Now Showing: “Pop” Lubin’s Silent Film Empire

<p>Partially blinded in a childhood factory accident, Polish-born Siegmund Lubszynski followed in his late father’s footsteps and trained as an ophthalmologist in Berlin. In 1876 he chose a new surname and headed to the United States, where he peddled eyeglasses before settling in Philadelphia with his new wife.</p> <p>Collection of Joseph P. Eckhardt</p>

<p>Young Joseph Gartenberg (1874-1899) emigrated from Vienna to Philadelphia in 1895 to marry the woman he loved, Mary Fuchs. The couple had two children in the four years they had together before Joseph passed away. Their son, Harry, inherited these eyeglasses, which his father purchased from fellow émigré Siegmund Lubin.</p> <p>Gift of Wilma Forman in memory of Joseph Gartenberg, 2017.10.1</p>

<p>In his late 50s, when most of his peers were thinking about retirement, Lubin charged headfirst into a second career. He purchased an early movie camera after seeing nascent motion picture technology while in Atlanta to sell eyeglasses at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.287</p>

<p>Lubin recognized this magical new medium’s potential as mass entertainment and – before actors specialized in film – produced &#8220;life motion pictures&#8221; that featured popular actors from the nearby vaudeville and burlesque theaters that he frequented. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.285</p>

<p>This film is unidentified, but we know exactly where it was shot: the &#8220;Lubin Building&#8221; at 926 Market Street in downtown Philadelphia. We know this because of the tiny stars-and-stripes shield just above the two women in the scene. </p> <p>The shield appears on the painted backdrops used in this studio, and it served to prevent rivals from pirating the film – a common practice in those days. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.410</p>

<p>How was Lubin able to imagine that a small shield on a painted backdrop (here visible just to the left of the center character&#8217;s head) could be an effective deterrent to the widespread issue of film piracy? Lubin himself copied or recreated movies by other studios at the beginning of his career. The practice led to some very public legal disputes with a litigious competitor named Thomas Edison. </p> <p>Nevertheless, Lubin, Edison, and others later united as the Motion Picture Patents Company to protect and control the industry. Lubin urged the Company to lead the field in moving from single reel films to longer multi-reel features, a change he saw coming as audiences became more sophisticated. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.284</p>

<p>In addition to shooting actors in front of painted backdrops in controlled studios, Lubin took advantage of local scenery. This still from an unidentified movie features a municipal trolley in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.477</p>

<p><em>The Motion Picture Man</em> was what we would now refer to as &#8220;meta&#8221; &#8212; filmed on the streets and in the parks of a city, it was a movie about filming a movie on the streets and parks of a city. The cast and crew found themselves in comic situations that were familiar to Lubin and his employees.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.351 </p>

<p>Early film crews were adept at constructing sets that made good use of natural light. Here, coworkers and family members gather to watch actors perform an indoor scene on a makeshift stage near a farmhouse, which doubtless also appeared in the background of other scenes in this unidentified film.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.472</p>

<p>Many early films reflected racial and ethnic stereotypes that were sadly common at the time. Lubin&#8217;s catalog included examples of this, but he also produced films that bucked stereotypes of Native Americans and others. </p> <p>Lubin released two films in 1908 and 1909, when millions of Jews and others were immigrating to America, that aimed to fight antisemitism and anti-immigrant sentiment.<br /> <em>The Yiddisher Boy</em> followed a Jew’s friendship with, and generosity toward, a Gentile peer. <em>The Hebrew Fugitive</em> sensitized Americans to the plight of emigrants fleeing persecution in Europe. When it was released overseas as <em>Im Lande Der Unterdrückung (In the Land of Suppression)</em>, it served to encourage European Jews to come to the United States.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.273</p>

<p>Lubin may have challenged antisemitic stereotypes and sought to present positive images of immigrants, but he was also willing to poke fun at his fellow Jews. </p> <p>Contemporary audiences would have recognized the man on the right as a Jewish immigrant. In this short comedy, he proves unwilling to pass up a coin that his fellow saloon patrons have attached to a chair. In the end, he perseveres, carrying the chair out to North 20th Street and Indiana Avenue in North Philadelphia, just across the street from a brand new studio complex dubbed Lubinville.</p> <p><img decoding="async" src="https://www.nmajh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20062418.jpg" alt="Production still" /><br /> Why would a Jewish person produce a film that centers on a Jewish stereotype? It was common for Jewish entertainers to play with Jewish stereotypes in vaudeville and early cinema, although this might be surprising to us now. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.372 and 2006.2.418</p>

