SilentPhotoplay Blog
Howard Missimer was born on November 17, 1867 and died November 19, 1917, just five years after this interview was published. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual describes Howard Missimer as being 5′ 10″ and weighing 140 pounds, having gray hair and blue eyes. Howard … Continue reading Howard Missimer
Now, most people know this song as a Christmas song, but this is an alternative (with a note that “Christmas Day” could be substituted for “New Years Day”. I don’t remember ever hearing the second verse exactly like it is here. Happy New Year! THREE SHIPS A-SAILING I saw three ships a-sailing by A-sailing … Continue reading Three Ships A-Sailing
I definitely posted this way back when I typed out the antique children’s book Joyous Times, but it is too fitting not to repeat. Joyous Times is an 1880s book. Sometimes they even had poems for New Year! I like when they credit the authors of the poem or story, even if it is something … Continue reading The Old Year and The New
This is a fantastic article out of the January 1915 Photoplay Magazine. They are some thoughts looking into the new year by some silent film players. I especially like Mary Fuller’s list. It’s funny that just a few years ago, when I first found this article, I didn’t know many of these names! There is … Continue reading Silent Photoplayer’s New Years Resolutions
Here’s another short one from Songs of Childhood, 1923. Have a very merry Christmas! CHRISTMAS DAY Christmas Day, Christmas Day, Little children now are gay; Christmas Day, Christmas Day, Ev’ry one is happy. Continue reading Christmas Day
Happy Christmas Eve! Here’s a song from Songs of Childhood, 1923. This one’s pretty weird. Why are they encouraging their children to wait up for Santa? CHRISTMAS EVE Do you hear the merry jingle Of the bells of old Kriss Kringle on his way? Fast he’s speeding in the night, Through a silv’ry sheen of … Continue reading Christmas Eve
This little snippet is from Harvest Home, 1891. I kind of feel like I know these people who wrote this book, like I am one of the children they wrote it for! It gives me immense joy to read these interesting books. ORIGIN OF “YULE.” The ancient name (Yule) for Christmas is still used throughout … Continue reading Origin of “Yule.”
Christmas is nearly upon us, and what better way to shop (in 1900) than using a catalogue to browse the inventory of a store? I found it on vintageadbrowser, which has many amazing advertisements scanned in great clarity. This is a 24 page catalogue book put out by H. O’Neill & Co., New York. Hugh … Continue reading Gift Book – A Few Timely Hints for Christmas Shoppers
The following story is from one of the first antique books I ever owned. It is from the 1880s, and it is called Merry Doings of Childhood. It has fantastic stories, and has some of the most beautiful pictures that are still vibrant and dark. Some stories are not so sunny. They are there to … Continue reading Christmas
Often, these little story books were not just storybooks, but they taught the child something, too. This would include things I can only describe as ‘articles’, where they talked directly to the reader and taught about other countries, their customs, or just simply talk about a picture on the page. In these ‘articles’, they would … Continue reading Christmas Berries and Flowers
