The Films of Thomas Edison
Volume 6 (Containing 45 films)

Edison's laboratory was responsible for the invention of the Kinetograph (a motion picture camera) and the Kinetoscope (a peep-hole motion picture viewer). Most of this work was performed by Edison's assistant, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, beginning in 1888. Motion pictures became a successful entertainment industry in less than a decade, with single-viewer Kinetoscopes giving way to films projected for mass audiences. The Edison Manufacturing Co. (later known as Thomas A. Edison, Inc.) not only built the apparatus for filming and projecting motion pictures, but also produced films for public consumption. Most early examples were actualities showing famous people, news events, disasters, people at work, new modes of travel and technology, scenic views, expositions, and other leisure activities. As actualities declined in popularity, the company's production emphasis shifted to comedies and dramas.

This collection features 341 Edison films. The earliest example is a camera test made in 1891, followed by other tests and a wide variety of actualities and dramas through the year 1918, when Edison's company ceased film production.

Here are some sample clips from four of the movies on this CD

Here is a description of each film on this CD

Morning colors on U.S. cruiser "Raleigh" CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., c1899. SUMMARY From The Phonoscope, June 1899, p. 17: Shows a group of sailors and an officer at the stern. The flag runs out in a ball to the end of the staff, and, at the signal, is broken. Proudly the stars and stripes wave in the morning breeze, while the officer salutes. A very pretty picture of man-o-war life.

Morro Castle, Havana Harbor CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY From Edison films "war extra" catalog: A most excellent picture of the grim old fortress which stands at the entrance of Havana Harbor. The high ramparts and lofty battlements look very formidable. Parts of the stronghold date back to the seventeenth century. While the yacht from which the picture is taken sails around the promontory, an excellent view is afforded of the entire fortress. Waves are seen dashing up against the rocks at the foot of abutments. The lighthouse and sentry-box are so near that the guard is plainly seen pacing up and down. The photograph is excellent; and in view of a probable bombardment, when the old-fashioned masonry will melt away like butter under the fire of 13-inch guns, the view is of historic value.

Mount Tamalpais R.R., no. 2 CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1898. SUMMARY This film shows the summit portion of the Mill Valley and Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway, the Tamalpais Tavern resort, and part of the adjacent east peak of Mount Tamalpais. The film was probably made in February 1898 at mid-morning. Mount Tamalpais is a prominent east-west ridge in southern Marin County, just north of San Francisco. The summit was a popular excursion destination for San Franciscans after the completion of the railroad in 1896. The 2,571-foot east peak commands a sweeping view of the entire San Francisco Bay area and most of central California. Part of the Pacific Ocean is also visible and, on clear days, the distant crest of the Sierra Nevada can be seen. The idea for building the Mill Valley and Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway was first developed by William Graves, president of the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The Kent and Emmett families backed the idea, with Sidney B. Cushing as president of the corporation. The completed railroad climbed 2,436 feet from the town of Mill Valley, nestled at the south foot of the mountain, to the east summit ridge. Covering 8.25 miles and with 281 curves (including a mid-elevation "double bow knot"), the line was christened "the crookedest railroad in the world." A spur line was built in 1907 from the "bow knot" to nearby Muir Woods redwood grove, where passenger-braked "gravity cars" were a popular later feature. Both lines closed in 1929 after a major fire and years of declining patronage. The Tamalpais Tavern resort and hotel - the first of three on the site - was built at the summit station in 1897. The bridge seen in the film linked the Tavern (right) with the dance hall to the west (left). The last building on the site of the Tavern, an army barracks, was removed in 1950. A typical Saturday excursion from San Francisco at the turn of the century included a ferry ride to Sausalito on the Marin shore and a train ride to Mill Valley. There passengers switched to the Tamalpais train, had lunch at the Tavern, and hiked to the summit of the east peak. The day ended with the return to San Francisco by trains and ferry. Today the old Tavern site is a picnic area, a parking lot and road occupy the dance hall and railroad station sites, and the old railroad grade is a fire break road and hiking trail. The summit ridge of Mount Tamalpais is within the boundaries of Mt. Tamalpais State Park (1948) but most of the mountain is Marin Municipal Water District land. A disused fire lookout occupies the east summit.

Mount Tamalpais R.R., no. 2 CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY On the front end of the flat car is a lady, whose feathers and ribbons flutter in the wind. The panoramic view of the hills and valley is very beautiful.

Mount Taw R.R., no. 3 CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY View taken while ascending the scenic railroad, Marin Co., Cal. Right ahead is another train; the steep grades and dangerous curves are plainly shown. Grand mountain scenery is a striking feature of this picture.

