Chimmie Hicks at the Races - 1902

Filming of a character sketch by the well-known vaudevillian Charles E. Grapewin. On a bare stage backed by a dark curtain, a man dressed in a three-piece suit and overcoat holds a racing program and excitedly watches a race supposedly taking place offstage. With enthusiastic jumping and other delighted pantomime, he makes it clear his horse has won the race. A second man in a suit and hat enters from stage right and pays Chimmie his winnings, a portion of which the gambler returns to the man for another bet. With the start of the second race, he again watches with rising excitement, but suddenly his face falls and he angrily throws his hat on the ground, having evidently lost this time. The other man returns and collects all of Chimmie's money plus his pocketwatch. The repentant gambler then kneels, shakes his arms to the heavens, rips up his program, and scatters the pieces on the ground, apparently swearing off betting. He rises, pulls on his hat, and dejectedly begins to walk offstage.

THE GARAGE - 1920 3/3

Part 3 of 3. In this final Arbuckle/Keaton collaboration for the Comique Film Company Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.

THE GARAGE - 1920 2/3

Part 2 of 3. In this final Arbuckle/Keaton collaboration for the Comique Film Company Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.

THE GARAGE - 1920 1/3

Part 1 of 3. In this final Arbuckle/Keaton collaboration for the Comique Film Company Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.

The General - 1927

When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines

Women Winding Motor Armatures -1904

Women workers at the Westinghouse Works in East Pittsburgh in 1904 are winding wire for electric motors being manufactured. Two young men push spools of this wire down the aisle. Supervisors, male and female, walk down the aisle and observe the women's work, stopping for a while at one woman's station. The women did this task for all types of electric motors including those used on streetcars. This factory was not unionized at the time. There were mass strikes in 1913 and 1916 but it wasn't until the 1930s that this factory was unionized by the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE). From Library of Congress digital collection.

Pillow fight - 1897

An experimental film by Thomas Edison, showing four young girls having a pillow fight in 1897. No sound

Mark Twain at Stormfield -1909

Silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Stormfield (CT) at Mark Twain's estate. Twain is shown walkng around his home and playing cards with his daughters Clara and Jean. The flickering is due to film deterioration, but this is the only known footage of the great author.

New York Fire Department, Annual Parade - 1904

Filmed May 14, 1904. Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Camera: Edwin S. Porter

The opening begins with some dignitaries arriving in a horse drawn brougham to view the parade. This brief clip displays all of the elements of a complete fire house unit in the early twentieth century. A dignified line of mounted firemen lead a portion of the march [0:20] followed by a marching band of uniformed fire officers, carrying the Fireman's Trumpet sometimes know as a "speaking trumpet." These were given to fire chiefs, foremen, and assistant foremen [0:50]. The line of march is interspersed with firefighters carrying various pieces of equipment, the marchers baring hoses, a rescue trampoline, a horse drawn pump, a hose wagon. At 2:30 there's a hook-and-ladder, fully equipped, as the combination of horse drawn vehicles repeat with an ambulance at 3:50. As the line continues past, there's a brass band with drummers leading flag bearers holding an American flag and the fire department insignia together [4:18]. A good view of a contemporary hook-and-ladder as the film finishes with gas powered vehicles. The last is possibly a fire chief's car. Although gas powered vehicles were now a part of daily life, horses would still remain a part of the urban scene in other working capacities for at least another 30 years.
In 1898 all of the city's volunteer fire departments were replaced by the paid FDNY. Consolidation also replaced the Board of Fire Commissioners with a single commissioner, John J. Scannell, head of the Board since 1894, who was appointed by Mayor R.A. Van Wyck. All together New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island had 121 engines, 46 trucks, one horse wagon, and a water tower; in all, there were 309 square miles of firefighting territory. New York was the second largest city after London with 3.4 million people and a growing number of tall buildings.

Miners Leaving Pendlebury Colliery -1901

Despite knowing that there has been a black presence in the UK since Roman times, it's still a shock and a pleasure to see a black miner emerge from a group of workers at Pendlebury Colliery. His fleeting appearance, smiling alongside his workmates, may look staged and it has been suggested he was given a clean shirt show up his skin colour. But this film is not about him - he's just one of many men who walk past before a large billboard advertising a forthcoming passion play.
The black miner's appearance in the nation's collective family album of cinema is incidental but important. It records his presence in Edwardian Britain giving us and future generations the possibility to muse who he was and how he got there. (Karen Alexander)
This film is part of the Mitchell and Kenyon collection - an amazing visual record of everyday life in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. For more information about the films of Mitchell and Kenyon see