We want to get to know you more to help improve our service. Please take 2 minutes to fill out our survey here. Thank you! test2

Discover content and watch films on our latest and improved iOS app. Download it here!

This film is part of Free

Co-operative Wholesale Clothing Factory in Manchester (c.1900)

Victorian Manchester mill workers enjoy the novelty of a moving picture camera.

Non-Fiction 1900 2 mins Silent

Overview

The showman who appears at the beginning of this film, like the gang of cheeky lads who loiter in shot later, would have been working with Mitchell & Kenyon to animate the crowds passing through the factory yard. The incorporation of such staged antics was a key element of these films - reminding us their purpose was to entertain and not to be the social documents we see them as today.