User:HJW11/sandbox

Fairgrounds were important sites for introducing audiences to film before permanent cinemas became established.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s many people got their first exposure to moving pictures at fairgrounds.

Showpeople were important in popularising early film.

Vanessa Toulmin 1994

which would later develop into a culture of cinema going

First introduced as 'Bioscope shows', showpeople set up projection equipment in a nd offer early exhibitions of

projection equipment screenings in a tent

Some of those who operated Bioscope shows at fairs moved on to running cinemas

Biddall's Ghost show, c1909, a travelling Ghost Show and bioscope (cinema). The Biddalls were among the six showground families who were the first to show cinema on British fairgrounds, and thus popularise the artform.

http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/bioscopes/presenters/bidall.html National Fairground Archive You are here: Home / Research and Articles / History of Fairs / Fairground Cinema / Biddall Family NFA Home Page Research & Articles Holdings Using the NFA News & Updates NFA Digital Projects Related Links Bioscope Presenters: Biddall Family The Biddall family travelled a variety of exhibitions consisting of menagerie attractions, freak shows, ghost illusions and finally bioscopes. The family consisted of the sons of Henry Freeman, a flamboyant character, whose hair turned white after landing amongst cannibals and seeing his ship-mates eaten. This new appearance helped him impersonate a wizard in an early walk-up show. His sons, who included Albert, William and George, to add to the confusion all presented shows under the Biddall family name in different regions of Great Britain.

George Biddall was the youngest son of Henry Freeman who married Selina Smith, sister of King Ohmy, and travelled with a theatre booth around Scotland and the north of England. Possibly due to the influence of his father in law, George Biddall started to exhibit a ghost illusion show and advertised it as the main presentation. The exhibition comprised a two-wagon fronted show, with 'Phantospectra Biddall's Ghostodramas' in gold lettering across the top. Some of the adventures and experiences that happened to the family in the pre-bioscope days are recalled in an article that appeared in the World's Fair following his death in 1909. This includes an account of how the locals, believing his show to be responsible for bad luck in the area, were convinced that the family had the evil eye.

However, despite this mishap, the show continued travelling, with his children helping with the main feature, The Ghost Illusion, and his son Joey performing a clowning routine. In 1898, the show was converted for the use of moving pictures, and travelled extensively to the major fairs, including Newcastle for the 1899 for both the Hoppings and the Christmas festivities, and Cockermouth in 1906.

Another member of the Biddall family who presented moving pictures was William Biddall, a nephew to George Biddall, who travelled around the London area. William, or Billy, Biddall was one of four sons of William Biddall, elder brother to George, and travelled with a menagerie under the name of Biddall Brothers. Billy left the family in 1901 and it was possibly then that he started to exhibit moving pictures in one of his uncle's former shows. Biddall Brothers also continued to travel the Menagerie.

The new show was recorded open at Wormwood Scrubs at Easter 1901, whilst the Menagerie was reported open on Deptford High Street and Banbury the following year. By 1908 the two shows were appearing together at Mitcham. Biddall Brothers show travelled until at least as late as 1912. Although this show never achieved the status or size of one of the larger organ fronted parading shows, it was still exhibited by the London branch of the family who travelled the show extensively until its final appearance at Wanstead Flats in 1915.

Another branch of the family that presented shows and moving pictures was Albert Biddall, yet another son of George Freeman Biddall. Albert's involvement with the cinematograph began when he purchased Randall Williams' No. 1 show, which was billed as 'Biddall's Electric Bioscope' and transported by the Fowler traction engine. Eventually Albert's show was updated and the old barrel organ was also replaced by an 87 key Gavioli organ.

In 1914 Biddall's cinematograph show exhibited opposite Cyril Getcliffe's New Picture House in Braintree, Essex. Despite this, the show continued to attract packed audiences due to the presence of soldiers awaiting transfer for the hostilities in Europe, and there were more than enough customers to keep both proprietors happy.

George Freeman Biddall died on April 7th 1909 and after the demise of the bioscope shows, the other members of the family built up their various travelling concerns. The Biddall connection with early cinema continued when Victor Biddall, grandson of Henry Freeman, opened permanent cinemas in south Scotland.

---

Half a dozen travelling showpeople families Biddall family, William(s) family, Walls, Wallbrooke, Clarke, Mackey

Toumlin has shown/revealed the importance of showpeople in the development of cinema

-- travelling cinematograph in action The film 'Lord and Lady Overtoun’s Visit to McIndoe’s Show' (1908)

A rare glimpse at a Cinematograph or Bioscope shown in its full glory, as owned by John McIndoe. The McIndoes were well known on Scottish fairgrounds and relatives of another John McIndoe who had helped to design the first steam carousels half a century earlier. Here, the owner of the bioscope (identifiable by his white cap) has arranged the visit of a local dignitary, partly as an advertisement for the show, and partly as an incident that could then be filmed as a local news item. Note the traction engine to the right, which would have provided a dedicated power source, as well as a means of pulling the show from town to town. The mid section of the film shows the front opening up to reveal the fairground organ that would have attracted people over, and a ticket or gag card, to advertise the show. Note two, the rather Chaplinesque children who have been coaxed into the shot. -- Bioscope show From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Haggar's travelling Bisoscope from 1902 A Bioscope show was a music hall and fairground attraction consisting of a travelling cinema. The heyday of the Bioscope was from the late 1890s until World War I.

Bioscope shows were fronted by the largest fairground organs,[1] and these formed the entire public face of the show. A stage was usually in front of the organ, and dancing girls would entertain the crowds between film shows.[2]

Films shown in the Bioscope were primitive, and the earliest of these were made by the showmen themselves. Later, films were commercially produced.

Bioscope shows were integrated, in Britain at least, into the Variety shows in the huge Music Halls which were built at the end of the nineteenth century.

After the Music Hall Strike of 1907 in London, bioscope operators set up a trade union to represent them. There were about seventy operators in London at this point.

References[edit] Jump up ^ "Hollycombe Steam Museum bioscope show" Jump up ^ "Fairground Heritage Trust"