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My new Edison Projecting Kinetoscope I traded the maroon Gem for...

I'd say that is a cool trade. I see GEMs a lot.

Yes, I am sucker for anything T.A. Edison since I grew up not far from his West Orange plant. Now I am on the hunt for a period light source, like an old Magic Lantern of the same period. I have one original Edison silent film inside the original labeled can that came with this Kinetoscope, but was told here on this forum that if it smells foul, which it does, than it has become unusable and highly flamable and very toxic. So much for "movie night" !!

Interesting. However, do you have the rest of it??.

Here's a picture of my almost complete Model B Kinetoscope:



I bought it about 25+ years ago from the estate of the man who had the first movie theater
in Honeybrook, PA around 1918. I say it's almost complete because I'm missing the lens and support rod that was used
when the glass advertising slides were being shown when the projectionist was changing film reels.

The Model B had the Underwriters approval because it had a few safety measures due to the use of nitrocellulose film. The film reels were enclosed
in the metal boxes and a safety flap that covered the film from the heat of the carbon arc light if the projectionist stopped cranking.

The film in it is modern 35mm safety film.

Chuck

I'm curious....are these models (and others) suppose to have a shutter wheel in front of the lens or were they up-dated later and therefore no longer required one??.

Yes, my Kinetoscope has the removable upper film real box attached with two large thumbscrews and it came with a (Bausch & Lomb ?) large brass lens. The mechanics all seem to work fine and very smooth but I need to find a period light source which I am not at all sure if Edison manufactured these? A carbon arc light? Edison frowned upon arc lighting from what I had read in Francis Jehl's book about working with Edison at Menlo Park New Jersey. My Kinetoscope is also the Model B with the Underwriters approval but it does not have a shutter wheel in front of the lens or a place to even mount one. The last patent date is 1903.

The shutter is in the body of the projector:




Chuck