Christening and Launching Kaiser Wilhelm's Yacht 'Meteor'

Documentary 5 minutes

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About Christening and Launching Kaiser Wilhelm's Yacht 'Meteor'

On 25 February 1902, at the Townsend & Downey yard on Shooters Island, the band of the yacht Hohenzollern marches up and President Theodore Roosevelt shakes hands with Mayor Seth Low. Prince Henry of Prussia walks to the stand with Alice Roosevelt. Wallace Downey shows her the bottle and the rope. She breaks the bottle on the port bow of Meteor, cuts the rope with a silver hatchet, and the yacht slides into Newark Bay as the party cheers.

Cast & crew

More about Christening and Launching Kaiser Wilhelm's Yacht 'Meteor'

Edwin S. Porter photographed the launching for the Edison Manufacturing Company, which also distributed the 300-foot reel. Thomas A. Edison copyrighted it on 28 February 1902 as H14548. A second Edison film, Kaiser Wilhelm's Yacht "Meteor" Entering the Water, shot that day by Jacob Smith, was sometimes shown with this one.

Themes

  • A yacht christened for the Kaiser
  • Roosevelt and Prince Henry on one platform
  • Two cameras on one launching
  • Meteor
  • Alice Roosevelt
  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • Prince Henry of Prussia
  • Seth Low
  • Shooters Island
  • champagne bottle
  • Newark Bay
  • Edison actuality

Background

Prince Henry's visit was treated in the American press as a German-American goodwill trip. Meteor was a racing yacht built for Kaiser Wilhelm II at Townsend & Downey and launched into Newark Bay.

Making

Edison sent two camera positions to Shooters Island on 25 February 1902. Porter covered the christening platform; Smith, on a tug, filmed the hull entering the water for the companion reel.

Look

Edwin S. Porter filmed in daylight on 35mm. The Edison catalog describes a close view of Roosevelt and Low, then a panoramic follow as Alice Roosevelt, on Prince Henry's arm, goes to the stand.

Music

Silent.

Preservation

The Library of Congress holds a paper print and a 16mm viewing print of about 129 feet, silent and black and white. The 1902 release length was 300 feet.

Notes

  • The Edison catalog quotes Alice Roosevelt: "In the name of Emperor Wilhelm I christen thee 'Meteor.'
  • Prince Henry was Kaiser Wilhelm II's brother, an admiral, on an American tour from 22 February to 11 March 1902.
  • The New York Clipper listed the film on 15 March 1902, page 68.
  • It belongs to Edison's series Kaiser Wilhelm's Yacht Meteor.
  • The catalog says the cameras stood within ten feet of Alice Roosevelt and Prince Henry when the bottle broke.
  • Temporary masts, the catalog says, rose from the deck as Meteor hit the water, and she went out dressed in bunting, the German flag at the main and the Stars and Stripes at bow and stern.

Scenes

  • Alice Roosevelt smashes the bottle on Meteor's port bow and cuts the holding rope with a silver hatchet.
  • As the yacht takes the water, Prince Henry kisses her hand and Roosevelt calls for three cheers for the Kaiser.

Also available

  • Library of Congress (item 2014600151)

Quotes

Alice Roosevelt, in the Edison catalog: "In the name of Emperor Wilhelm I christen thee 'Meteor.'