Petticoat Lane - 1903

This fascinating film provides an authentic view of London's East End from over a hundred years ago. Flat-capped men flow in a Sunday morning tide down Middlesex Street - better known by its unofficial name, Petticoat Lane - just as they have for generations.
This most Cockney of London markets caters to the second clothes trade: at the time when this film was made, the market was dominated by the East End street sellers and the Jewish rag trade (almost all the names on the shop fronts are Jewish). As the camera pans across the market, we see the traders raised above the general level, barking at the crowd. The few women in the picture are stall-holders, selling patched-up trousers and restored boots, while a nearby card sharp tempts the punters. (Bryony Dixon)

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.