Search Films, Videos

  • Film, Video
    Boys diving, Honolulu A large group of small boys stand on a pier, sillhouetted against the sky. In the distance, six large clipper ships can be seen at anchor. The boys jump and dive into the water, apparently to retrieve coins that are being thrown by someone offscreen.
    • Contributor: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Bonine, R. (Robert K.)
    • Date: 1901
  • Film, Video
    Procession of floats "Taken at San Francisco, Cal., at the Golden Jubilee. In the foreground are seen crowds of people, all being very close to the camera. The first float is drawn by four white horses and is at least twenty feet long. It carries a full load of little school girls, who sit along its full length facing the sides of the street. This is followed...
    • Contributor: Blechynden, Frederick - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Indian day school The film was photographed from a single-camera position and shows the doorway of a building with a sign in front indicating it is the Isleta Indian School. Children less than ten years of age come out of the door of the school and pass in front of the camera.
    • Contributor: Blechynden, Frederick - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Noon hour, Hope Webbing Co
    Title from Biograph production log: Noon hour at Hope Webbing Company | Noon hour at Hope Webbing Company
    "The single-camera position shows the employees of a manufacturing company as they pass by during the noon hour"--Early motion pictures.
    • Contributor: Armitage, F. S. - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1903
  • Film, Video
    Tourists going round Yellowstone Park
    Title in Edison films catalog: Coaching party, Yellowstone Park | Tourists going around Yellowstone Park | Coaching party, Yellowstone Park
    "The following pictures were taken by our artists at various points on the Northern Pacific Railway...Rapidly one after the other coach after coach passes before the camera. First comes a big one, six horses, crowded top and inside with tourists. They wave hats and handkerchiefs as they pass. Then comes another; then follows four more, each drawn by a four-horse team, while ten or...
    • Contributor: Blechynden, Frederick - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1899
  • Film, Video
    Brook trout fishing
    Variant title from Biograph bulletins: Trout fishing | Trout fishing
    The camera shows a small waterfall and a stream. Across the stream on the bank is a man with a fishing pole in one hand and a retrieving net in the other. During the course of the film, he makes the normal movements of a man accustomed to trout fishing. High on the bank to the right is a spectator. At the end of...
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - Armitage, F. S. - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1902
  • Film, Video
    The ball game Photographed from one camera position behind home plate, the film shows a baseball game in progress. The Reading pitcher has just let a Newark batter walk to first. He gets up on his toes, ready to head for second base. The next batter up cracks first ball pitched for a two bagger, and races for the base with a burst of speed. The first...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Women of the ghetto bathing
    Title from Biograph production log: Ladies day at public baths | Title from American Mutoscope & Biograph picture catalog: Ladies day at the public baths | Ladies day at public baths | Ladies day at the public baths
    The subject is a group of women and girls in a public swimming pool wearing turn-of the-century bathing attire. Many women and girls are playing in the pool, while others climb out and jump into the pool. The water in the the pool appears to be about four feet deep and the pool is very crowded. According the Biograph picture catalogue, the scene takes...
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Marvin, Arthur W.
    • Date: 1902
  • Film, Video
    Union Iron Works "Here was built the peerless battleship "Oregon." The scene is taken at lunch hour, and shows a great throng of employees leaving the shop. 50 feet"--Edison films catalog, no. 94, March 1900, p. 21. "Southern Pacific Company series: The Southern Pacific Company ("Sunset Route") offers special inducements to winter travelers, by reason of its southern route, thereby avoiding the extreme cold of the winter...
    • Contributor: Blechynden, Frederick - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Clerks tying up for bags, U.S.P.O.
    Clerks tying up for bags, United States Post Office
    "The film shows two postal employees as they tie into bundles stacks of letters they have just removed from a destination "case""--Early motion pictures.
    • Contributor: Weed, A. E. - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1903
  • Film, Video
    The roller skate craze During this short film, the cameraman photographed many different people in varied walks of life all of whom are wearing roller skates. Each scene, since the camera changed from individual to individual, is too short to allow any further description.
    • Contributor: Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Selig Polyscope Company
    • Date: 1907
  • Film, Video
    Sutro Baths, no. 1 "One of the sights of San Francisco. A 50-foot slide is used by the bathers, who toboggan down its slippery surface in all positions. The bathers are clad in black trunks, making fine contrast with the flesh tints. 50 feet"--Edison films catalog. "In the background are three tiers of spectators watching the bathers. There are many people bathing and diving into the swimming pool....
    • Contributor: Blechynden, Frederick - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1897
  • Film, Video
    Bathing at Atlantic City
    Title from Edison films catalog: Panorama Atlantic City bathing scene | Panorama Atlantic City bathing scene
    "A panoramic view taken from Young's Pier, showing the boardwalk, the auditorium pier, new steel pier, beach and bathing. Without an exception the only film on the market showing at least 50,000 people. This great mass of humanity proves the undying popularity of this world-famous seaside resort. A photographic gem"--Edison films catalog, no. 135.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1901
  • Film, Video
    Boat race
    Title from Biograph production log: U. S. N. Dept., boat race--"Indiana" | Variant title from Biograph production log: Boat race "Indiana" | U. S. N. Dept., boat race--"Indiana" | Boat race "Indiana"
    Two standard U.S. Navy eight-oar pulling boats, each commanded by a coxswain at the steering position in the stern, are seen abeam of one another. At a signal, both pulling boats begin moving and it can be seen that the camera was positioned on a vessel following the two competing pulling boats. The camera stays with the two boats until their destination is disclosed...
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Bitzer, G. W. - McCutcheon, Wallace - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1904
  • Film, Video
    Buffalo Bill's Wild West parade
    Parade of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
    The film shows a parade down Fifth Avenue, New York. In the foreground many children, both black and white, can be seen following alongside the parade. The participants in the parade include cowboys, Indians, and soldiers in the uniform of the United States Cavalry on horseback and riding horse-drawn coaches. Buffalo Bill can be seen on horseback, lifting his hat to the crowd.
    • Contributor: Armitage, F. S. - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1901-01-01
  • Film, Video
    Buffalo stockyards
    Title in Edison films catalog: Buffalo stock yards | Buffalo stock yards
    "A long line of horses, mules and ponies are led, driven and ridden into the yards, where they are sold and distributed"--Edison films catalog.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1897
  • Film, Video
    Calf branding The cameraman placed his camera near a fire where some branding irons were being heated. As the film begins, three men can be seen going through the various operations of branding calves. In the background is a large herd of cattle.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass About fifty canoes filled with people on an outing in the summertime were photographed from a single camera position from a bridge overlooking the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Porter, Edwin S.
    • Date: 1904
  • Film, Video
    Carriers at work, U.S.P.O.
    Title in Biograph production log: Carrier dumping, cancelling, sorting and tying, throwing mail into bags for destination | Variant title in Biograph production log: Carrier dumping, cancelling & sorting, U. S. P. O. Dept | Variant title from AFI catalog online: Carriers at work, U. S. P. O. | Carrier dumping, cancelling, sorting and tying, throwing mail into bags for destination | Carrier dumping, cancelling & sorting, U. S. P. O. Dept | Carriers at work, U. S. P. O.
    "The subject is the handling and sorting of the U.S. mail. The sorting bags and the alphabetizing pigeonhole equipment are visible in a scene photographed from an altitude of approximately twenty-five feet. The placement of the equipment and its use by the post office personnel can be seen"--Early motion pictures.
    • Contributor: Weed, A. E. - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1903
  • Film, Video
    Circular panorama of Electric Tower
    Title in Edison films catalog, no. 135: Circular panorama of the Electric tower | Title in Edison films catalog, no. 288: Circular panorama, Electric Tower | Circular panorama of the Electric tower | Circular panorama, Electric Tower
    "A most interesting picture at the Pan-American Exposition structure was taken from the north side of the Electric Tower. It presented the most perfect and diversified views of the Transportation Building, Mexican Plaza, the Stadium and the north side of the Electric Tower"--Edison films catalog, no. 135.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Porter, Edwin S. - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1901
  • Film, Video
    Cleveland fire department The subject is the activities of a fire department that can be seen coming out of the fire engine house located across the street from the camera position. The action must have been a drill or rehearsal as the street is lined with people awaiting the arrival of the three pumpers, the two hook-and-ladder wagons, and the four personnel wagons that made up the...
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Bitzer, G. W. - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1903
  • Film, Video
    "Columbia" winning the Cup "The decisive moment in the great International Yacht Races is shown in this picture. Against a background of well defined clouds, the Light Boat is seen marking the finishing line in this great aquatic struggle. As the Columbia crosses the line, followed closely by the Shamrock, we see the steam from the whistle of the Light Ship announcing the well earned victory of the...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - American Vitagraph Company - Smith, Albert E. (Albert Edward) - Blackton, James Stuart
    • Date: 1899-01-01
  • Film, Video
    Cutting and canaling ice The camera shows what appears to be a frozen-over lake on which men are driving teams of horses pulling a device similar to a plow. The second camera position shows that the horses are being driven in a straight line across the ice, with the device chiseling a groove, called canaling, into the ice. This action precedes removal of the ice for storage so...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1902
  • Film, Video
    Drill by Providence police
    Title from Early motion pictures: Drill by the Providence Police | Drill by the Providence Police
    "In the center of a town square, a company of uniformed policemen equipped with nightsticks is standing at attention. The policemen execute several close-order drill maneuvers similar to those of any army infantry company. They end as they began, company front"--Early motion pictures.
    • Contributor: Armitage, F. S. - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1903
  • Film, Video
    Horse parade at the Pan-American Exposition
    Title from Edison films catalog, no. 288: Horse parade at Pan-American Exposition | Horse parade at Pan-American Exposition
    "An excellent picture secured on the Esplanade of the Pan-American Exposition, showing the live stock exhibitor's exhibition of prize winners at the Pan-American. Here we show some of the most beautiful horses ever presented, the animals having been gathered from all sections of North America. The exhibition begins with Kentucky thoroughbreds, who prance by the camera and form a decided contrast with the great...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1901