Pathe Baby 100 Year Anniversary

[Paul Adsett]

I am planning on celebrating, in my own small way, the 100 year anniversary of Pathe Baby 9,5mm, which will be next year. I am curious if anyone has any information of the actual date, or month, in 1922 when Pathe announced their iconic home movie system, as it would be nice to do it at the appropriate time.
I am planning on an evening of 9,5mm short silent films, and a showing of Lights Out And The Stars Appear, followed by a digital stream projection of the 9,5mm White Hell Of Pitz Palu, which was one of Pathescope's major feature releases.

[Dominique De Bast]

December in France, for Christmas.

[Paul Adsett]

Thanks Dom, I assume that's Dec 2022 not Dec 2021?

[Dominique De Bast]

Yes, Paul, December 2022.

[Lee Mannering]

Count me in Paul it would be wonderful to watch. I'll see if I can get some of our 9-5 group round when it happens to join in.
Been busy sorting boxes of 9-5 for the weekend and quite a few tinted films in along with 9-5 stencil colour interesting bits and pieces.

[Stuart Budd]

I've just this week aquired two. Both different and both in very different conditions. One came with almost a tracing paper literature and manual in English. The papers referenced the tripple plate splicer. If I remember correctly, the earliest date on the papers was 1923, I'll check when back from work. I got the rather tatty one first. The sand insulation is coming off and a fair bit of corrosion. Nice and potential. But the other is simply great! I think the paint is original and glossy. The gate locks by pressing down on the sprung lamp mechanism and locking it in place in the top film path groove. The tatty one has a button and a protrudrance on the lamp side. Surprisingly good nick and very smart looking when not rusty and worn. Worth restoring and in this case celebrating.

[Daniel Bottom]

Hi Lee, I would be very interested in buying some of those Pathe tinted films if they are still available, and also some more Pathe monthly magazines if you have them. I bought some at Chorleywood, and could do with some more, and I've not got any of the tinted films at all!

[Stuart Budd]

Turns out 1923 as 23 is actually 28. Makes sense, as most other papers are 29 as in 1929.
Manual and heat mat:
I'm not sure if the whole set is all from the late 1920's. So a sprung loaded locking gate may be a later Baby.

[Lee Mannering]

Some of us will be heading to France for the anniversary gathering as well. Dad was a more than keen 9.5er pre war and beyond so he will be with me in spirit.

[Dominique De Bast]

I've just received this link from Spain to a little tribute to 9.5 (The texts are in Catalan) : VIDEO 100 ANYS CINEMA 9 5 - part 1 - YouTube

[Dominique De Bast]

Here is the second part (made of extracts from silent classical films) : VIDEO 100 ANYS CINEMA 9 5 part 2 - YouTube

[Dominique De Bast]

Part 3 (extracts from family films) : VIDEO 100 ANYS CINEMA 9 5 part 3 - YouTube

[Dominique De Bast]

Cliff Perriam, from the British group 9.5, forwarded me an e-mail with a content I believe deserves to be spread :

Dear All,

As an institution focused on amateur film, the current birthday celebrations of the wonderful Pathé Baby 9.5mm film format have been on our minds and we have been busy. The Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Berne is planning a series of events: screenings in Bologna, Pordenone and Berne, a symposium here at our premises taking place on November 17th, 18th and 19th , for which you can find ethe call for papers here


9.5mm Symposium
https://lichtspiel.ch/symposium/9-5

an exhibition AND to get the ball rolling we have created a sort of scrap book, for which we would like to invite all of you to share some of your thoughts, ideas, technological highlights around and about 9.5mm

https://lichtspiel.ch/en/9-5/

The idea for the scrap book is to collect stories until at least December 2022 - if not July 2023, (the camera was introduced in July 1923), and engage others to participate and look into their holdings.


We are not only looking into amateur films, but are equally interested in investigating the home cinema aspect, all the Max Linders, Charlie Chaplins, Pathé newsreels that were available, so if anybody has a story to share, let us know! We are also particularily eager to learn about the technical equipment, and the people who adapted them to fit their own needs.

We are very much looking forward to a lively and engaging year of all things 9.5mm.

Best regards,

Brigitte



--


Brigitte Paulowitz
Leiterin Filmsammlungen

9.5mm The first 100 Years
https://lichtspiel.ch/9-5

9.5mm Symposium
https://lichtspiel.ch/symposium/9-5

Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern

Sandrainstrasse 3
3007 Bern

T 031 381 15 05
www.lichtspiel.ch

[Lee Mannering]

Thanks Dom. Yes something wonderful is happening this year and its 9.5mm shaped

[Dominique De Bast]

Due to size limitations, I can only post the text :

Lichtspiel / Cinémathèque suisse / Université de Lausanne Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé / INEDITS 9.5mm: And Cinema Is Everywhere International Conference, Bern and online, November 17-19, 2022 One hundred years ago, the French company Pathé introduced the “Pathé Baby,” based on a new film gauge: 9.5mm. The Pathé Baby system was designed to suit the needs of amateur movie makers: it was simple, accessible, versatile, reliable, and safe. It also had to be inexpensive and portable. Projectors were made first, together with a catalogue of films reduced to the new format. A few months later, Pathé also proposed a 9.5mm camera, that worked with safety film. The success of the 9.5mm format, along with that of the 16mm format launched in 1923 by Kodak, ushered a new era in cinema history. Films were not restricted to the theatre anymore; they were not only the expensive productions of a distant, professional studio system based far away. They could also be made at home, or by one’s neighbours in clubs or associations. And they could be shown in town halls, churches, schools, factories, or living rooms. Other distribution networks were created for films and for machines, as well as networks of users, journals, or events. Cinema permeated the culture at every level, and to an unprecedented extent. It entered the domestic space, as well as many diverse social or political contexts. It was now everywhere. And, of course, it was in Switzerland. In 1923, Pathé Baby opened a Swiss office in Geneva. Cameras and projectors were soon on display in many stores. They were marketed towards families, and yet they could be used by artists, scientists, or teachers. But for all of them, Pathé Baby meant a more familiar, intimate, and tactile relationship with cinema. By making film technology accessible and touchable, by literally putting cinema “in your hands,” it turned anyone into a potential filmmaker or projectionist This conference aims at reflecting on the 9.5mm format and its heritage, at a time when digital media are perceived as taking the diffusion of the moving image in our lives and world to a whole new level. Among other possible topics, the organizers would be interested for instance in papers on: – 9.5mm technology: the gauge, its apparatuses and their material specificities, from emulsions to mechanic structures to screen sizes, etc.; – 9.5mm and the history of amateur formats: 16mm, 8mm, or amateur cinema before the 1920s; – 9.5mm versions of commercial films, their history, economic organisation, particularities; – institutional and non-commercial uses of the 9.5mm format: educational films, religious films, cinema in health and hygiene education, etc.; – amateur uses of the 9.5mm format: home movies, clubs, social organisation and aesthetic qualities; – the establishment of 9.5mm in Switzerland: structures, circulations, etc. Proposals for papers (1 page max.) or panels should be sent to 9-5@lichtspiel.ch, together with a short biography of the author(s), before April 15, 2022.