Inside an American Factory:
Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904

The Westinghouse Works Collection contains 21 actuality films showing various views of Westinghouse companies. Most prominently featured are the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and the Westinghouse Machine Company. The films were intended to showcase the company's operations. Exterior and interior shots of the factories are shown along with scenes of male and female workers performing their duties at the plants.

About these films

The motion pictures taken of the Westinghouse Works were produced by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company from April 13 to May 16, 1904, and were photographed by G. W. (Billy) Bitzer. These actuality films show various views of the some of the Westinghouse companies, most prominently the Westinghouse Air Brake Company,the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and the Westinghouse Machine Company, and were intended to showcase the company's operations. Views of much of the Westinghouse Works are shown in a panorama shot taken from a moving train. Long shots of aisles of machinery are also shown, as well as scenes of male and female workers performing their various duties at the plants.

The films were shown daily with great success in the Westinghouse Auditorium at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis in 1904. Although little production information is available for these films, they may have been made expressly for use at the Exposition. This would not have been unusual since the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company is known to have produced other films for the Exposition for the U.S. Department of Interior. A catalog for the AM&B company indicates that at least 29 films were made of the Westinghouse Works of which 21 are available here.

The films of the Westinghouse Works were the first made successfully using the Cooper Hewitt Mercury Vapor Lamp which was manufactured by the Cooper Hewitt Electric Company, a Westinghouse company based in New York. Since the lamp was made by Westinghouse and was later featured prominently in advertising for AM&B films, it is possible that there may have been a special arrangement between the two companies--perhaps motion pictures in exchange for lamps, or photographing the Westinghouse Works as a test run for the use of the lamp. Unfortunately, in the absence of source material, these theories are mere speculation.

Here are the movies on this CD

Assembling a generator, Westinghouse works - A group of men work on various parts of a large generator, assembling the pieces. A crane carries a large piece of the generator over to the rest of the machine, and the men guide it down to assemble it. The crane brings two other pieces to the machine and lays them down where they belong.

Assembling and testing turbines, Westinghouse works - A turbine is shown operating. Two men walk up to it, check the running of various parts on it, and write their findings down on paper. A third man is seen walking through a few times, once stopping to look at one of the men's writings.

Casting a guide box, Westinghouse works - A large bucket full of molten material is poured into a large container, possibly a mold, by a group of men using machinery. Some other men stoke the fire under the container. When finished pouring, the men lift the bucket up from the container and take it away on a crane. Two men put prods down repeatedly into the container, while others lay covers on top of it.

Coil winding machines, Westinghouse works - Numerous women stand in rows at winding machines, taking material from large spools behind them. A male supervisor walks down the aisle, checking the work of the women.

Coil winding section E, Westinghouse works - Rows of women are shown at tables with winding machines. They wind using material from spools behind them, apparently putting the finished products on the table in front of them. Various supervisory staff, male and female, walk through the aisles, checking the work of the women.

Girls taking time checks, Westinghouse works - Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.

Girls winding armatures - Numerous women sit in rows at machines where they appear to be winding some type of wire and tooling it onto machines. 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.

Panorama exterior Westinghouse works - The view from a moving train shows some of the Westinghouse interests and the surrounding areas. It appears that the film is in two parts and has been incorrectly spliced together with the last part put first. The film is supposed to show one rail route, but maps indicate that the first part of the film logically should be placed last. The first part of the film shows the Turtle Creek train station followed by buildings, homes, train yards, and industrial buildings, possibly the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. It passes by another station which appears to be Pitcairn. The second part of the film shows the Westinghouse Machine Co. buildings followed by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. buildings.

Panorama of Machine Co. aisle, Westinghouse works - A camera on an overhead crane travels down a large, long aisle where men are shown working on large machinery on either side. Carts carrying equipment are shown traveling on rails down the aisles. There are also men walking in the aisles.

Panorama view street car motor room - A camera moving forward on an overhead crane gives a traveling view of men working on machinery. Carts carrying parts and pieces of machinery pass by on rails; cranes lift machinery; and men perform their various duties, including hammering objects.

Panoramic view aisle B, Westinghouse works - ilmed using a camera on an overhead crane, a traveling view of a large, long aisle is shown. Men are busy performing various tasks on machinery, probably generators. Other men are walking down the aisle in all directions, and carts carrying items come and go. The film ends when the camera reaches the end of the aisle where windows and a large opening are. Rail tracks coming in through the opening are visible.

Steam hammer, Westinghouse works - From what appears to be a furnace, a large, glowing block is lifted with the help of a crane over to a table by a group of men. A hammer comes from above and pounds down on the block repeatedly as the men turn the block several times so that it will acquire a certain shape.

Steam whistle, Westinghouse works - A closeup of the steam whistle blowing at the "Westinghouse works" complex of factories in Pennsylvania, probably at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

Taping coils, Westinghouse works - Numerous women stand at several rows of tables where they appear to be wrapping tape around some devices, presumably coils. Male supervisors walk down the aisles, observing the women's work.

Tapping a furnace, Westinghouse works - A large bucket is lowered into a pit by male workers using machinery. Molten material from a furnace is poured into the bucket using a slide. The bucket, which has flames coming from inside, is lifted up from the pit by a crane.

Testing a rotary, Westinghouse works - A small group of men turn on what appears to be a generator. As the rotary spins, the men make adjustments to the machine and check its operations.

Testing large turbines, Westinghouse works - On the left of the screen, a small group of men lift the top off of what appears to be a turbine with a crane and continue to check the machine, tightening various parts with wrenches. On the right side, a few men appear to be testing the workings of what may be a turbine.

Welding the big ring - A group of men weld one area of a large ring in a fire. They lift the ring, which is hanging horizontally on chains, out of the fire. Four men hammer the hot area on the ring into shape while the remaining men hold the ring. They put the ring into the fire again, take it out, and take it over to a machine which continuously hammers down on that area of the ring. The men then take it away from the machine and hammer it themselves into shape. The ring is presumably a piece of a generator.

Westinghouse Air Brake Co. Westinghouse Co. works (casting scene) - What appear to be molds pass some men by on conveyor belts. The men take them off the belt and dump the contents onto the ground. Other men pick up with tongs the parts that have been dumped onto the ground and put them on a pile in the foreground.

Westinghouse Air Brake Co. Westinghouse Co. works (moulding scene) - Men working in teams carry buckets of molten material and pour the material into what appear to be molds lined up on the ground.

Westinghouse Air Brake Co. Westinghouse works - A large group of men are shown performing various tasks in one room at the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. On one side, men are shown pouring a hot liquid into molds on the floor. A conveyor belt delivers items which are then taken off the belt by a man. Men on the other side of the screen appear to be lifting items out of what could possibly be a furnace and putting them on tables. It appears that the men in this room are casting machinery from molds.

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.

21 RARE FILMS OF WESTINGHOUSE WORKS FROM 1904 for $9.97