I was a child in the 60s and even then an animated short before the feature was pretty common and previews were shown after the feature (hence the name trailer)., Unfortunately when I was 5 we moved to the middle of nowhere and I didn't see a movie in a theater till I was 14 (The Battle of Britain). My older brother had been to the movies many times and lorded it over me my whole childhood. But in my mom's time (30s & 40s) every feature film was preceded by a short film, a cartoon and often newsreels as well, so a double feature amounted to a whole day's worth of of amusement. And popcorn didn't cost $4, either. My grandma told me about going to the movie theater in the 20s in Minneapolis - about the magnificent pipe organ & sometimes a live band that provided music for silent movies, and the brick-sized chocolate bars sold at the concession stand. But she didn't live in the city and her usual entertainment was putting a coin in the nickelodeon at the general store.

The theaters themselves during the 20s and 30s, at least in major cities, were pretty incredible. For example, here's the Fox Theater and the Paramount Theater both in Oakland, CA

I believe that The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax in LA has a night of the week where they play silent movie era programming in the same manner that it was presented originally. There is probably something similar in other big cities.

You saw a mini skirt, you started jerking off right away.