Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 5 (1912): The Mutual Film Corporation

On Saturday, March 30th, a meeting of Independent manufacturers and exhibitors was held at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago. An attempt was made to change the method of distribution so that films would be leased to exchanges, rather than sold, permitting damaged and obsolete films to be retired by the manufacturers. Also on the agenda was the establishment of fixed geographical territories for exchanges, to increase profits and prevent conflicts. Among the manufacturers' representatives attending were Edwin Thanhouser, Carl Laemmle, Jules E. Brulatour, David Horsley, Herbert Miles, Charles O. Baumann, and Samuel S. Hutchinson. Committees were established to work on the problems. Note

Advertisement from The Moving Picture World of February 10, 1912, giving the weekly release schedule of the

Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company, which was handling Thanhouser films. (M-9)

In an article published the same day, The Moving Picture World informed readers that the Majestic Motion Picture Company had withdrawn from the Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company because the firm did not want to pay two cents per foot to have its product distributed. Something was in the wind, for the likes of the Aitken brothers and John R. Freuler were not known to make decisions capriciously. That something proved to be the Mutual Film Corporation, immense for its era, which set out to take distribution of motion pictures into its own hands.

A week later readers learned more in a statement made by Harry E. Aitken, who was not ready to release details but who was willing to provide a glimpse of the future: Note

You may say that the Mutual is not interested in the manufacture of pictures, nor will it be; it is an exchange proposition only and to that end a number of existing exchanges have been bought and more are under our option. I'm not at liberty to tell you which exchanges these are at present, but that will be announced later. Our capital is $2,500,000 divided into preferred and common stock, all of which is participating stock entitled to a vote. There is $1,250,000 in common and the balance preferred.

There is no connection between the action in the Majestic Film Corporation withdrawing from the Sales Company and the Mutual project; that is entirely distinct and relates only to the Majestic Company. In that connection I might say that the Majestic withdrew from the Sales Company because its owners believed that they were the victim of extortionate practices and that discrimination and restraint of trade was practiced against them. Acting upon that belief, the officers of the Majestic Company have caused suit to be commenced against the Sales Company and its directors, but that is another matter.

For the Mutual exchanges I wish to say that they will work in harmony with the Sales Company and handle the product of all manufacturers affiliated with that organization. We realize that there is too much at stake to cause a serious break in the Independent ranks at this time. Our purpose is to place the exchange business upon a more logical and businesslike basis. In some respects we will follow the plan of the General Film Company. Note It is our purpose to utilize the best features of that organization. "I might also say," continued Mr. Aitken, "that nearly all the men interested in our exchanges are those who have created the exchanges now composing the General Film Company. It is too soon to announce the name of the officers of the Mutual and we are not quite ready for very much publicity of any kind just yet."

Aitken's commentary would prove to be the understatement of the year.

In the meantime, the Thanhouser Company continued its parade of two releases per week through the Sales Company. Earlier, the trade had been advised of a delay in producing a film: Note "The 'Thanhouser Classic' of Carmen is promised the Independent theatres soon. The subject was held back to allow Nicholas Nickleby to jump in during the Dickens' anniversary excitement and get the new Florida series moving. Carmen is in two reels, and some special advertising matter is being prepared for it."

Carmen was not to be, at least for now, and Edwin Thanhouser ordered director George O. Nichols to stop work on the partially-completed subject. Champion, another Independent producer, had an earlier start on its own version of Carmen, and Edwin Thanhouser decided not to compete. In general, there was a mutual agreement among the Independents, and an unstated policy dictated that no two subjects with the same scenario or with the same title would be released at the same time. No such camaraderie existed between the Patents Company and the Independents, however, and conflicts were numerous. Carmen would not be forgotten by Thanhouser. Starting over the next year, the company was to produce a different version to be released on April 25, 1913.

