1914 Lubin vault fire

==”Lubinville” in Philadelphia==

==”Lubinville” in Philadelphia==

[[File:”Lubinville” film studio and plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1911.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The “Lubinville” film plant in Philadelphia, as it appeared in 1911. Note, at upper left, the large glass-and-steel studio with the slanted roof.]]

[[File:”Lubinville” film studio and plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1911.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The “Lubinville” film plant in Philadelphia, as it appeared in 1911. Note, at upper left, the large glass-and-steel studio with the slanted roof.]]

In 1902, after five years of filming assorted rudimentary motion pictures, pioneer studio mogul [[Siegmund Lubin]] officially formed the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia. Several buildings in the city served as the company’s early downtown headquarters and production facilities, but the rapid growth of Lubin’s business demanded much larger accommodations, so in 1910 he constructed a state-of-the-art studio and film-processing plant in North Philadelphia at the intersection of 20th Street and Indiana Avenue.<ref>Eckhardt, pp. 86–93.</ref> Dubbed “Lubinville” by the press, the complex of buildings was at the time among the most elaborate and technically advanced motion picture facilities in the world, with labs capable of processing up to {{convert|1500000|ft|m}} of film per week.<ref>Eckhardt, pp. 80, 90.</ref>

In 1902, after five years of filming assorted rudimentary motion pictures, pioneer studio mogul [[Siegmund Lubin]] officially formed the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia. Several buildings in the city served as the company’s early downtown headquarters and production facilities, but the rapid growth of Lubin’s business demanded much larger accommodations, so in 1910 he constructed a state-of-the-art studio and film-processing plant in North Philadelphia at the intersection of 20th Street and Indiana Avenue.<ref>Eckhardt, pp. 86–93.</ref> Dubbed “Lubinville” by the press, the complex of buildings there was at the time among the most elaborate and technically advanced motion picture facilities in the world, with labs capable of processing up to {{convert|1500000|ft|m}} of film per week.<ref>Eckhardt, pp. 80, 90.</ref>

The Lubin “film factory” included a studio with an area of {{convert|9,600|sqft|m2}}. The studio had a slanted glass roof and glass walls supported by light steel framing. It also had costume rooms, property rooms, areas for set construction and equipment repair, a cafeteria, spaces for every phase of film processing, a large garage for servicing the plant’s fleet of trucks and [[Lozier]] touring cars, and a five-story building{{efn|In one prominent [https://archive.org/details/motography56elec/page/164/mode/2up 1911 article in ”Motography”] about Lubinville, the tallest building on the site is described as a “four-story building”, but earlier and later references to the structure describe it as a five-story facility, a height that is substantiated in several bird’s-eye depictions of the film plant.}} that housed administrative offices, shops on its top floor for the manufacture of projectors, and the plant’s shipping department in its basement.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/filmindexjanjun105film/page/n279/mode/2up “Lubin’s New Factory”], ”The Film Index” (New York City), March 26, 1910, p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2021—via the Internet Archive.</ref><ref name=”Motog1911″>Dengler, Eugene (1911). [https://archive.org/details/motography56elec/page/162/mode/2up “Some Features of the Lubin Plant”], ”Motography”, October 1911, pp. 162–166. Retrieved September 27, 2021—via Internet Archive.</ref> Also at Lubinville was the most up-to-date vault for storing and organizing the company’s growing catalog of master negatives and prints for its theatrical releases, its historical films, and all other footage under its care.<ref name=”Motog1911″/><ref>Good, Megan; Wright Forrest (2011). [https://libwww.freelibrary.org/assets/pdf/ead/Lubin.pdf “Lubin Manufacturing Company records, 1881–1984”], finding aid, November 8, 2011, p. 6 of 50. [[Free Library of Philadelphia]], Rare Book Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.</ref>

The Lubin “film factory” included a studio with an area of {{convert|9,600|sqft|m2}}. The studio had a slanted glass roof and glass walls supported by light steel framing. It also had costume rooms, property rooms, areas for set construction and equipment repair, a cafeteria, spaces for every phase of film processing, a large garage for servicing the plant’s fleet of trucks and [[Lozier]] touring cars, and a five-story building{{efn|In one prominent [https://archive.org/details/motography56elec/page/164/mode/2up 1911 article in ”Motography”] about Lubinville, the tallest building on the site is described as a “four-story building”, but earlier and later references to the structure describe it as a five-story facility, a height that is substantiated in several bird’s-eye depictions of the film plant.}} that housed administrative offices, shops on its top floor for the manufacture of projectors, and the plant’s shipping department in its basement.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/filmindexjanjun105film/page/n279/mode/2up “Lubin’s New Factory”], ”The Film Index” (New York City), March 26, 1910, p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2021—via the Internet Archive.</ref><ref name=”Motog1911″>Dengler, Eugene (1911). [https://archive.org/details/motography56elec/page/162/mode/2up “Some Features of the Lubin Plant”], ”Motography”, October 1911, pp. 162–166. Retrieved September 27, 2021—via Internet Archive.</ref> Also at Lubinville was the most up-to-date vault for storing and organizing the company’s growing catalog of master negatives and prints for its theatrical releases, its historical films, and all other footage under its care.<ref name=”Motog1911″/><ref>Good, Megan; Wright Forrest (2011). [https://libwww.freelibrary.org/assets/pdf/ead/Lubin.pdf “Lubin Manufacturing Company records, 1881–1984”], finding aid, November 8, 2011, p. 6 of 50. [[Free Library of Philadelphia]], Rare Book Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.</ref>