The Panoram Soundies was first produced in 1939 by the Mills Novelty Co. of Chicago; although production was reduced with the outbreak of war, the Panoram was in proudction until 1946. Intended for public venues, the Panoram was the audio-visual equivalent of the jukebox, designed to play short sections of film (soundies) which were usually spliced together into a sequence of eight films and played on a continuous loop. The RCA 16mm. rear-projection mechanism played via two mirrors to sound provided by speakers in the front. In order to achieve wide distribution, the soundies featured a variety of popular acts, including jazz bands, musicals, strip-tease and short comic sketches in what was the equivalent of the modern music video.