The Vagabonds
B: On the base of the poem “The Vagabonds” by J.T. Trowbridge. D: Morris Foster, Grace DeCarlton, Arthur Bauer, Carey L. Hastings. P: Thanhouser Film Co. USA 1915
Print: Library of Congress

“The Vagabonds source is a different kind of classic — a poem by an influential and prolific writer of inspirational and cautionary stories for children, particularly boys. The Vagabonds is a series of flashbacks where a penniless, friendless tramp relates the story of his downfall due to drink. The author J.T. Trowbridge (1827-1916) had also been a well-known pre-Civil War abolitionist. His poem ‘The Vagabonds’ was first published in 1863.
This relatively fine print shows the rapid improvements in camera lenses in the mid-1910s, and independent studios like Thanhouser finally had access to the best cameras and equipment with the breaking of the Patents Trust in 1915.
The variety of camera setups and fluidity of editing is quite modern compared to just a year or two earlier.”
Thanhouser