The Star of the Side Show, which reached theatres on April 2, 1912, featured Thanhouser players decked out in all sorts of carnival sideshow costumes. Marie Eline in the role of a midget was the star, Note while Bertha Blanchard painted her skin to become a milk-white albino, David H. Thompson was the strong man, Fanny Gregory, sister of Thanhouser cameraman Carl Louis Gregory, pasted a beard on her face, and Carl LeViness took the role of a carnival barker. Brought to the studio for the occasion were several others, including Robert Milasch for the role of a giant and May Carr as the fat lady. A Thanhouser advertisement noted: Note

All the Thanhouser favorites become "freaks" in this film for your edification. They quit being Romeos and Juliets, Nicklebys and Copperfields and turn into midgets, giants, snake charmers, bearded ladies, fat ladies, and so on. The very novelty of it will stun you! We've turned our studio into a museum for a week to deliver this to you.

The New York Dramatic Mirror commented:

This film exists as a highly entertaining and interesting exhibition of life in the side show of a circus, and is delightfully true and amusing in the representation of the characters and types, freaks and otherwise, which are wont to inhabit a circus. P.T. Barnum is in evidence in able likeness, and finds a dwarf abroad among the peasants. He acquires her as a member of his side show, and she at once becomes infatuated with the living skeleton [sic; the synopsis says giant], and when her love goes unrequited, she determines to die like Cleopatra of old and brings forth the snake charmer's serpent for that purpose. Her fear of the escaped snake evidently overcomes her desire, and later she finds solace by marrying a dwarf of the circus.

The Girl of the Grove, a Florida film with Florence LaBadie in the title role, was released on April 5, 1912 to mostly favorable reviews. The New York Dramatic Mirror commented:

Although this is perhaps a trifle morbid in evolution, it is a picture that is done with so much art in presentation that one forgets the unpleasant issue in getting the underlying thought and the life-giving qualities contained in the treatment as a whole. The backgrounds, which include an orange grove, also add interest to the picture. The girl who owns the grove falls in love with a stranger, only to learn that he is already married. When she would end her own existence, she finds the wife of the man about to do the same thing and she saves her. The common bond of sympathy restores the life prospects of both, and the man is dismissed from their lives. The situation is well drawn.

A Love of Long Ago, distributed on April 9th, featured Florence LaBadie in a scenario filmed at the old Spanish fort in St. Augustine. The story was the enactment of an old legend, a flashback to generations earlier. The Moving Picture World considered the photography to be good, but noted: "We hardly dare call it a feature; it is nearly one." Apparently, in the eyes of that journal, at least for this particular week, a "feature" film, otherwise undefined, was one that they reviewed favorably on all points. It could be that The New York Dramatic Mirror considered it to be a feature - they didn't say one way or the other - but they did note that "It is an impressive little picture and very well conceived for this sort of thing." This created another minor puzzlement: what is "this sort of thing"?

An Easy Mark, released on April 12, 1912, was filmed in New Rochelle and in the Pennsylvania Railroad Station in New York City. Inda Palmer, an actress who would play minor roles for Thanhouser for many years, was the "easy mark," while Harry Benham played the crook. The plot was confusing to reviewers.

On April 11th and 13th readers of local newspapers encountered news items about Edwin Thanhouser. On April 13, 1912 readers of The New Rochelle Pioneer read the following: "Edwin Thanhouser of New Rochelle is among the directors of the Films Leasing and Sales Company of New York City, capitalized at $5,000." Those with a technical turn of mind might have surmised that Edwin Thanhouser was about to embark on some sort of a new distribution arrangement for his studio's films, for it was no secret that the Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company's program was becoming increasingly crowded, and although some Thanhouser two-reel films had been allowed, what about the planned acceleration to three films a week?

However, that little announcement paled in significance compared to another notice in the same issue:

Edwin Thanhouser has sold a part of his interest in the Thanhouser Company...to Charles J. Hite, Chicago, and has formed a new company which is being incorporated for $400,000 with a capitalization of $400,000. The new company will consist of four people. Mr. Thanhouser will be president, Lloyd F. Lonergan, vice president, Mrs. Thanhouser, secretary, and Mr. Hite, treasurer. The only change from the old directorship is that Mr. Hite takes the treasurership which was held by Mr. Thanhouser, who is also president. The new company will come into existence on April 15th as the Thanhouser Film Corporation. It is reported that Mr. Thanhouser received $250,000 for the portion of his interest that he sold, and that he is to continue as manager of the factory at a salary of $500 a week.

A similar article in the New Rochelle Evening Standard, April 11, 1912, included this information:

It is reported that Mr. Thanhouser received $250,000 for the portion of his interests that he sold and that he is to continue as manager of the factory at a salary of $500 a week. Mr. Thanhouser, when interviewed last night, would neither deny nor affirm the report as to the price he received for his interests, but said the report of the salary he is receive has been exaggerated.

Mr. Thanhouser is also a director in the new Films Leasing and Sales Company, New York City, just incorporated with a nominal capitalization of $5,000. Mr. Hite owns interests in several film concerns. Mr. Lonergan, who is at the head of the scenario department of the local company and writes the plays produced, is night city editor of The New York World. Mr. Thanhouser said last night that Mr. Hite is likely to make New Rochelle his home. "How about yourself?" Mr. Thanhouser was asked. "Why, I intend always to live in New Rochelle. I have no intention of ever living anywhere else. I have taken a two and one-half year lease on a handsome house at the entrance of Rochelle Heights and will move in with my family shortly. We like New Rochelle."

The Thanhouser Company said Mr. Thanhouser has always been associated with the Independent film concerns and with the Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company, which embraces about 15 separate Independent companies. The change in the local company, it is said, means practically a combination of all of the important Independent companies. "You see," said Mr. Thanhouser, "it takes several companies to supply a program. The Thanhouser Company issues two films [each week], others issue the same number, while a few issue three. The Thanhouser Company is the head of the Independent group and sends its films all over the world. Ever since this company has started it has advertised New Rochelle. Every film has the name of New Rochelle stamped on its head, and the name appears on the screen before the picture appears. In the two and one-half years the company has been in existence, it has paid out nearly half a million dollars in salaries. Most of the employees and actors live in New Rochelle and spend their money here. We expect to enlarge our plant but not at once. That will come in time."

Not quite the full story was told, it turned out, as readers of The Moving Picture World would learn on April 20th:

THANHOUSER SELLS PLANT. It was intimated in a recent issue of The Moving Picture World that efforts were being made by Western picture men to secure one or more of the leading manufacturing plants associated with the Sales Company. The prediction came true last Friday, when it was announced that Mr. Edwin Thanhouser, maker of the famous Thanhouser pictures, had sold his plant to the interests mentioned. Mr. H.E. Aitken, who is interested in a number of picture concerns, and who was supposed to have conducted the details of the deal, authorized the following statement:

"Mr. C.J. Hite, of Chicago, is at the head of a syndicate which has just consummated the purchase of the entire plant and assets of the Thanhouser Company, makers of the famous Thanhouser films. Edwin Thanhouser still remains connected with the company as its general manager. Mr. Hite has been very active in the film business in the past, and is at the present largely interested in the American, Reliance, and Majestic companies, and also has large interests in the H & H and Majestic Film Exchanges in Chicago. He is now the second vice president and director of the Mutual Film Corporation and is a member of its executive committee."

The announcement created quite a stir among the Independents, and many theories as to what the probable effect of the sale would be were indulged in by picture men generally. The purchasers are saying nothing as to what their plans are, but it is hinted that they propose to have more to say in the management of the Sales Company in the future than has been accorded them in the past. In this connection it may be recorded that a general reorganization of the distributing machinery of the Independent interests is a present order of business.

So, Edwin Thanhouser did a bit more, it seems, than just collect $250,000 for moving from one company officership to another. "The entire plant and assets of the Thanhouser Company" were transferred also, from Edwin Thanhouser's ownership to the Aitken combine. In New Rochelle, indeed in the entire industry, film production was moving from Main Street (or at least the intersection of Grove, Crescent, and Warren streets) to Wall Street.

The Moving Picture World, May 11th, told more:

The other day moving picture circles were startled by the news that there was a man with a big enough bank roll to buy the Thanhouser Company - and that he HAD bought it. Thanhouser films had been rated among the leading Independent brands and Edwin Thanhouser was thought to be the last man in the world to want to sell. So it all simmered down to a matter of figure. Thanhouser got his. The man who gave it was C.J. Hite, of the H & H Film Exchange in Chicago. And while the sum that exchanged hands was big in the fullest sense of the term, people who knew Hite well said it was all in his day's work - he wouldn't lose the smallest jot of sleep thinking about it!

Carpenters were busy constructing a new private office at the Thanhouser plant when a World man dropped in early in the week, and it was revealed that the sanctum was for Mr. Hite, who was then in Chicago. He was due in New Rochelle late in the week, when he will commence his association with Mr. Thanhouser in the conduct of the Thanhouser manufactory. Mr. Hite will engage mostly in the business end of the enterprise, giving Mr. Thanhouser more time to devote to the producing department, thus enabling him to realize an old ambition. Mr. Thanhouser has always been in very active touch with his producing force, but business details have taken up a lot of his time that he would like to have spent in the 'making' department. Under the present arrangement he will be able to give pretty nearly his undivided attention to the actual work of making the films, and an advanced product is necessarily looked for - if better Thanhouser pictures are really possible.

Backing the purchase were investors affiliated with the newly formed Mutual Film Corporation, the firm about which Harry E. Aitken was not ready to give details a few weeks earlier. Behind the Mutual facade were Harry and Roy Aitken, John R. Freuler, a handful of Chicago and New York financiers, and Charles J. Hite, who bought the Thanhouser Company lock, stock, and barrel, save for a few token shares retained by Edwin Thanhouser and his wife. The Mutual Film Corporation was an umbrella under a parent holding company, the Film Exchange Company, which owned assets for its account and also served as a command center for subsidiary companies which were owned in large part by groups of private investors. The cross-directorships and financial entanglements of the Mutual-related enterprises eventually became so extensive that even the major shareholders were not certain in some instances who reported to whom and who owned what!

The Aitkens had come up the hard way through the motion picture business, having been owners of five nickelodeon theatres in the competitive Chicago market as early as 1905. An alliance was made with John R. Freuler, a Milwaukee theatre owner, on July 23, 1906 with the establishment of the Western Film Exchange, which soon had branches in Chicago, St. Louis, and Joplin as well. By 1909 they owned more than two dozen distribution offices. Seeking additional profits, the partners ventured into film making in the autumn of 1911 and set up Majestic in New York City. Working as a team, Harry would tend to financing and deal making, while Roy would travel around the United States and, eventually, to Europe to keep tabs on their various enterprises. Freuler surfaced in trade magazine publicity on scattered occasions, such as during the opening of his magnificently decorated Butterfly Theatre in Milwaukee in 1911.

In 1910, Freuler and the Aitken brothers joined with Samuel S. Hutchinson and Charles J. Hite, partners in the H & H Film Exchange in Chicago, to launch the American Film Manufacturing Company, with was run with Hutchinson as the most visible partner. The Reliance Motion Picture Company, formed by Charles O. Baumann and Adam Kessel, Jr. in 1910, passed to the Aitken-Freuler combine through an agent in 1911. The Carlton Motion Picture Laboratories, which owned a processing laboratory large enough to do work for several other Independents besides its own Reliance films was also acquired.

In March 1912, all of these companies, along with certain others, were combined into the Mutual Film Corporation. At first its announced purpose was that of distributor, but soon it became a formidable force in the manufacturing end as well. The far-flung divisions of the New York Motion Picture Company, the brainchild of Charles O. Baumann and Adam Kessel, Jr., left the Sales Company distribution program in April 1912 and joined in the formation of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, but resigned less than two months later and became affiliated with Mutual.

Providing the financial backing for Mutual during the next several years were Crawford Livingston, Otto Kahn (Kahn, Loeb & Co.), and other interests, primarily from Chicago and New York, where eventually lively bid and ask markets were made in Mutual stock.

Mutual was on an acquisition binge, and a number of other studios were considered for purchase, prompting a comment in The Morning Telegraph: Note

W.H. Swanson, who controls the Rex Motion Picture Company, arrived in New York from Salt Lake City on Friday evening and lost no time in denying the rumor that had been current in film circles for several days past to the effect that the Rex Company had been acquired by the Mutual or any other combination of interests. "I have the Rex Company in my pocket," said Mr. Swanson as he displayed the stock certificate and charter of the company, "and so far as I am concerned it will remain there. I know nothing of the reported sale of the company, although I heard some talk about it before I left Salt Lake. Of course I am willing to sell anything I have providing I get my price, but up to the present time no overtures have been made for the transfer of the Rex Company."

The Thanhouser purchase was effective on April 15, 1912, at which time the name of the firm was changed. The certificate of incorporation of the Thanhouser Film Corporation, dated April 27, 1912 and filed with the State of New York, listed the purpose of the company:

To prepare, manufacture and make pictures, photographs, plates, and films for moving pictures, to prepare, manufacture, make and take, sell, lease, and dispose of moving pictures; to arrange scenes and settings and to conduct exhibitions, plays and dramas of all kinds to be photographed or reproduced as moving pictures or motion pictures; Note to purchase theatres, scenery, costumes, stage settings, and any and all theatrical accessories; to operate theatres, amusement parks or other places of public amusement; to conduct theatrical, dramatic, musical, and other public performances; to employ actors and other persons whose services are necessary or proper in any theatrical or dramatic business or in public exhibitions or shows; to lease, own, deal in and sell and dispose of real estate....

The capital of the corporation was set as $400,000 in common stock, comprised of 4,000 shares having a par value of $100 each. However, "the amount of capital with which the said corporation will begin business is $5,000." Directors for the first year were to be: Edwin Thanhouser, Gertrude Thanhouser, Charles J. Hite (316 Monadnock Building, Chicago), Lloyd F. Lonergan (205 West 94th Street, New York City) Note , and Crawford Livingston (53 William Street, New York City). To launch the corporation's activities each director agreed to purchase one share. Note Named as incorporators were Hite, Livingston, and Dr. Wilbert E. Shallenberger. Shallenberger had been one of Hite's boyhood chums and in later years had invested in some of his motion picture enterprises.

Just as Samuel S. Hutchinson was tapped by investors in 1910 to head the American Film Manufacturing Company, exchangeman Charles Jackson Hite was named by investors to be president of Thanhouser in 1912. Hite more than made up for his slight physical build by a generous measure of human warmth and fine character, and those who worked with him at the studio considered him to be the finest employer one could have. Note He was a caring, sharing, charismatic individual whose office was open to all comers. A formal executive or man with pretentions he was not, and when he wasn't working in his office with his shirt sleeves rolled up, he was on the spot watching films being made, or tending to one of his many ventures. He was a true "idea man," and in the months to come the Thanhouser Film Corporation would undergo many improvements and innovations under his management. Thanhouser employees enjoyed working for Hite, and Edwin Thanhouser himself had a fine relationship with him. The historic trail of corporate America is strewn with carcasses of companies sold by their owners to investors, after which the entrepreneurial spirit vanished, and the cachet which made the companies so attractive in the first place faded away. Not so with the Thanhouser Company. Its immediate successor, the Thanhouser Film Corporation, went on to bigger and better things, and Edwin Thanhouser, apart from the greatly augmented balance in his bank account, had every reason to believe that he made the right decision in selling.