Mounted police charge CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1896. SUMMARY From Maguire & Baucus catalogues: A troop of mounted police, in full dress uniform, are seen approaching the audience at full gallop; when within but a few yards of the camera they suddenly halt and each horse and rider appears full life size.

Move on CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc. 1903. SUMMARY Filmed in New York's Lower East Side, the scene is a street where several pushcart vendors have gathered to sell their goods. In the foreground are fruit and vegetable carts. An elevated railroad track crosses over the street in the background. As the film progresses, two policemen can be seen heading up the street toward the camera and ordering all of the vendors to move. One of the policemen approaches the camera waving his nightstick, and the cart in the foreground begins moving. The film ends with a closeup of the policeman scolding the vendor.

The mysterious cafe CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1901. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: As the above title indicates, the scene does not take place in an ordinary restaurant, but one in which all natural rules of order and gravitation are reversed. The couple above mentioned have a most trying experience while endeavoring to partake of a square meal. They find themselves flying about the room from chairs to table, and vice versa, until they are both completely bewildered, ending in a general mix-up, which is sure to provoke much merriment.

The mystic swing REATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: The professor shows his power to Mephisto by mysteriously placing a young lady in a swing. Mephisto then shows his power by making the young lady disappear from the swing, to the surprise of the professor. The professor makes another mystic pass and produces a second young lady then in the swing, and also a skeleton.

Native daughters CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Taken at San Francisco, Cal., at the Golden Jubilee. In the foreground is shown an immense concourse of people, including ladies and children, while the background is formed by very high buildings, from the windows of which numerous flags are waving. The film opens showing the native daughters mounted on horses, passing through the immense throngs of on-lookers. They are dressed in white costumes, wear white Alpine hats, and are followed by a beautifully decorated float, drawn by white horses.

Naval apprentices at sail drill on historic ship "Constellation" CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This picture opens with the young cadets climbing the rigging and going through the sail drill on board the famous historic ship "Constellation." Loosing sail to buntline, making sail, shortening sail and furling; also loose sail to bowline. This picture is absolutely perfect photographically; also very thrilling, and makes a most interesting subject.

Naval sham battle at Newport CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Showing the attacking forces drawn up in line of battle. They immediately commence firing on the shore batteries. The batteries return the fire with telling effect, but are at last silenced by the overwhelming forces of the enemy. In the distance can be seen the ruins of a bridge destroyed by the invading forces. The smoke thickens as the firing becomes general, and the effect is superb. This picture is full of action, also thrilling and very exciting, and every detail is brought out clearly and distinctly.

New Black Diamond express CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This picture was taken at one of the curves on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, along the beautiful Susquehanna River. The train is seen rapidly approaching in the distance, clearly outlined against the grey mountains. Smoke can be seen pouring in volumes from the stack of the locomotive, and as the train approaches closely, she sounds a whistle, warning some section men, who are working on the tracks in the foreground. As she rushes by the camera, the swing motion of the train gives a vivid idea of the lightning speed at which she is traveling.

New Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge, no. 2 CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1899. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This is a new negative showing the entire trip from Brooklyn to New York, in which the immense towers stand out clear and distinct against the sky. The best picture of the Brooklyn Bridge yet secured.

New York City dumping wharf CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY The film shows a wharf where a barge is being loaded with trash from two-wheeled, horse-drawn wagons. The trash is dumped off the edge of the pier onto the barge, where men with shovels are spreading the piles of debris. The camera pans left to the next barge, where four-wheeled carts are shown dumping excavation rubble. Probably filmed on the East River, this is one of several New York City Sanitation Department dumping wharves in operation at the time.

New York City "ghetto" fish market CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc. 1903. SUMMARY The view, photographed from an elevated camera position, looks down on a very crowded New York City street market. Rows of pushcarts and street vendors' vehicles can be seen. The precise location is difficult to ascertain, but it is certainly on the Lower East Side, probably on or near Hester Street, which at the turn of the century was the center of commerce for New York's Jewish ghetto. Located south of Houston Street and east of the Bowery, the ghetto population was predominantly Russian, but included immigrants from Austria, Germany, Rumania and Turkey. According to a description in a 1901 newspaper, an estimated 1,500 pushcart peddlers were licensed to sell wares (primarily fish) in the vicinity of Hester Street. At one point the film seems to follow three official looking men (one in a uniform) as they walk among the crowd. They may be New York City health inspectors, who apparently monitored the fish vendors closely.

New York Harbor Police boat Patrol capturing pirates CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY This was probably filmed in the southern part of the Upper New York Bay looking towards the Narrows, with Fort Lafayette partly visible in the far background. The subject is a simulated capture by the police gunboat "Patrol" of three "pirates" in a rowboat. Puffs of smoke appear as the gunboat fires several rounds from the bow cannon, which can be clearly seen later in a side view of the boat [Frame: 3642]. The "Patrol" was a steel, twin screw, 135 foot, 118 ton police boat, built in 1893 at Sparrow's Point, Maryland.

N.Y. Journal despatch yacht "Buccaneer" CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY From Edison films "war extra" catalog: Shows the despatch boat of the "New York Journal" steaming through the water, having aboard the war correspondents. This is one of the fastest yachts engaged in the business. She approaches rapidly and as she cuts through the sea her prow throws the water in a white spray on either side. This is an excellent picture of a good subject. The bow waves are especially fine.

New York police parade, June 1st, 1899 CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1899. SUMMARY The film shows members of "New York's Finest" parading at a crowded Union Square. There are members of the Bicycle Squad [Frame: 0396], mounted horses [0612], and two regimental marching bands [2518, 3456]. At the time of filming, the New York City Police Department was still recovering from the corruption scandals of the early 1890's that had severely tarnished the reputation of the department. A State Senate appointed group known as the Lexow Committee investigated the department and issued a scathing report that detailed serious criminal activity within the department. In 1895, public opinion was so low that the annual parade wasn't held. That same year, Theodore Roosevelt was appointed president of the Police Board, and he is credited with initiating strict and effective reform measures that helped restore the public's confidence in the police.

9th Infantry boys' morning wash CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY From Edison films "war extra" catalog: Imagine forty or fifty soldier boys each with a pail of water on the ground before him, sousing and spattering and scrubbing away for dear life. Soap and towels too. Every man jack of them looks as if he were enjoying the wash immensely, and also the novelty of having his picture taken. The big fellow in the center of the picture is laughing heartily. All the figures are clearly outlined, and the whole group is true to life.

Observation train following parade CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., c1898. SUMMARY From The Phonoscope, October 1898, p. 15: There were two freight trains standing on the tracks between the river and the Riverside Park, and they furnished a perfect impromptu observation train service to the men and boys who clambered up on the cars to get a view of the [Sampson homecoming naval] parade. They saw the vessels go up and then waited for their return. As the ships came back the engineer of one of the trains started it for the freight yards at Thirty-Third Street, and a crowd of about 2,000 was carried along, perched up on the roof of the cars.

The old maid having her picture taken CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1901. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Scene opens in a photographer's studio. A typical old maid, impersonated by Mr. Gilbert Saroni [sic], enters to have her picture made. While the photographer is making his camera ready the old maid walks about the studio. She first looks at a hanger with a number of photo samples, which immediately falls from the wall, not being able to stand her gaze. She then looks at the clock and her face frightens the clock and causes the hands to turn around at lightning speed, and the clock suddenly falls to the floor with a crash. She then walks over to the mirror to ascertain the trouble, and as she presents herself in front of the glass it suddenly cracks in several places. The photographer then sits her in a chair and poses her ready for her picture. Just as he is to press the button the camera explodes with a great puff of smoke, completely destroying the camera and demolishing the studio. The picture finishes up with the old maid tipping back in her chair and losing her balance, displaying a large quantity of fancy lace goods.

104th Street curve, New York, elevated railway CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1899. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Taken from the front platform of a special train run backward over the celebrated S curve. Not only are the passing trains and crowded platforms of great interest, but the view of up-town New York is an excellent one, showing acre upon acre of roofs, towers, steeples and towering apartment houses. As the "special" slows up at 92nd Street, a Harlem express dashes by, the engineer leaning out of his cab, and waving a good-bye.

Opening of new East River bridge, New York CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY The first view is from the roadway of the Williamsburg Bridge on the day of the opening. Close-ups of the parading dignitaries and members of the press [Frame: 0345] are seen. From another camera position, taken over the heads of the crowd, buildings around the waterfront are seen, and the dignitaries, led by a standard bearer again pass the camera. The banner reads "MAYOR." Next, a covered platform, draped in flag bunting is shown, where the people previously seen have gone to begin the ceremonies. There is a brass band playing in front of the platform. Next, an unidentified speaker, probably Mayor Seth Low, can be seen addressing the crowd.

Opening, Pan-American Exposition CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1901. SUMMARY A group of dignitaries from various countries was photographed from a single camera position participating in a parade marking the opening of the Pan-American Exposition.

Overland Express arriving at Helena, Mont. CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: It is train time. We look down the long platform, crowded with people, and see the famous N.P. Railway Overland Express approaching rapidly. In a moment the engine passes by, slowing down. Then comes one, two, three, four express cars, and behind them seven coaches and Pullmans. Passengers alight, baggage is unloaded, friends greet each other, station men run here and there, the whole scene being one of great interest and activity.

Pack mules with ammunition on the Santiago Trail, Cuba CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1898. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: A great pack train approaches rapidly, following the gray bell-mule. Cowboys dash to and fro, keeping them bunched. Clouds of dust arise as they pass.

Packing ammunition on mules, Cuba CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., c1898. SUMMARY From The Phonoscope, October 1898, p. 15: Dotting the horizon on the right of the picture is the great fleet of transports, while scattered all along the beach and piled high to the left are hundreds upon hundreds of ammunition cases. Soldier boys in the foreground are packing the boxes on the patient army mules. An officer stands by bossing the job. Two boxes are tied on each mule.

Palace of Electricity CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: In the Exposition grounds with a close view of the Palace of Electricity.

Pan-American Exposition by night CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1901. SUMMARY The film begins with a slow pan over the tower building of the exposition, which was lighted by electric lights. The pan goes from a daylight shot of the grounds to what appears to be a special effects situation involving back lighting of the scene.

Panorama from the moving boardwalk CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: The camera is stationed on the middle walk of the Platform Mobile, as the French call it, and gives further views and incidents of this Paris Exposition novelty.

Panorama of Blackwell's Island, N.Y. CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY This film was photographed from a boat heading south along the eastern shore of Blackwell's Island (known today as Roosevelt Island). The island lies in the East River, between Manhattan (which can be seen in the background) and Long Island City, Queens. It is approximately one and three-quarters of a mile long, extending from 51st Street to 88th, and at the time of the filming was the location for a number of New York City's charitable and penal institutions. The film opens showing the lighthouse at the north end of the island (Hallet's Cove) [Frame: 0186]. As the boat enters the east channel of the river, the stacks of a large brewery on Manhattan are visible in the distance [0542]. The camera pans along the island's granite seawall (built by inmates of the Penitentiary and Workhouse) and the following buildings, in order of appearance, are shown: the New York City Lunatic Asylum [0956]; the Workhouse [1274]; the Almshouse [1524]; piers for the Queensborough (or 59th Street) Bridge, which upon completion in 1908 will span 135 feet above the island [2388]; the Almshouse Keeper's House (originally the home of the Blackwell family, who had once owned the island) [2730]; the Penitentiary [3646]; Charity Hospital [4140]. The film ends before reaching the southern tip of the island.

Panorama of Eiffel Tower CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Showing the entire height of this wonderful structure from the base of the dome and return, with the great Paris Exposition in the background, looking down Champs de Mars.

Panorama of esplanade by night CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1901. SUMMARY The first objects visible in this film, which was taken at night, are the glowing light globes that outline the buildings closest to the camera position. The camera slowly pans, encompassing the complete area of the exhibit buildings, and the outlines of all the buildings are clearly discernible. Edwin S. Porter maintained that this was the first motion picture taken at night by incandescent light in America.

Panorama of Galveston power house CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This building and machinery supplied the electric power and electric light for the entire city of Galveston, including the car system. The building, which is of solid masonry, is a complete wreck, and together with the twisted iron work of the machinery, shows the tremendous power of the cyclone.

Panorama of gorge railway CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: One of the most interesting places in the vicinity of Niagara Falls is the Whirlpool Rapids, where the immense volume of water which passes from the Falls, speeds along through its rocky and tortuous passage towards the ocean. The camera in securing this picture was placed at the front end of a train ascending the grade at a very rapid rate of speed. The combined motion of the train in one direction and the water in the opposite direction, the latter impeded and interrupted in its course by the rocky path through which it flows, sending beautiful masses of spray and foam many feet in the air, makes an impression on the audience long to be remembered.

Panorama of orphans' home, Galveston CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This is the building in which so many of the poor orphans met their death. The place is completely dismantled. In addition to the orphanage is shown one of the principal streets in Galveston blocked with overturned houses and other materials.

Panorama of Place de L'Opera CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: The busiest square in all Paris.