<p>Leading lady Mae Hotely and her husband, director and writer Arthur Hotaling, are featured on this postcard. In the days before big bright lights on indoor movie sets, daylight was as crucial a cast member as any human. Lubin&#8217;s North Philly studio included a state-of-the-art glass building where sunlight illuminated multiple sets &#8212; it&#8217;s pictured here below Hotaling. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.496</p>

<p>This cameraman is operating a camera designed by Lubin. Early on, the producer began manufacturing and marketing his own cameras and other equipment, carefully registering patents on each of his innovations and advertising them in publications including his own <em>Lubin Films Bulletin</em>. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.346</p>

<p>In search of more varied scenery than what was at hand near Philadelphia, Lubin sent a group of employees on the road to shoot films like the comedy <em>Just Maine Folks</em>. He soon established new studios in Jacksonville, Los Angeles, and other locations across the United States. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.536</p>

<p>In early 1912, 30 Lubin actors and crew members set off for the Southwest to film western movies on location. The group made their way through a number of locations in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. </p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.252</p>

<p>Undeterred after witnessing early battles in the Mexican Revolution from across the border in El Paso, Lubin’s staff in the Southwest crossed into Mexico. This behind-the-scenes photo seems to be a glimpse of a cameraman and actors filming <em>The Handicap</em> at the Juarez Race Track. Within a few years, this location would become the headquarters of <em>insurrecto</em> leader Francisco &#8220;Pancho&#8221; Villa. </p> <p>The man at the camera in this shot, P.J. McCaffray, was a longtime cameraman for Lubin. He collected this souvenir postcard &#8212; one of hundreds he&#8217;d keep to remember his time as part of Lubin&#8217;s touring stock companies.<br /> <img decoding="async" src="https://www.nmajh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/28-1.jpg" alt="Postcard" /></p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.229 and 2006.2.219</p>

<p>Not long after opening Lubinville and sending two stock companies on the road, Lubin commenced filming at his newest studio in the Philadelphia suburb of Valley Forge. A sprawling Victorian riverfront estate purchased from the Betz family in 1912, workers built film vaults, processing plants, indoor studios, and more at Betzwood. Always thinking of his workers&#8217; well-being, Lubin even planned housing for employees and classrooms for their children.</p> <p>The property featured ample space for filming scenes outdoors, and crews began shooting battle scenes, farm scenes, and ever-popular westerns. Lubin brought a crowd of real cowboys east, hoping to transform them into actors, and workers constructed an outdoor set featuring two streets of moveable western-style facades. This set would reappear as a <em>shtetl</em> (a small Eastern European Jewish village) in the 1922 immigration drama <em>Breaking Home Ties</em> &#8212; a film that sought to counter antisemitic stereotypes at the height of the backlash against Jewish immigration.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.458</p>

<p>Even with multiple crews filming on the road and at a new studio complex in the suburbs, work at Lubinville continued. Lubin&#8217;s employees there pulled out all the stops for the melodrama/disaster flick <em>When the Earth Trembled</em>. You can see the glass roof of the studio in this photo of a set that was specially designed to dramatically fall apart around the actors. The film even contained real footage of the ruins of the San Francisco earthquake, which Lubin&#8217;s photographers had captured in 1906.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.468</p>

<p>You’ve seen the movie, now read the book! Stills from a serial film about a chivalrous English lord appeared in this early &#8220;novelization.&#8221; Only one episode of the serial film survives, but you just might be able to check out this book at your local library.</p>

<p>Lubin enjoyed the trappings of success, and he clearly enjoyed sharing that success. His generosity extended to family, employees, strangers, and causes that he cared about. </p> <p>Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf of Philadelphia’s Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel established the National Farm School (now Delaware Valley University) after an 1894 trip to observe Jewish agriculture in Russia. He hoped that the school would entice Jews to leave Russia for fulfilling work on farms in a friendlier country.</p> <p>Lubin &#8212; perhaps recalling his own early days as an immigrant &#8212; donated a piano to the school, and prepared a promotional film to attract new students and funders interested in agriculture. </p> <p>1994.32.2</p>

<p>Beloved by employees, who called him “Pop” Lubin, the early movie mogul shared his success by providing generous salaries, medical benefits, and free hot lunches to all workers. He even supported some retired actors into their old age. This candid behind-the-scenes shot reveals the camaraderie that flourished among Lubin Manufacturing Company cast and crew members as they take a break together while filming on location.</p> <p>Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman, 2006.2.322</p>