Monday evening, April 15, 1912, was a time for festivities in New Rochelle, not for the sale of the Thanhouser Company, although Edwin Thanhouser may have had his own private celebration in this regard, but for the previously planned First Annual Reception and Dance staged by Thanhouser employees. Germania Hall was rented for the evening, invitations were sent out, and no fewer than 1,200 people attended. Note Not present was Charles J. Hite, for he was not yet known to the employees, and, besides, he had his hands full making arrangements to move his business operations and his wife and young daughter from Chicago to New Rochelle.

At the gala ball the grand march was led by Edwin and Gertrude Thanhouser, followed by actors and actresses in pairs, including George O. Nichols, Viola Alberti, Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Benham, Florence LaBadie, Bert Adler, Marguerite Snow, James Cruze, Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Zimmerman, Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Van Houten, and Mr. and Mrs. John Andren. Note

The Moving Picture News reported:

In the entertainment portion of the program a number of non-released Thanhouser pictures were shown. One of them, which, by the way, will never be released, caused a great deal of fun, screams of laughter ringing out through the building as it unrolled itself upon the screen. The title of this picture was The Crazy Quilt, prepared especially to get a laugh. In the title you were told that it was "joined by the new girl in the joining room;" and, truly, it did its title proud, for positive and negative mingled with one another in the most astounding and ridiculous fashion - upside down, topsy-turvy, and every other way but the right way.

The vaudeville was done by Thanhouser home talent. Editha's Burglar, Note with Marie Eline, Harry Benham, and David Thompson; and The System of Dr. Tarr, with Lew Woods, Harry Marks, Larry Merton, William Harris, Carl LeViness, Bertha Blanchard, Phil Brady and Perry Horton. Leo Edwards put over a Charles K. Harris number. Harry Spear staged the vaudeville. Frank Champury saw to the scenic effects and Gerald Badgley and Charles Gercke to the electrical. As may be imagined, the receipts were large. Finally Mr. Thanhouser suggested a grand clambake as soon as the weather's right. So be on the lookout for something of that sort.

James Cruze, a corking actor, was there with Peggy Snow, a real artiste. I seem to see She again, the full two reels of it, and Cruze became "Leo," Miss Snow "She." Miss Snow is the most charming of conversationalists, not the least "uppish," though she was the second most popular American picture player in a recent newspaper contest. Bert Adler said that he would show me to the prettiest player in the pictures, and then introduced me to Flo LaBadie. She is! And the most wonderfully gowned girl I have ever seen at a function. William Russell, whom I like best to remember as the Stranger in Ibsen's Lady From the Sea, was there alone. Adler whispered that William's sweetheart, who is a leading actress in "the legitimate," was playing in Chicago, while William had figured that she would come east at the time of the Thanhouser ball. But the best calculators will go wrong at times. So William was quite disconsolate.

David H. Thompson, a character man in the Thanhouser pictures, played the burglar in Editha's Burglar, the sketch in the first half of the entertainment. In this sketch, as all who are familiar with it know, a ring is used. Just before Stage Manager Spear rang up the curtain it was discovered that the prop ring was missing. Thompson volunteered the use of his own diamond ring, valued at $150. It was used and, later, lost. Up to the time I left Germania Hall - in the wee small hours - it had not been found.

Marie Eline, the Thanhouser Kid, was the sensation of Editha's Burglar and the show. I say this unreservedly. Harry Benham helped Marie put over her hit. I was surprised to learn that Benham, whom you will remember for his "Nicholas Nickleby" in the film of that title, was a married man. I was shown a mighty pretty Mrs. Benham, and a cute Harry Benham, Jr., Note in one of the front boxes. Benham is to be envied! And I understand there was a little Benham girl at home - too young to "sit in" at all-night seances at Germania Hall.

