(WYTV) – The term “box office” originated in Elizabethan era, when wealthy theatergoers would sit in private “boxes” to watch the performance.
You would buy the ticket for your box at an “office,” and it might be anywhere in the building.
Much later, at old-fashioned theaters, you bought your ticket at a small detached booth just outside the entrance.
Some historians say that’s a another possible explanation for the term box office, literally a small office shaped like a box.
Before that, you usually had to buy tickets from some designated person or business in town or at the theater’s stage door.
The phrase “box office” first started appearing in newspapers during the mid-18th century, and it did specifically refer to the place where people could purchase box seats.
Now, box office has come to mean the overall size of ticket sales. This film had a great box office that meaning gained popularity starting in the early 20th century.