Edison's Black Maria
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The Black Maria (pronounced ma-RYE-uh) was Thomas Edison's movie production studio in West Orange, New Jersey. It is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio."
Construction began in December 1892[1] and was completed the following year at a cost of $637.67. It closed in January 1901 and Edison demolished the building in 1903. The U. S. National Park Service maintains a reproduction of the Black Maria, built in 1954 at what is now the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange. A previous reconstruction had been built and dedicated in May 1940 when MGM held the world premiere of Edison, the Man starring Spencer Tracy in theaters throughout the Oranges (West Orange, East Orange, South Orange, and Orange).
The Black Maria was, according to the staff who worked there, a small and uncomfortable place to work. Edison employees W. K. Dickson and Jonathan Campbell coined the name—it reminded them of police Black Marias, (also known as "paddywagons") of the time because they were also cramped, stuffy and a similar black color. Edison, however, called it "The Doghouse."
The Black Maria was covered in black tarpaper and had a huge window in the ceiling that opened up to let in sunlight because early films required a tremendous amount of bright light. It was built on a turntable so the window could rotate toward the sun throughout the day, supplying natural light for hundreds of Edison movie productions over its eight year lifespan.
When word spread about the new invention, performers flocked to the Black Maria from all over the country in order to be in the films. These silent movies featured dancers, pugilists, magicians, and vaudeville performers. Their appearances at the studio were used as publicity opportunities by Edison, who would often pose with the performers for newspaper articles.
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[edit] Films shot at the Black Maria
- Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, also known as Fred Ott's Sneeze
- Blacksmith Scene (1893)
- Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894/95)
- Prof. Welton's Boxing Cats
- Sioux Ghost Dance
- Buffalo Bill's Shooting Skill
- Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene
[edit] Edison's Black Maria in popular culture
- Todd Rundgren wrote and performed a song called "Black Maria" on the album Something/Anything (1972).
- The lyrics to the song "Edison Museum" by They Might Be Giants include the line '"see the Black Maria revolving slowly on its platform."
[edit] Notes
- ^ Robinson (1997). p. 23.
[edit] Sources
- Robinson, David (1997). From Peepshow to Palace: The Birth of American Film. New York and Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10338-7
