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Silent film titles suggest Hollywood took note of the bungalow explosion in America The bungalow — a low house, with a wide front porch, having either no upper floor or upper rooms set in the roof — exploded in America around the turn of the 20th century. And Hollywood took note. Look at the titles of these silent films—two of which were made by Chicago’s American Picture Company:⁣⁣ The Bungalow Craze (1911)⁣⁣ Bounding Bertie’s Bungalow (1913)⁣⁣ An Auto-Bungalow Fracas (1913)⁣⁣ Ambrose’s Bungled Bungalow (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Troubles (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Love (1920)⁣⁣ Bungalow Boobs (1924)⁣⁣ For Sale, a Bungalow (1927)⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Like 75% of films made in the original silent era, most of these works have been lost to history. But as you can learn below, the bungalow is still very much alive in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs! More on Chicago bungalows

Take a quick look—then and now—at Chicago's Central Park Theatre. Around this time in 1917, a theater opened at 3535 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago that would "change the moviegoing experience, in Chicago and the nation" ( Chicago Tribune , 2012). Our video below offers a quick look—then and now—at this industry-changing movie palace, the Central Park Theatre.

Technology, giving movie audiences trouble since 1920... "The Boy Scout leaders did not mess up your movie!" This was the cry heard 'round Chicago's Hamilton Park 100 years ago today. On July 2, 1920, Chicago-area Boy Scouts were having a delightful Field Day. Exhibit tents that explained their work were a highlight as was the day's schedule of events. Less successful was the evening screening of Knights of the Square Table , a movie Thomas Edison made with the Boy Scouts of America in 1917. ⁣ ⁣ According to suburban reports, the screening "was marred by the inability of the operators of the machine to produce sufficient power." What a nice way to say the New Era Film Company was incompetent!⁣ Further throwing the business under the bus, so to speak, the scout leaders exclaimed they "were in no way responsible for the disappointment" of the evening and it was those that "furnished the picture, machine, and operators" who failed to do their job.⁣ ⁣ Oh, movie technology, giving us trouble since 1920... Sources "Scouts Big Field Day at Hamilton Park." Suburbanite Economist (2 Jul 1920).

In 1896, a newly established movie company made its way to Chicago. Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière are two of the first men whom film history students learn about. Because the brothers were, by all accounts, the first to screen films to a large paying audience, they are generally considered the fathers of modern cinema. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ In 1896, the Lumière company made its way to Chicago to film this massive Ferris wheel, which served as the centerpiece of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The ride took about 20 minutes to make two revolutions, but based on the speed of this footage, you’d think the rotation would take a couple of days! ⁣ Learn more from us about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

In the United States, movies and religion have virtually always been at odds. One early point of contention between the motion picture industry and religious people, mostly Protestants, comes in the form of blue laws. What Are Blue Laws? Blue laws prohibit certain activities, such as going to the movies, on Sundays. Their purpose? To promote the observance of a day of worship or rest. ​ ​While presumably outdated in the 21st century (and arguably unconstitutional), blue laws are still in effect in states like these that prohibit selling alcohol on Sundays before noon. How Did Blue Laws Affect Movies? ​As you might imagine, in cinema’s early days, theatre owners and other prominent industry members were NOT fans of blue laws. The same goes for many theatre patrons, whose grueling work schedules allowed them to enjoy movies and other recreational activities only on Sundays. As a result, citizens in and outside the industry protested and petitioned for the laws to be abolished. ​Even the 1921 movie Blue Sunday , produced by Carl Laemmle (whom we celebrate in our virtual tour Chicago’s Jewish pioneers ), tackles the subject. This silent film comedy led exhibitors to market the movie, rather hilariously, with “exploitation ideas” like putting public stocks outside their theatres to match those in the film (picture above) and creating silencer masks for patrons (below). How Did the Movie Industry Fight Back? In the early 1920s, the Chicago-based theatre chain Fitzpatrick & McElroy repeatedly called on producers, distributors, and exhibitors to protest blue laws because they “threaten[ed] the stability of the entire motion picture industry.” ​Fitzpatrick & McElroy was reportedly the first to start an organized national campaign to kill this legislation. ​In 1921, the company’s 16,000,000 Club—named for the number of petitions it intended to send to Congress—was positioned to be renamed the 50,000,000 Club. Evidently, people were supportive of this cause! The protests were perhaps also gaining traction because participants were not only against the closing of the theatres on Sunday, but they were also against any blue Sunday legislation "intended to curb the happiness, pleasure, and innocent pursuits of the American people.” Did Protests Work in Chicago? ​In 1923, a headline in Exhibitors Herald reads: “Public Protest Brings Early Demise for Blue Law Measure in Illinois.” Senator James E. MacMurray of Chicago—rather oddly—both introduced and killed the bill. ​An Illinois newspaper clarifies: Senator MacMurray “was opposed to the bill and introduced it only at the request of Rev. W. S. Fleming.” Wait, Is that the End of Blue Laws? Blue law regulations arose in the U.S. movie industry until roughly the 1940s. As you might expect, many more protests and petitions followed suit. ​As professor Gary Rhodes points out in The Perils of Moviegoing in America: 1896-1950 , "Changes in state laws did not necessarily prohibit individual towns or cities from enforcing their own Blue Laws" (193). ​It took nearly four decades of disagreements and demonstrations, but after WWII, in most states, movies would play every day of the week.

In the one movie she made in Chicago, the openly bisexual author-actress "bares her very soul." In February 1918, openly bisexual author Mary MacLane starred in the silent movie Men Who Have Made Love to Me , released by Chicago’s Essanay Studios.⁣ ⁣ Mary MacLane wrote her first book, The Story of Mary MacLane , at age 19. Shocking, confessional, and banned in some cities, her diary-like book sold extremely well, over 100,000 copies in the first month alone.⁣ ⁣ MacLane’s third novel caught the attention of George Spoor, who ran Essanay Studios in Chicago. The two made one movie together, Men Who Have Made Love to Me (1918), adapted for the screen by MacLane from her own short story. Like about 75% of silent films, MacLane’s 90-minute movie is now thought to be lost.⁣ In the 1920s, Mary MacLane moved to a predominately black neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, where her companion, a black artist named Harriet Williams, cared for her until her death at age 48. ⁣ ⁣⁣ Read more about Mary MacLane’s fascinating life and short-lived film career at Columbia University’s Women Film Pioneers Project . Images: Wikimedia Commons; Central Jersey Home News (24 Feb 1918).⁣