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A Brief History of Home Movies:

British cinema pioneer, Birt Acres invented a Home Movie Outfit
back in 1898 using 17.5mm film (35mm split lengthwise) with a
picture area about one quarter the size of the standard 35mm frame.
The "Birtac" machine was a camera, printer and projector all in the
one little box. His aim was to reduce the cost of film making.
Right: Birt Acres (1854 - 1918)
Left: The Birtac 17.5mm camera -
projector. Image: London Science
museum.

His enterprise stimulated
numerous other inventors
to cash in on the perceived Home Movie market with a
variety of equipment using a variety of film gauges: 22
mm, 21 mm, 15 mm and 11 mm to name just a few.
None of these were successful because they all used to
highly flammable cellulose nitrate nitrate film base that
frequently burnt down homes, theatres, schools etc. much to the distress of local councils and
insurance companies. Henceforth the storage of nitrate film would invalidate an insurance policy
and public presentation outside of an approved fireproof projection booth was banned.

Right: The original "Standard" 35mm format created by W.K.L. (Laurie)
Dickson and Thomas Edison for use in their Kinetoscope of 1891. This
format was used throughout the world for over a century and beyond with
only a minor modification to accommodate the sound track in 1928

But the lure of the Home Movie and educational market persisted
and in 1912 both Pathé in France and Eastman Kodak in New York
introduced the new cellulose
acetate safety film. In France
the new slow burning film
was made for use on the
Pathé 28 mm KOK
projector and in
America on the
Edison 22 mm
Home
Kinetoscope. Both
Pathé and Edison quickly established large film
libraries by making 28 mm and 22 mm reduction
prints from their extensive 35 mm film
collections. The different widths and
sprocket hole configurations were
designed to prevent the use of nitrate
base prints being cut down from 35 mm
nitrate stock (as had happened with 17.5
mm prints) The safety film feature it was
The 1912 Pathé KOK projector vigorously promoted.
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