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THE CHRONICLES OF OKLAHOMA
It is difficult to determine when moving pictures were first exhibited in Oklahoma. The earliest documented appearance of the Edison Vita- scope Company seems to have occurred in February 1897. A Muskogee newspaper reported on a performance given in its city, noting, "the vivid reproductions of scenes and incidents in everyday life were very realistic and a credit to the wizard's skill who makes so many wonders with the electric current. Next time the Vitascope comes to town be sure to see it work . .. you will be pleased."6 Traveling moving picture shows reappeared in Oklahoma on numer- ous occasions in 1898.7 In February of that year the Daily Oklahoman described one of these events, claiming, "The biograph and vitascope scenes are very interesting. The exciting scene of a New York fire com- pany going to a fire was the best of last night's views. Tonight by re- quest, the bull fight and the railway express scenes are to be repeat- ed."8 Later that same year Oklahoma City's Free Street Fair featured a "vast vitascope" that "cast almost life size pictures upon canvas, of naval engagements, war and other scenes."9 The enthusiasm for moving pictures in the years prior to statehood can be seen in numerous other articles, including one published in the Miami Weekly Herald in 1900: In speaking of [a moving picture exhibit] our only embarrass- ment is to find language sufficiently strong to describe their good points. The scientific principles involved in the pictures he repre- sents are interesting. The subject of his pictures are chaste and pleasing. The movements are true to actual life.... Some of the battle scenes are frightful, they are so realistic.10 Traveling exhibitors continued to visit in Oklahoma in the years be- tween 1898 and 1905, giving performances in such towns as Eufaula, Sallisaw, and Checotah.11 These screenings were usually held at vaude- ville theatres and opera houses, and they often appeared on entertain- ment bills with various live acts. In some cases the moving picture shows also featured lantern slides (still images cast on a large screen) and illustrated song slides (in which a live performer sang songs while still images relevant to the lyrics were projected behind them).12 The subjects of the films screened in Oklahoma varied greatly. The American Vitagraph Company of New York presented nonfiction "Russo-Japanese War Pictures" during a tour through Oklahoma in 1905, screening such films as the Bombardment of Port Arthur (Lubin, 1904) and the Battle of Yalu River (American Mutoscope and Biograph, 1904).13 Other exhibitors who came to Oklahoma showed fictional
Quarterly publication containing articles, book reviews, photographs, illustrations, and other works documenting Oklahoma history and preservation. Index to volume 89 starts on page 512.
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