A Wringing Good Joke | 1900 | Comedy

Title: A Wringing Good Joke | 1900 | Comedy Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company Release Date: December 1900 Runtime: 1 Format: Silent, black-and-white, 35mm, 1.33:1 Country: United States Language: Silent Genres: Comedy, Short --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Kitchen setup 00:00:12 Mischief planned 00:00:25 Washer returns 00:00:40 Wringing triggers spill 00:00:55 Aftermath --- Summary: In a domestic kitchen, a grandfather dozes while a washerwoman tends to laundry. A mischievous boy ties the chair to a towel draped over the washtub; when the wringer is turned, the towel pulls the chair and bather together, causing a comic tumble and a splash. The brief film delivers a self-contained prank narrative typical of early slapstick, using a single fixed camera position and physical action to build anticipation and deliver a quick gag. --- Background: Produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company, this short was issued in December 1900 and reflects Edison’s catalog comedies built around everyday settings and practical jokes. Contemporary descriptions emphasize the domestic tableau and the prank’s mechanical payoff through the laundry wringer, a motif echoed in other early American comedies. --- Trivia: The Edison catalog summarized the action in detail, highlighting the boy’s mischief and the resulting collision in the washtub. