Page 280 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

had no entertainment facilities. It was drab and colorless, yet as he looked it
over, Cox hit upon an idea that since has brought him profits enough to cause
the mouth of any big city theater man to water. Cox’s idea was patterned after
that which brought prosperity to owners of showboats in the old river days.
He brought a show to people in the hinterland, miles from the railroads. But
he didn’t bring a troupe of players. He brought talking motion pictures
instead.

He went down to Atlanta and bought a portable sound projecting unit,
dipping into an old-fashioned money bag for the $300 to pay for it, and put
the unit in his second-hand truck. With the equipment, he was given a
portable screen and a 1,000-foot film, entitled the “Battle,” which he used
when he put on his first show the following night in a town one hundred
miles from Atlanta. He rented a schoolroom for this first performance and
invited the town to attend. They turned out in force, and many in this
audience were listening to a talkie for the first time. He traveled to the next
town the day following, and again rented a schoolroom, crowding in 175
customers to each of two performances. Cox charged an admission fee of 15
cents in both towns, and decided to maintain that fee as a fixed policy. At the
end of the first week his profits were $104.50, so he decided to get a better
film to show in a town of 1,600 population on his schedule for the following
Saturday. This new film featuring a musical comedy was ordered shipped to
that town and was there when he arrived. There was a larger attendance in
this town than in the others. People came in from the hills to see it and he
stayed there for four days. This proved so profitable that he abandoned one-
night stands, and now makes two stops weekly. Before leaving one small
town, he makes an early morning trip to the next town on his schedule,
stopping along the way to post announcements on trees, fences, and barns
telling where his next show will be given, thus assuring himself of a good
audience. His average weekly expenses have been running about $62.00 and
his profits generally a little better than $150.00 a week—a tidy little income.

Cox’s idea may profitably be carried out in many parts of the country, where
the towns and villages are some distance removed from railroads and cities.
There are even communities of 2,000 population which do not have a motion
picture theater. Cox does not rent first or second run films, but buys old