The 20% federal amusement tax on movie tickets has been a burden to exhibitors ever since it was instituted as a wartime measure (10% in 1917, 20% in 1944). It became a bigger pain in the box office when television caught on. Last month Loris Gillespie, a theater owner in Okanogan, Wash. (pop. 2,000), decided to fight back. He advertised "Honor or Donation Night," invited patrons to pay what they pleased to a girl in the lobby instead of paying the box-office rate.
At the close of business, Gillespie discovered that he was doing all...
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