Howard Moving Pictures | Long Sleeve T

A new, incredible cool vintage New England design! Howard Moving Picture Co.

New England and the northern cities were the birthplace of the film industry.

It began in 1894, when the first kinetoscope parlor opened in New York City. Patrons viewed moving pictures through a peephole, which Thomas Edison’s laboratory invented. In New York two years later came the first commercially successful movie projection, again with an Edison invention – the Vitascope. Weeks later in Boston, Benjamin Franklin Keith showed a film with the Vitascope in his vaudeville theatre on 547 Washington Street.

In 1906, Boston’s first movie theatre, the Theatre Comique, opened on Tremont Row in Scollay Square. It typically showed a series of short films of real life, drama and entertainment. People considered early movies technical marvels and local papers such as The Boston Herald  gushed over the debut of the Vitascope:

Much to the surprise of many, New England had dozens of film studios, including the Howard Moving Pictures, Eastern Film Corporation in Rhode Island, the Commonwealth Photoplay Corporation in Massachusetts and Dirigo Pictures and Pine Tree Pictures in Maine. Despite these innovative beginnings - the film industry inevitably moved out west for its favorable climate for shooting and inexpensive locations.

The Howard Moving Picture Company had a rich, flowing design reflective of this early era and is perfect for aficionados of film and New England's contribution to this incredible industry.