Panorama of Riker's Island, N.Y. CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY The film was photographed from a boat going around Riker's Island. Located on the East River north of Hell Gate between the Bronx and Queens, Riker's Island was the site of a massive New York City landfill operation at the time of the filming (originally eighty-seven acres, by 1939 the size of the island had increased to four hundred acres). The film includes scenes of heavy equipment at work, including pile drivers constructing the seawall and steam shovels unloading rubbish from barges. On one of the steam shovels, a sign reading "Water Front Improvement Co., 220 Broadway, New York" can be distinguished [Frame: 3502]. Near the end of the film, a narrow-gauge steam engine with five open cars loaded with landfill, comes into view [3826]. The island is currently the site of a New York City penitentiary.

Panorama of the moving boardwalk CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This picture was taken from the stationary platform, showing the rapidly moving board walk on the outer edge, which has a speed of five miles per hour; also shows the middle platform moving two and a-half miles per hour, the third platform being stationary. At intervals there are upright posts to steady passengers passing from one platform to the other. By watching these uprights passing by the camera and passing each other, a good idea of the speed is obtained. The structure is crowded with passengers, some gliding by, standing still, other walking and running and stepping from one platform to the other.

Panorama of the Paris Exposition, from the Seine CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This panoramic scene is taken from a Seine steamboat and gives a rapid view of the banks of the river. The launch steams under six bridges and past the Street of Nations. The United States Building is a prominent white domed structure, gay with national flags. The picture ends at the famous three million dollar bridge, the Point Alexander III.

Panorama of wreckage of water front CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: This picture shows the remains of one of the docks, several freight cars being piled one upon the other, while the most interesting part of the picture shows two schooners literally smashed one into the other, forming a most picturesque mass of wreckage.

Panorama water front and Brooklyn Bridge from East River CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. SUMMARY This film depicts the East River shoreline and the piers of lower Manhattan starting at about Pier 5 (the New York Central Pier) opposite Broad Street, and extending to the Mallory Line steamship piers just south of Fulton Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. The film begins with shots of canal boats or barges (from the Erie Canal via the Hudson River) docked at and around Coenties Slip [Frame: 0106]. As the film progresses, the New York Produce Exchange located at Bowling Green, Manhattan, with its distinct tower, comes into view in the background [0346]. Between here and the Wall Street ferry, there follows in order of appearance: steam tugs [0308 and 0422], a wooden hull barkentine [1032] with box barges alongside, a docked iron hull sailing ship, probably British [1448], an ocean steamer with yards on the foremast [1748], a derrick lighter laden with barrels docked at the end of a pier [2134], and a fruit steamer [2612]. In the Wall Street Ferry slip (between Piers 15 and 16) there is a Wall St., Manhattan-to-Montague St., Brooklyn, double-ended steam commuter boat [2896]. The ferry is visible immediately before a shot of the large advertising billboards on Pier 16. The film next shows the Ward Line piers (J.E. Ward & Co., New York and Cuba Steamship Co.) [3040], a Pennsylvania Railroad tug [3190], a derrick lighter [3320], and the Mallory Line piers [3692]. A Mallory Line steamer can be seen on the south side of one of the Mallory Piers [3736]. The camera begins panning out into the East River after passing pier 20, catching the fog bell at the end of pier 21 [3922]. A car float is visible passing under the Brooklyn Bridge [4202]. The pan follows the line of the Brooklyn Bridge eastward to Brooklyn Heights, where the Hotel Margaret (tall building in background) is visible just before the end of the film [4464]. This film continues the view begun in the film Sky Scrapers of New York City From the North River. Together they comprise a sweep around the southern tip of Manhattan, from Fulton Street on the Hudson to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Panoramic view of Electric Tower from a balloon CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1901. SUMMARY The title indicates that this film was taken from a balloon. However, there is no aerial photography. Instead it is an up and down or elevation of the camera on the then-famous Electric Tower built for the Exposition at Buffalo, New York.

Panoramic view of Newport CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1900. SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: Possibly the sensation of the flight of a bird can be nearest realized by being on deck of one of the U.S. Government's fleet torpedo boats racing at its highest speed through the water. This picture was taken under these conditions and shows the beautiful scenery comprising the harbor of Newport, R. I. In the foreground, the spray of the vessel and the foam on the water gives a fair idea of the rapidity at which this boat is moving. In the distance can be seen the wharves and shipping, including the large steamers that ply between New York and Boston. Various other objects can be seen passing the rear, and the busy motion of the men on the deck and the immense volumes of smoke escaping from the funnels all add life and energy to this picture.

This CD is created to run on both Windows and Macintosh computers using an HTML menu to navigate to the various movies. IMPORTANT: These CDs are designed to be played in your computer - not your DVD player.