[ Dave Bowers wrote in 120428 MMDigest:]

> One of the most notable features of The Nickelodeon was its music...
> The musical setting was supplied by a lone pianist..."

From that, we might predict that people, perhaps on vaudeville stages,
used phrases such as "sounds like a nickelodeon piano, or "play that
old nickelodeon piano, Brother!"

Also remember that while a nickelodeon was a cinema-only theater, many
theaters had shows which combined films and variety acts.  It would be
reasonable for the Master of Ceremonies (UK 'Chairman') to make an
announcement something like, "Give our magician a big hand,... now it's
time for some Nickelodeon music..."

Following that, small town folks who had never seen a movie house
called a Nickelodeon might have thought that nickelodeon was not an
adjective describing a sound or a style of playing, but a name for the
type of piano they found in saloons, etc.

Wallace Venable