Mutoscope cards
Encyclopedia
Mutoscope cards were 5.25" x 3.25" (13.3 cm x 8.25 cm) cards were published during the 1940s by the International Mutoscope Reel Company
and other firms. They are not individual pictures from Mutoscope reels and have no connection whatsoever to the Mutoscope
motion-picture device. All carry the inscription "A Mutoscope card." They were sold from coin-operated vending machines in places such as amusement parks. Most Mutoscope cards are of "pin-up" material, but some featured other kinds of images such as Jimmy Hatlo
cartoons.
In the literature of cinematography, the phrase "Mutoscope cards" is also used to refer to the individual cards comprising a Mutoscope
reel, corresponding to individual frames of the original film from which the reel was produced.
International Mutoscope Reel Company
The International Mutoscope Reel Company was formed in the early 1920's to produce Mutoscope machines and the motion picture reels that the machines played, and continued to manufacture arcade machines, including the claw machine, until 1949.-History:...
and other firms. They are not individual pictures from Mutoscope reels and have no connection whatsoever to the Mutoscope
Mutoscope
frame|right|An 1899 trade advertisementThe Mutoscope was an early motion picture device, patented by Herman Casler on November 21, 1894. Like Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope it did not project on a screen, and provided viewing to only one person at a time...
motion-picture device. All carry the inscription "A Mutoscope card." They were sold from coin-operated vending machines in places such as amusement parks. Most Mutoscope cards are of "pin-up" material, but some featured other kinds of images such as Jimmy Hatlo
Jimmy Hatlo
James Cecil Hatlo , better known as Jimmy Hatlo, was an American cartoonist who created in 1929 the long-running comic strip and gag panel They'll Do It Every Time, which he wrote and drew until his death in 1963...
cartoons.
In the literature of cinematography, the phrase "Mutoscope cards" is also used to refer to the individual cards comprising a Mutoscope
Mutoscope
frame|right|An 1899 trade advertisementThe Mutoscope was an early motion picture device, patented by Herman Casler on November 21, 1894. Like Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope it did not project on a screen, and provided viewing to only one person at a time...
reel, corresponding to individual frames of the original film from which the reel was produced.