When I was a kid and went to the movies, the \u201cpreviews\u201d of movies to come (and there were never more than 1 or 2 shown) were called \u201ctrailers.\u201d Today, they\u2019re still often referred to as trailers even though they\u2019re shown before the movie.<\/p>\n
For both my faithful readers who are too young to remember how things used to be, let me explain.
\nWhen I was growing up, the movie theater started showing the movie \u2014at, say, one o\u2019clock. It always started with a cartoon and during the week, a newsreel came next and then the movie. You paid your money (10 cents for kids and a quarter for adults) and came in any time you wanted \u2014 before the movie started or in the middle \u2014 didn\u2019t matter. After the movie ended, the screen never went blank. At the end of the movie \u201ctrailers\u201d showing scenes from the next movie (or two) the theater was gong to show came on and when they were finished, the cartoon, newsreels, and movie started again. It didn\u2019t matter if you set through the movie two or three times, it still just cost a dime, or quarter. They never cleared the theater until the final showing and the theater closed.
\nSo obviously during my younger days the term \u201ctrailer\u201d made a lot of sense.<\/p>\n
The first movie trailer was shown at the end of a \u201cserial.\u201d Serials were kind of like TV shows that lead up to some dramatic climax and then flash on the screen that the episode will be continued next week. When I was a kid, all the movie theaters showed serials after the cartoon and before the movie on Fridays and Saturdays. Anyhow, at the end of each serial episode, there wold be a short film teasing you to come back next week to see what happens\u2026. just like a \u201cpreview\u201d today \u2014 an advertisement for a coming attraction. These were called trailers and the name stuck.<\/p>\n
Hollywood has periodically attempted to introduce other names for these advertisements, like Previews and Prevues of Coming Attractions, but for some reason trailer has remained the preferred name in the movie industry.<\/p>\n
So trailers aren\u2019t just for trucks and people that live in West Virginia, they\u2019re for the movies too \u2014 even if they are shown in the wrong place\u2026.
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n
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When I was a kid and went to the movies, the \u201cpreviews\u201d of movies to come (and there were never more than 1 or 2 shown) were called \u201ctrailers.\u201d Today, they\u2019re still often referred to as trailers even though they\u2019re … Continue reading