The Eden Musée was an amusement center in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that featured a large waxworks collection, musical concerts and a changing selection of specialty entertainment, such as

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

shows and

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

. It was opened on March 28, 1884. It featured a collection of paintings and became an early exhibitor of

motion pictures A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. Located on 55 West 23rd Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in an imposing stone building. The building featured several halls with different themes. It was particularly known for its Chamber of Horrors, which was kept in the museum basement

Film Exhibition

On December 18, 1896, the Lumiere

cinematographe Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...

films were presented for two months in the Winter Garden, which had a 2000-seat capacity. It became the first venue in the United States to make motion pictures a standard part of programming until it closed. In the summer of 1897, film pioneer

Edwin S. Porter Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Of over ...

, an electrician by training, assisted in the building of a custom film projector, to replace one destroyed by fire. In 1887 he returned with a job programming short films for exhibition, after the Eden Musee became Thomas Edison's first motion picture licensee. On February 1, 1898 the Eden Musee released its first self-produced film, ''The Passion Play of Oberammergau''. This was billed as film actually shot in Oberammergau, Germany, when it was actually shot on the roof of the original

Grand Central Palace The Grand Central Palace was an exhibition hall in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The name refers to two structures, both located on Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Terminal. The original structure was a six-story structure built in 1893 ...

in New York City, a fact that was quickly uncovered by the press. The presentation included 19 minutes of film interspersed with

lantern slides The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a sin ...

. After the Eden Musee went bankrupt and closed in 1915, the name and select wax figure groupings, including those from the Chamber of Horrors, were purchased at auction and exhibited in

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

. The Coney Island Eden Musee was destroyed by fire in 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eden Musee Theatres in Manhattan 1884 establishments in New York (state) History of film