Nickelodeon was the name for the original small theaters playing “moving pictures” in the early 1900’s, so named for the nickel price for entry. Nickelodeons were seen as, “…disreputable and dangerous..” by many civic groups. They would often pop up in converted storefronts, so I guess they were sort of the original Spirit Halloweens.
I wanted to believe maybe that’s where Nikelback got their band name – asking for your “nickel back” from a small, rundown theater providing cheap entertainment. That would have been clever. But turns out it’s less historical – one of the band members worked at Starbucks and would say, “here’s your nickel back” when he was dispensing change to customers.