The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

12 C&e Ctjeatre as "the chaser," between 1898 and 1900, and it was quite common for the films to be placed on the program unexpectedly when the crowds awaiting an entrance were overwhelming. The very sight of the now magic sheet was the signal for an exodus. In many theatres the pictures were put on last on the bill. The effect of this policy was to be observed in the Corporal's Guard remaining for their exhibition. The vaudeville managers in those days were more reluctant than now to "can" (cancel) performers. Instead, the punishment meted out to them was to be placed on the bill "after the pictures," a degrading distinction which served to humiliate and cheapen the unfortunate ones — in fact, to be relegated to "follow the pictures" was regarded as even more injurious to the artists than to be programmed for the "Supper Show," a relic of the days of the continuous performance, now practically extinct. In the early days of photography, of which moving pictures are only a branch, some abortive attempts were made to produce animated pictures on glass plates. It was therefore recognized at the start that success was to be achieved only with a thin, Tollable, transparent, continuous strip, which would carry the photographic image, both negative and positive — in other words, a flexible, endless belt substitute for glass. Manufacturers worked very assiduously to obtain such a photographic support, and photographic societies all over the world offered prizes and encouragement to stimulate discovery and invention in that line, but without success. Shaved celluloid was experimented with, but celluloid, or parkesine, as it was first called, would not do. Skin formed by flowing regular photographic