Building theatre patronage : management and merchandising (1927)

CHAPTER XXXIII VENTILATION IF all the important factors which influence theatre attendance are to be considered, ventilation cannot be overlooked. There was a time when warm weather seriously interfered with theatre attendance everywhere. To-day, in some great modern theatres where air conditioning equipment is installed, warm weather really helps to build theatre patronage. Such theatres are actually "summer resorts" where relief is sought from the heat. On the hottest, most uncomfortable days such theatres provide an air condition which in purity, air movement, temperature and humidity equals what is found at pine-clad mountain-top resorts, This is not poetry; it is fact. People appreciate the fact. Equipment has made theatre attendance during the summer months equal to that of winter months, in some cases people actually coming into the theatre to get "cooled off." But relatively few theatres are so equipped. The others have a real problem. If ideal conditions are not possible because equipment is inadequate, at least some approximation to the ideal condition is possible. It is ridiculous to think that the problem is solved by hanging a sign in the lobby reading "20 degrees cooler inside." Such signs dripping with painted icicles do not convince the suffering public. By avoiding such theatres they make it evident that the manager is misstating the fact, and as usual misstatement reacts unfavorably in the long run. In these days of severe competition, when distinctive institutional factors determine theatre attendance, proper ventilation can be used by the alert manager to attract patronage which otherwise might be lost. Even with meagre equipment much can be done to improve conditions. Besides, a skillful use of color can create the impression that conditions are better than they actually are. Then, attractive advertising by spot 406