The Library’s moving image collections began with a bureaucratic decision. In August 1893, an unnamed employee (but most likely W.K.L. Dickson) of the Thomas Edison Laboratories in West Orange, NJ, where work had been going on for several years to develop motion picture photography, sent sequential frames from various camera tests to the Copyright Office. […]
Even during the coldest and darkest days of winter, baseball fans look forward to February, when a glimmer of hope appears as pitchers and catchers report to Spring training. Baseball fans throughout the world start dreaming of a World Series championship and everyone knows The Void will soon be over. The Recorded Sound Section’s collection […]
While it’s very easy to identify the oldest surviving motion picture registered for copyright—Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, which I talked about in this post—it’s much trickier pinpointing the oldest copyrighted television program. [I’ll wait here while you do an internet search on “first copyrighted film” and then “first copyrighted tv show.” See what […]
The Packard Campus Theatre typically goes dark on a holiday weekend, so only one show this week…but what a nifty one it is as the first of several films (continuing next week) about auto racing. Thursday, May 22 (7:30 p.m.) The Crowd Roars (Warner Bros., 1932) Howard Hawks directed this fast-paced auto-racing story starring James […]
In 1915 when Victor records included Henry Dacre’s “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” in the above “Songs of the Past” medley (starting at 2:44), the song was likely viewed as something of a sentimental oldie. Two decades earlier, however, the bicycle craze was in full swing and the song was a […]
Although the collections of the NAVCC are rightfully associated with audiovisual content (after all, it’s in our name), we have a tremendous amount of paper records—well in excess of two million items. And for moving images, this documentation really runs the gamut: posters, lobby cards, photographs, festival catalogs, scripts, trade periodicals, press kits, and on […]
It’s spring in Culpeper, and our fancy lightly turns to thoughts of monsters. Thursday, May 15 (7:30 p.m.) King Kong (RKO, 1933) Filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), recent discovery Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and his team discover a giant prehistoric ape, dubbed Kong, while searching for locations on an uncharted jungle island. The crew manages […]
Here at the Packard Campus in Culpeper, April showers bring May…monsters? Among the many attributes of the Campus is our lovely 205 seat art deco theater, where we are proud to present free screenings three times a week. Future posts will feature more specific information about the theater and its design, but of special note […]
The Great Train Robbery. Casablanca. Star Wars. 12 Years a Slave. I Love Lucy. All in the Family. Seinfeld. Game of Thrones. These well-known films and television shows are all part of the Library’s moving image collection. And so are How Buttons Got Even With the Butler (American Mutoscope & Biograph, 1903), Daily Report of […]
This post was co-written with Karen Fishman. Welcome to the Vaults! Welcome to the Recorded Sound Section and our portion of the Now See Hear blog. Each week we will share alternate posts with the Moving Image Section and hightlight the wonderful world of audio-visual collections at the Library. The Recorded Sound Section Posts […]