{"id":5297,"date":"2020-06-08T15:45:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T19:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lizzieborden.org\/CuratorsCorner\/?p=5297"},"modified":"2020-06-22T07:19:53","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T11:19:53","slug":"an-important-fall-river-motion-picture-discovery-the-new-cotton-vogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/2020\/06\/08\/an-important-fall-river-motion-picture-discovery-the-new-cotton-vogue\/","title":{"rendered":"An Important Fall River Motion Picture Discovery: The New Cotton Vogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Film history fascinates me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was first introduced to silent film while in my teens via a 1980 Thames Television thirteen-episode documentary series called Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film <\/em>\u2013 brilliant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, through a fortuitous conversation with a Mr. and Mrs. who were long-time FRHS members and supporters, rather well connected in New York social and cultural scenes \u2013 of old Fall River stock both, they had moved to New York City after their marriage in 1925, where the Mr. was very closely associated with the Harkness family \u2013 I was encouraged to write to a lady acquaintance of theirs, who knew something about silent film.<\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhat of an understatement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lady acquaintance: Lillian Gish (1893-1993).<\/span><\/p>\n

They provided an address, to which I dispatched a note.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much to my astonishment, the pioneering film actress \u2013 the First Lady of American Cinema \u2013 wrote back.<\/span><\/p>\n

I responded, as one would.<\/span><\/p>\n

As did she.<\/span><\/p>\n

As did I.<\/span><\/p>\n

As did she.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so, for several years, we exchanged the occasional letter, note, or card; she sent me the two books she authored, and several inscribed photographs \u2013 she was lovely, and a great lady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through Miss Gish, I was introduced, via mail or telephone, to a few other ladies of the silent screen, among them Colleen Moore (1899-1988), of whom F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote: \u201cI was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch. What little things we are to have caused all that trouble.\u201d She was very nice: There were some letters, a few inscribed photographs, and she sent me her book \u2013 the memoirs, not her other book, How Women Can Make Money in the Stock Market<\/em>. She certainly knew that subject; perceived as a Flapper, the actress was, in fact, a shrewd woman of business; she was also very down-to-earth. In addition to her film legacy there is her famous doll house \u2013 extravagance in miniature \u2013 preserved in the collection of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

And there were a few others: Leatrice Joy (1893-1985), Billie Dove (1903-1997), Bessie Love (1898-1986), and \u2026 well, you get the picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so, due to a chance comment during a conversation with a New York couple who I grew to respect and admire, and who were very kind to me \u2013 they always considered Fall River \u201chome\u201d \u2013 a kid from the North End came into contact with a few ageing ladies who, in their day, had been well-known actresses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good memories, those.<\/span><\/p>\n

I still have the books, the letters, and the photographs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But once again, I digress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, to the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Film is historically important and provides the only remaining cinematic evidence of cultural heritage that has vanished or changed with the passage of time. Film documenting the history of the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, is exceedingly rare and has survived only by chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest film footage pertaining to Fall River that has surfaced to date documents the aftermath of the devastating conflagration \u2013 known as the Great Fire of 1928 \u2013 that destroyed a vast stretch of the northern portion of the downtown business district on February 2-3, 1928. This film is preserved in the collection of the FRHS.<\/span><\/p>\n

I heard many stories about the \u201928 Fire from people who were there \u2013 Florence Cook Brigham (1899-2000): \u201cAfter seeing the 1928 fire, I never wanted to see another. Dick (her husband) made me go.\u201d Her father, Benjamin Cook Jr. (1870-1962), was, at the time, a Special Justice of the Second District Court and an attorney, with an office in the Granite Block; the building was totally destroyed in the fire. When his office floor collapsed, the safe in which he housed his legal documents landed in the Quequechan River and broke open. As a result: \u201cFather had to rewrite all his wills and contracts because they ended up in the Taunton River.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of my old Friends remembered the night of the fire for another reason: In several households, it was maid\u2019s night off, so they recalled being at table having \u201ca cold supper\u201d when the fire broke out in the Pocasset Mill at about 5:45 in the evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMother didn\u2019t cook, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Classic Fall River, that, at least for those who lived on \u201cthe Hill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

References to film footage of a February 15, 1916, conflagration that engulfed the southern section of the downtown business district \u2013 the Great Fire of 1916 \u2013 appear in the FRHS collection, in the form of notes in Mrs. B\u2019s hand. I do not know if she actually saw the film, or just heard about it, but if it exists it has not yet surfaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is accepted by film historians that more than ninety percent of all film made before 1920, and fifty percent made before 1950, has been lost due to the unstable nature of the medium, coupled with inadequate storage. Cellulose nitrate film base is extremely flammable and is known to auto-ignite. It fades and decomposes, with the acrid vinegar-like odor emanating from old film canisters \u2013 called \u201cvinegar syndrome\u201d \u2013 signaling its death knell.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is very eye-wateringly-pungent, believe me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet despite oftentimes sub-par storage conditions, important footage has managed to survive and, when digitized, once again flickers \u2013 time-machine-like \u2013 magically transporting the viewer to another time and place.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this instance:<\/span><\/p>\n

A late 1920s Fall River textile mill \u2013 \u201cthe Largest in the World\u201d; and a fashion show, with Hollywood starlets of the silent era modeling outfits cut from that same mill\u2019s \u201cLatest Cotton Creations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent email:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMichael, I hope you are well. I just got about 50 old films digitized and the result came back this past weekend. I thought you would like these two<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The message came from Tom Borden. He is a great-great-grandson of print cloth magnate Matthew Chaloner Durfee Borden (1842-1912), a.k.a. \u201cthe Calico King<\/em>,\u201d who reorganized the failed American Print Works as the American Printing Company \u2013 it became the largest print cloth manufactory in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

