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March 28, 1901. "Happy Hollow -- Hot Springs, Arkansas." You can see more of Happy Hollow here. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
The huddle of men look as if they are peering through a peep hole at a peep show. The building looks weird too, like it's temporary of some sort. A lot of men. No women. A lot of mules, not horses. It almost looks like a gold mining town. Did they cry “gold” in Arkansas?
I count 2 horses and a herd of about 14 donkeys.
I wonder why there are so many donkeys there.
There are only two horses in this picture. They're over by the livery stable. Across the street at the hitching rack are a bunch of burrows. The popular conveyance of people wanting to go down into the Grand Canyon. Probably here for the same reason, to be rented and ridden thru the country side.
The machine on the photographers front porch is a weight scale. Probably cost a penny and it would give you a fortune to boot.
[Psst. Burros, not "burrows." - Dave]
After carefully studying this photo I cannot find any semblance of a source of electric power in the entire area. No lights, no wires, no power poles, etc. So my question is what powers the movie projector? I notice there are no windows in the theater either, so it must have been quite dark in there and likely very hot in the summertime.
[Clocks, candles and early film projectors ("cinematographs") didn't use electricity. - Dave]
That "shooting school" was an enterprise of Adam Henry Bogardus (1834-1913), who popularized the sport of trap shooting. He got to be "Captain" by organizing his own volunteer company during the Civil War, serving for 180 days. Later he did a stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
Space Invaders was released in 1978. What a Great time I had pumping quarters into that machine. This town seems like it was set up as a "Set". I realize it was not, but a grocery store may have been a better option for travelers.
All I see are saddled mules or burro's burros.
If you were going to Oklahoma, I wonder if you could get a surrey with a fringe on top.
Looks like it was one of the earliest movie theaters. Edison, I believe, was the at the center of movie making at the time.
What is the gizmatron with the dual (triple?) clock faces outside of the portrait studio?
It is 1901. All I can see in the street are horses, and Edison managed to distribute moving pictures into Hot Springs, Arkansas. Cool!
In the making. Fortune tellers, Shooting Gallery, McLeod's show. In a hundred years or so, slots and space invaders.
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