Giant Trees of California
R: unknown. P: Thomas A. Edison Inc. USA 1912
Original Print: 22mm for Edison Home Kinetoscope projector

“In December of 2014, The MediaPreserve was tasked with the digital preservation of an unusual film. The California Audiovisual Preservation Project, a coordinated program which aims to preserve the rich heritage of that state through archival digitization of film, video and audio materials, sent us a film in the rare 22mm Edison Home Kinetoscope format. The film, titled Giant Trees of California, comes from the collection of the San Francisco History Center at the San Francisco Public Library.

The Edison Home Kinetoscope (EHK) was a film projector introduced by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1912 to the home and educational markets. The 35mm film used in commercial movie theaters in the first half of the twentieth century was made of highly-f lammable cellulose nitrate but like other home cinema systems of the time, EHK films were produced on a non-f lammable acetate base. Unlike competing systems (…), EHK films consisted of three rows of images on a single strip of film. This configuration was an attempt to squeeze more images onto the film which functionally maximized running time while economizing on film stock and space. Indeed, the shipping canister for Giant Trees of California is a miniscule 1.5 inches high with a diameter of 2.75 inches. The 22mm name by which this format is known describes the entire width of the film and all of its three rows of images. Each frame is less than 4mm by 6mm making it the smallest film gauge to ever find mainstream use.  (…)”
Diana Little: Digitizing Giant Trees of California, a  22mm Edison Home Kinetoscope Film
LBS/Archival Products

>>> EARLY DOCUMENTARY FILMS II (Nature / Science)