105-year-old Internet porn

America Wants to Know observed some time ago that new technologies succeed more quickly if they can be used to view pornography (see "Howard Stern and the Big Secret"), and now we have more proof, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

If you visit this link, you can see Thomas A. Edison's film from November 11, 1901, entitled "Trapeze Disrobing Act."

Well, don't get your hopes up. Apparently women in 1901 could disrobe for six or seven minutes and still have a good five layers to go before there was an actual wardrobe malfunction.

Still, it shows that there is a undeniable link between new technologies and pornography. Nobody wrestles with a newfangled gadget and an instruction manual unless there's something they really, really want to see.

The best part of the clip may be the antique anti-piracy warning from Mr. Edison at the top. "This film is sold subject to the restriction that it shall not be used for duplicating or printing other films from it," the typewritten notice reads, "Any use of it for those purposes is an infringement of the patents under which it is made and sold."

Some things never change. On the other hand, if you'd like to watch a showgirl change, the Library of Congress offers a dressing room peep show from 1903 titled "From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen." Click here to see it.

Many thanks to the Library of Congress for making these fascinating fragments of show business history available. Visit http://www.memory.loc.gov and look in on the whole collection.


Copyright 2006

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