<p>Eckhardt, Joseph P. <em>The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin</em>. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997.</p> <p>Eckhardt, Joseph P. and Linda Kowall. <em> Peddler of Dreams: Siegmund Lubin and the Creation of the Motion Picture Industry, 1896-1916</em>. Philadelphia: National Museum of American Jewish History, 1984.</p> <p>Elsaesser, Thomas and Adam Barker. <em>Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative</em>. British Film Institute, 1990.</p> <p>Musser, Charles. <em>The Emergence of Cinema</em>. New York: Charles Scribner&#8217;s Sons, 1990.</p> <p>Image: Still from a Lubin Mfg Co production, ca. 1912. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2006.2.519, Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman.</p>

<p>By some estimates 95% of early American films have been lost, and a great deal of Lubin&#8217;s catalog was destroyed in a film vault fire in the last years of the studio. Thankfully some copies of his films survived and have been digitized. </p> <p>A sad, short tale about two childhood friends released just a few years into Lubin&#8217;s career, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02cn_6RJeQo"><em>The Outcast and the Bride</em></a> features some interesting special effects. With this film Lubin even cultivated an audio accompaniment: the story is based on a popular song, so audiences could sing along while watching the action. </p> <p>See if you can spot the Liberty Bell-shaped anti-piracy device affixed to each backdrop in 1909&#8217;s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lknu4i17a2U"><em>The Doctor&#8217;s Wife</em></a>.</p> <p>Poor <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Talt4ltGga4"><em>Willie the Hunter</em></a>. It&#8217;s no fun to be the butt of a practical joke. </p> <p>Did you read about <em>When the Earth Trembled</em> in the &#8220;Explore the Story&#8221; section above? This <a href="https://youtu.be/JZItq9tg1Qc">clip</a> compares three surviving copies side-by-side.</p> <p>See Tukufu Zuberi take on a Lubin-related mystery on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/lubin-photos/">PBS&#8217;s <em>History Detectives</em></a>.</p> <p>Image: Lubin Manufacturing Company employees (from left, P.J. McCaffray, Joseph Smiley, and Arthur Hotaling) mug for the camera, ca. 1912. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2006.2.340, Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://library.mc3.edu/betzwood/lubin">Archives of Montgomery County Community College</a> has collected films and other materials related to the history of Lubin&#8217;s Betzwood Studio, centered around original scholarship by MCCC&#8217;s Professor Emeritus and Lubin expert Joseph Eckhardt.</p> <p>Learn about Lubin&#8217;s studio in <a href="https://coronadohistory.org/blog/lubin-studios-4220/">Coronado, California</a> courtesy of the Coronado Historical Association. </p> <p>The <a href="https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/search/?subjectID=15081">Free Library of Philadelphia </a> has digitized a collection of scrapbooks, journals, production stills, and behind-the-scenes photos related to Lubin Manufacturing Company. </p> <p>Image: Cast and crew members on the road in one of the company&#8217;s fleet of vehicles, ca. 1912. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2006.2.352, Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman.</p>

<p>Before the breakthrough Lubin knew as &#8220;life motion pictures,&#8221; scientists and artists experimented with creating moving images using various devices. With some paper, string, and a pencil, you can try many of these experiments out at home, and experience for yourself the illusion of motion that is the basis of cinema. </p> <p>A thaumotrope is a toy that causes your brain to merge two separate images into one image. Make your own using instructions <a href="https://www.waltdisney.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/WDFM_Thaumatrope_V2.pdf">here</a> or <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-cartoon-make-your-own-thaumatrope/">here</a>.</p> <p>A <a href="https://innovationkidslab.com/make-flip-book/">flipbook</a> takes this idea a little farther, creating the illusion of a continuous moving image. </p> <p>A zoetrope is rather more complicated, but you can find lots of instructions for them online. <a href="https://youtu.be/u2v-L-1Kctk">This one</a> animates photographs by Eadweard Muybridge. Lubin owned a zoetrope as a child in Berlin, and likely saw Muybridge&#8217;s experiments in motion pictures at the 1893 World&#8217;s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. </p> <p>Here&#8217;s <a href="https://www.shareitscience.com/2017/01/diy-zoetrope-animation-steam-project.html">another method</a> of making a zoetrope using your own illustrations. </p> <p>Image: Still from a Lubin Mfg Co production, ca. 1912. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2006.2.343, Donated by Jean M. Fulton in honor of Dr. Deborah M. Pressman and Cecilia Lubashur Neuman.</p>