I understand that the racket was also by way of commemoration of Bert Adler's birthday, and was therefore originally slated for April 14th. But since the 14th fell on a Sunday, the affair was put over to Monday, the 15th!!! That's the way Bert's press agent spins it, anyhow! All Bert would say is he doesn't believe in commemorating birthdays, since his best girl wouldn't commemorate his even with a kiss. Now, can Bert mean his wife? (Dayton papers, please copy.) Note

They say that Thanhouser's chief chauffeur, Arthur Miller, was holding hands with a girl in a dark corner of the ballroom when electrician Bradley threw the spotlight on him. Miller is reported to have cranked up and gone home. To Frank L. Zimmerman and Theodore Heise of the Thanhouser mechanical forces, who invented The Crazy Quilt, I hereby remove my hat and bend my knee. They are geniuses! Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Thanhouser looked to be exactly what they were - the happiest couple in the vast assemblage.

An account of the event in The New Rochelle Pioneer Note added some details of the entertainment:

A sketch titled The System of Dr. Tarr, a comedy dramatized from Edgar Allen Poe's strange story, The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, by Henry Tyrell and Arthur Hornblow, Note provided plenty of entertainment. Miss Bertha Blanchard took the role of Miss Salasette exceptionally well, and Lew Woods, as Dr. Griswold, was very good. Harry Marks, as Dr. Grimm, Larry Merton as Senator Ponsonby, Carl LeViness as Professor Fether, and William Harris as Dr. Tarr, star patients of the sanitarium, showed dramatic ability. The other parts were taken by Carter B. Harkness as James and Demetrio Mitzoras as a policeman. The whole production was staged and coached by Harry Spear, with electrical effects by Gerald Badgley and assistants, Frank Champury being the scenic artist. The grand march was led by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Thanhouser. The host presented each guest, besides a souvenir program, souvenirs in the form of small pieces of film tied with dainty ribbon. Dancing was continued far into the morning.

In The Morning Telegraph, April 14th, film columnist Gordon Trent reported:

Things haven't been so very active in motion picture society for the past month and, appreciating that fact, the Thanhouser Company employees have started something. So shake out the camphor balls and press up the 'soup and fish,' and trot up to New Rochelle, Germania Hall, tomorrow (Monday) night, and let's make the first Thanhouser ball a merry one. I'm keen for it.

On April 21st, the same writer told his readers what happened:

April 15 is a day that will long live in the annals of New Rochelle, for that was the date of the first annual ball and entertainment of the Thanhouser Co. I am glad the Thanhouser people are to make this an annual. Everybody was there, and everybody was contributing to make the affair the grand success it was. Mr. and Mrs. Thanhouser, of course, led the grand march, and prominent in the line as it passed before me were the Thanhouser kiddie, James Cruze, Florence LaBadie, W.H. Ray of the Clipper, Michael Testa of the National Film Distributing Co., with Miss G. Clendening [Janet Clendenning?]. Bert Adler, Wm. Horowitz, Jr., of Denver National Exchange, Daniel Fallon, Joe Cohn, Harry Edwards, Harvey Titus and hundreds of others. It was nearly time for 'store clothes' when I left, and the band was still merrily playing. A number of excellent Thanhouser pictures were shown before the dancing began. I'll count the days till April 16, 1913.

Marie Eline, who didn't get to bed until well after midnight on the day of the gala event, was to stay up late on successive Monday evenings as well, for it was soon reported: Note

Bertram Adler has booked the Thanhouser Kid for a ten-minute appearance every Monday night at the Colonial Theatre, Hoboken. Mr. Adler states that the engagement does not call for any stated number of appearances, but is indefinite. The Moving Picture News believes that this is a new wrinkle in the booking of film favorites at vaudeville shows. Occasionally photoplayers showing at the theatres had been engaged for return dates, but we have never heard of an engagement in the indefinite class before.