Film and more

1893 – Black Maria opens up in W. Orange, NJ. There’s a Todd Rundgren song named Black Maria but it has precious little, if anything to do with Tommy Edison’s first movie production studio. In fact, Black Maria is credited for being the world’s first production studio. Also known as the Kinetographic Theater, this is where The Wizard of Menlo Park premiered the first public demonstration of film using a Kinetoscope viewer. Short films deposited at the patent offices for copyright include The Edison KIinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze.