Upper right corner of the film. This was his Signal for a Change over to another Projector ready to go with another reel of film. There were about 8 seconds between Cue Marks for the 2nd Projector to startup.A good projectionist could do the changeover without the Audience even noticing it. Carbon Arc Lamp houses could only go for less than a ½ hour, thats why 2 projectors were needed back then. 2000 ft Reels ran at 90 ft a minute so each Reel only lasted around 18 minutes. A 2 hr film usually took 6 Reels which would have been 3 changeovers. These Old Theater Projection Booths had to be Fire Coded for safety as up to the early 50’s they used Nitrate Film Stock which was extremely Flammable. Projections back in the day were journeymen Electricians who could not only run the projection equipment but repair and rebuild the Equipment. They were real Specialists not the Modern day Projectionists who also sell the Popcorn and know Nothing of Specialized Projection Equipment …