Cinematic Era: 1896 Vintage

A mother takes her children for a walk, lifts her baby girl out of the buggy and gently sets her down to the ground. She then moves a few steps away and calls her name, to demonstrate that her baby can walk.

This is a typical Irish argument in which a can of beer, clay pipes and two sons of Erin form the principal parts.

A burning wagon is dragged from the barn by the firemen, and four horses are rescued from the flames by the stablemen. Thick volumes of smoke pour from the doors and windows. (Edison catalog)

“Mammy is washing her little pickaninny. She thrusts him, kicking and struggling, into a tub full of foaming suds.” (Edison film catalog)

A group of children are encouraged to play in a park by two men. Some play a skipping game. One of the other children refuses and eventually runs away. Another child is fascinated by the camera and stares at it throughout, even when encouraged by one of the men to play. IN the background, traffic passes and pedestrians stroll past behind a railing on an upper level. The children wear sunhats, indicating the weather is very sunny.

East Side Drive, No. 1 (1896) is a brief, silent actual-city documentary directed by James H. White for Edison. Filmed on New York City’s East Side during high society’s “driving hour,” it captures elegant, horse-drawn carriages gliding through the streets in a stylish display of urban leisure.

Pelicans move

A young woman takes off several layers of clothing.

Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, on horseback, parade in front of the cheering crowd, during the inauguration ceremony of William I's monument in Breslau, Germany (nowadays Wroclaw, Poland).

A stationary camera looks west across Niagara Falls from the United States' side (the Niagara River rushes toward the falls from right to left). Virtually overlooking the falls and surrounded by the swift current not far from the camera is a small island where six or eight tourists watch the water, talk, and move about.

The Tsar visits the Russian embassy

An ostrich pulls a cart carrying young women wearing ostrich-feather hats.

An African American family eats watermelons.

Short made in Mexico.

A staged film where over 100 cyclists cycle towards the camera.

Francis Doublier does bicycle tricks in the street.

One of a few versions of the "arrival of the train" narrative. While the film is lost, there is a new digital version based on re-creation from a flipbook produced by Léon Beaulieu around the same time. Shot in Joinville-le-Pont

The Boxing Kangaroo is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul’s peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring a young boy boxing with a kangaroo. The film was considered lost until footage from an 1896 Fairground Programme, originally shown in a portable booth at Hull Fair by Midlands photographer George Williams, donated to the National Fairground Archive was identified as being from this film.

A series of short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson which chronicle the adventures of Rip Van Winkle.

Nimes, leaving the church.

Tsar Nicholas II arrives in Paris.

Teasing tigers with meat.

A stationary camera looks across a busy corner toward a store front marked "The Divan." The words "des fees" are beneath. A cortege of Arabs, about 20 persons in the party, walk past; the dignitaries are in front, attended by men with horns and drums. Coming in the other direction are local Swiss, who pay little attention, and a group of native-garbed Africans. The dozen or so well-dressed denizens of Geneva who are sitting on the steps of the Divan take it all in.

Firefighters at the scene lay out hoses and prepare to fight a blaze.

A soldier is talking to a woman while sitting on a bench, a man sits on it, and the soldier stands up, causing the bench to tip over and the man falls. Available in flipbook format only (tentatively identified) and otherwise a lost film.

Early film footage of fun fair workers and revelers at Devil's Dyke on the South Downs, taken by pioneer James Williamson in around 1896. At a fair at Devil's Dyke, boys scrap beside wooden swing boats. Others, wearing dark suits, watch chains and caps, stretch up to push one of the swing boats. The boys are aware of the camera, which films them from a fixed position. A couple swing sticks in the air, playing up to the camera while the boys work. At the merry-go-round, two women stand in the foreground. They wear shirts with full pleated sleeves and boaters. Other visitors to the fair pass by the camera, including a man with a pipe and a woman with a wide cloak. Young visitors ride on a track, the South Downs in view behind. They cycle, turning a wheel in front of them. An open-top carriage rides away from the camera and back again along a switchback railway, driven by a worker who jumps on and off.

A French family consisting of father, mother and two children, sitting around a table and eating a meal.

Seen but not heard? Three children get up to mischief after their mother puts them to bed in this Victorian entertainment. This was one of numerous variations on the theme of 'naughty little boys or girls' in film's early years, demonstrating that Victorian ideals of child discipline didn't always match the reality.

Show of Mexican ranchers catching cows.

On the terrace of a villa, a violinist, two pianists and a singer are playing, until they are interrupted by a false note.

The surf pounds against a breakwater on which are visible several people standing. The wall looks to be about 20 feet above sea level and extend at least 100 feet into the water. A large wave rolls picturesquely along the wall toward the shore. Smaller waves follow. Then the scene changes to river water flowing. We see both shores: in the foreground a log and tree branch are visible; on the far shore, there appears to be a low wall with trees beyond it. The camera is stationary in both shots.

Two cocks fight whilst being watched by two men.

An actuality film of traffic and pedestrian movement at the end of a bridge. In the distance on the other side of the bridge, the tops of some large buildings are visible, including a domed building. The location is unconfirmed.

A quarrel between two women that a man attempts to separate.

This attractively composed one-shot film offers viewers an uncomplicated view of waves crashing against rocks.

This film documents the 1896 Melbourne Cup horse race including footage of the crowd watching the race.

“This view was taken upon Mr. McKinley's lawn at his home in Canton, Ohio. Mr. McKinley appears walking across the lawn in company with his Secretary, who hands him a telegram, which he reads with apparent satisfaction. The characteristic walk and gestures of Mr. McKinley will be noted with interest by his friends.” (AMB Picture Catalogue)

Considered a remake of Lumière's La Voltige from 1895.

Strong-man Eugene Sandow flexes his muscles and strikes a few poses in front of a black background. This was a short film shot by William K.L. Dickson for the American Mutoscope Company and is not the 1894 Edison film shot at the Black Maria.

A small boat is approaching waterfalls, shrouded in thick fog, in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland.

A soldier stands guard at a sentry box and leaves it unprotected for a moment, a moment that two men take advantage of to put up posters where it is prohibited.

A short film from the Lumière brothers, filmed in a Dresden street.

A shot of a ship that is being unloaded.

A drunkard fooling around. Serious damage marks.

King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy stepping down a staircase, followed by their escort, before climbing into a horse-drawn carriage.

Five black and white minstrels dancing and playing musical instruments in Rupert Street, London.

Two children, playing in the garden, with a dog and a cat.

A large pool in Milan has diving boards set at different heights. As some people watch from along the pool's edge, others enjoy themselves by diving into the pool, using a variety of different styles.

Husband comes home late and wakes the wife. Based on a popular stage play.

A train pulls into the station, and the crowd of travelers invades the dock.

Panorama of the docks, the city and the bridge of a boat sailing the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany.

Motor cars of different models, drivers, passengers and observers, all filmed from the starting line of the Paris-Meulan race.

The first movie audiences took particular delight in scenes of rushing, churning water. These scenes of Niagara Falls were taken in September 1896, while Dickson and Bitzer were filming McKinley and the Empire State Express.

A woman feeds pigeons on the Piazza San Marco in Venice.