Today In History: Thomas Edison and the First Motion Picture

Among other things Edison first worked with clumsy glass plates, unable to find flexible film that was strong enough to tolerate the stress of being jerked through camera and projector. That must have been disheartening. The coming of strong flexible film finally made him think the machine was workable,  although he still misjudged the long-range importance of the invention.

That August [1891] , George Eastman, of Rochester, New York,  produced the first film that seemed flexible  and durable enough. Edison sent [his assistant William] Disckson to New York to buy a fifty-foot length for $2.50. "We've got it!," he shouted on seeing the new film. 'Now work like hell!"

-- Forsdale, Louis. Historical Capsule 369. Edison Finds Flexible Film. Now Work Like Hell. N.p., 1990. From the Louis Forsdale Collection, Teachers College Digital Collections

On October 6th, 1889 American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847- 1931) showed his first motion picture, Monkeyshines, which was produced using a kinetograph, an early motion picture camera that was developed by his lab assistant William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. In this movie, one can see lab workers gesturing abruptly and with exaggerated physical dexterity to the camera.  Over subsequent years, the "talkie" would incorporate sound:  in 1891 Edison and Dickson earned a patent and were inspired to launch the kinetoscope, a device that allowed the viewer to look through a peephole as a film played below. By 1913 Edison added sound,  and the device became known as the kinetophone.

Thomas Edison is recognized for having invented the motion picture camera, though he built upon the work of English photographer Edward Muybridge and French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer  Etienne-Jules Marey, who used photography to advance the study of locomotion (or movement) of humans and animals. 

American entrepreneur George Eastman (1854-1932) was the founder of Eastman Kodak Company which introduced photographic rolls of film and thereby greatly expanded the industry. He and Thomas Edison's experiments with color led to first Kodak color movie film in 1929.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning:

• Motion Picture News: Educational Value of Motion Pictures. (1913, Mar 02). Courier-Journal (1869-1922) 
• Kenmuir, J. (1931, Oct 25). The American Symbol of the Machine Age: An Appraisal of Thomas Edison and His Work. The Sun (1837-) 
• Westfall, L. W. (1934, Oct 07). Modern Trends in Education: Films in the Schools: Motion Pictures Held Valuable Aid to Teacher. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Kaempffert, W. (1947, Feb 09). Scientist-Aagician Who Reshaped a World: The Nation Honors Thomas Edison, Knowing That It Will Not Look Upon His Like Again. New York Times (1923-) 
• Edison, C. (1954, Feb 21). My Father and the Fire: When Thomas Edison's Laboratories Were Going Up in Flames, His Reaction Was Strange and Inspiring. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Leokum, A. (1960, Dec 05). Tell Me Why!: What Was the First Motion Picture. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973) 
• Field, S. (1965, Feb 07). A Look at the Motion Picture. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995) 
• Yarrow, A. L. (1988, Oct 08). Centenary for Edison, Businessman and Tinkerer: In a Tiny Tar-Paper Shack, the Motion-Picture Industry Was Born. New York Times (1923-) 
• Thomas Edison's Inventive Studio. (1988, Oct 16). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Flocken, C. (1997, Aug 07). Father of Invention: Museum Show Honors Spirit and Genius of Thomas Edison. Los Angeles Times (1996-) 

Tips:

• Cimarusti, Nick. Thomas Edison : Lighting a Revolution. Huntington Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Incorporated, 2018. e-book
• Jacobson, Brian R., and Lisa Hamm. Studios before the System : Architecture, Technology, and the Emergence of Cinematic Space. New York, [New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. e-book
• Scirri, Kaitlin. Thomas Edison : Inventor and Innovator. First edition. New York: Cavendish Square, 2020. e-book

Images:

• George Eastman Left and Thomas Edison with Motion Picture Camera at Eastman's House in Rochester, New York, Where a Demonstration of the New Kodacolor Film Was Being Held. 1928. [July] Photograph.  Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
• Poster Image:  Thomas Edison and His Home Projecting Kinetoscope, Courtesy of the National Parks Service