Kinetoscope
Viewer
Edison Manufacturing Company
American, 1889–1911
Kinetoscope
1894
Wood, metal, and glass
Overall: 48 1/4 × 18 1/8 × 27 in. (122.6 × 46 × 68.6 cm)
Museum accession
DescriptionWooden, rectangular, 35mm, electrically powered kinetoscope with viewing shroud, ground glass plate, 2¾" glass cell, synchronized shutter, incandescent lamp, reflector, 18 film rollers, sprocket, break roller, DC motor, leather drive belt, spring tensioner, speed control lever, light switch, and about 42 feet of double-perforated 35mm film. This kinetoscope is missing its coin-slot so it was likely used for demonstration purposes.
Inscriptions Engraved in metal on product label on top of kinetoscope: EDISON KINETOSCOPE MANUFACTURED BY EDISON MFG. CO., ORANGE, N.J., U.S.A. No.1026, PATENT APPLIED FOR / Inscribed in white on base of kinetoscope: 82:1619:3 / Engraved in metal on door locks inside cabinet of kinetoscope: PC11 / Stamped in wood along doors of cabinet inside kinetoscope: XXIV / Inscribed in pencil inside kinetoscope: 3, 3 / Printed in white on shutter inside kinetoscope: UP, UP, UP
TextIn 1888, Thomas Edison announced he was" experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear." Most of the development was done by W. K. L. (William Kennedy Laurie) Dickson, an employee and official photographer of the Edison Manufacturing Company. Dickson designed two early cinematic machines, both named by Edison: the Kinetograph camera for recording and the Kinetoscope for viewing.
Dickson's designs used the flexible nitrate film newly marketed by Eastman Kodak Company for its handheld cameras. The film was modified to a 33mm strip with perforated edges that allowed it to advance through sprockets for both filming and projection. The first practical system of its type, the film and machine design realized immediate success and laid the foundation for the rapid development of cinematography and the motion picture industry in the twentieth century.
Todd Gustavson
Curator, Technology Collection
October 2021
Dickson's designs used the flexible nitrate film newly marketed by Eastman Kodak Company for its handheld cameras. The film was modified to a 33mm strip with perforated edges that allowed it to advance through sprockets for both filming and projection. The first practical system of its type, the film and machine design realized immediate success and laid the foundation for the rapid development of cinematography and the motion picture industry in the twentieth century.
Todd Gustavson
Curator, Technology Collection
October 2021