In brief:<\/span><\/p>\n

M.C.D. Borden was an astutely brilliant industrialist. He knew the risks and was prepared to take them, seized available opportunities, and prospered. A real Fall River blueblood of the oldest Yankee stock, he was the son of Colonel Richard Borden (1795-1874) \u2013 his mother was a Durfee; when he married the daughter of Dr. Nathan Durfee (1799-1876), his first cousin became his mother-in-law, and when he fathered children, his aunt became their great-grandmother. Fascinating genealogy, but very confusing to the uninitiated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much like the manner in which he applied his business acumen, Borden pursued his cultural interests in similar fashion and at the highest levels: A collector of old and modern masters, his private gallery housed renowned works of art, among them Lucretia <\/em>by Rembrandt (now in the National Gallery), and The Third Class Carriage<\/em> by Daumier (now in The Met). He compiled a library of rare first editions, folio manuscripts and letters, and antiquities \u2026 amazing.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many artifacts pertaining to this family preserved in the FRHS collections.<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent nearly a decade searching for his full-length portrait, painted in 1901 by Th\u00e9obold Chartran (1849-1907), and thought lost \u2013 it was not. The massive painting is a testament to Gilded Age achievement and now hangs at the FRHS; an interesting story, that, but one for another time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, back to Tom\u2019s email, which ended:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen these before?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Intriguing, that.<\/span><\/p>\n

I followed the links and was dumbfounded by what I saw \u2013 stunned, actually.<\/span><\/p>\n

My follow-up answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

An astounding \u201cNO!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I had never seen anything like it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Astonishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Absolutely astonishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The films:<\/span><\/p>\n

The New Cotton Vogue<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The two short, promotional films \u2013 silent and captioned with title cards \u2013 were filmed and edited for M.C.B. Borden & Sons by Joseph Weil and released in 1929. Expensive to produce and featurette-like in quality, they were likely intended to be shown to moviegoers during the widely-popular newsreel presentations preceding feature films or in newsreel theatres.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the films \u2013 running time 15 minutes and 37 seconds \u2013 features \u201cFashions in Borden Fabrics,\u201d the clothing all \u201coriginal creations\u201d in the latest mode, with some ensembles modelled by \u201cUniversal Picture Stars.\u201d The names Mary Philbin (1902-1993) or Dorothy Gulliver (1908-1997) may ring a bell with some people today \u2026 but perhaps, not. Suffice it to say that to 1929 moviegoers, they were recognizable.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, it is a beautifully produced advertisement \u2013 a fashion show \u2013 for Borden fabric, marketed during the last halcyon days of the Roaring Twenties, shortly before the Great Crash ushered in the Great Depression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students of fashion history will find it particularly enjoyable, as will people interested in Fall River history \u2013 it offers a rare glimpse of Fall River fabric \u201cin action,\u201d and who alive today can boast having seen that? A bit tedious, perhaps, but well worth viewing.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is the other film \u2013 running time 14 minutes and 7 seconds \u2013 that is the most important, significant to the point of being earthshattering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Because it is a unique cinematic record of Fall River industrial history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film documents the various stages of cotton cloth manufacturing, from the cotton fields of the south \u2013 filmed characteristic of the era and idealized with smiling, African-American child laborers \u2013 to the gritty inner workings of a massive Fall River textile mill complex. Though silent on film, the cacophonous, repetitive noise that was generated by tons of machinery in operation \u2013 and the heavily accented human voices, straining to be heard over it \u2013 can easily be imagined. Members of Fall River\u2019s multi-cultural labor force are engaged in every phase of cloth production, from unloading heavy bales of raw cotton trucked to the mill from the Fall River waterfront, to final distribution of the finished product.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is riveting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Those of us who had ancestors that worked in Fall River\u2019s mills and had asked them of those days know something of their experiences through recollections \u2013 told, oftentimes, in brief reference \u2013 or, rarer yet, through workplace photographs in which they appeared, an identified face in a mass of anonymity. In one such photograph, from my grandmother\u2019s things and now in the FRHS collection, my paternal grandfather is depicted.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now, this static perception of a Fall River textile mill has been altered.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the animated faces of the men and women depicted in The New Cotton Vogue <\/em>\u2013 cogs in the industrial wheel that was Fall River \u2013 are the visages of our ancestors.<\/span><\/p>\n

No longer do we imagine what it was like.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now we see.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a Holy Grail of Fall River industrial history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its significance cannot be overstated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The FRHS is indebted to Tom and Julie Borden for preserving this unique evidence of Fall River\u2019s cultural heritage \u2013 and of their Borden family history \u2013 and for sharing it with the public.<\/span><\/p>\n

So now, back to 1929 Fall River.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tone is set by title cards: \u201cFall River, Mass \u2013 The Borden Mills, Largest in the World \u2026<\/em>.\u201d and \u201cShopping for New Dresses<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The journey in time begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch the films on our online exhibit,
\nWomen at Work: <\/em>An Oral History of Working-Class Women in Fall River, Massachusetts 1920-1970<\/em>.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Film history fascinates me. I was first introduced to silent film while in my teens via a 1980 Thames Television thirteen-episode documentary series called Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film \u2013 brilliant. Shortly thereafter, through a fortuitous conversation with a Mr. and Mrs. who were long-time FRHS members and supporters, rather well connected …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,53],"tags":[62,55,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5297"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5310,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5297\/revisions\/5310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}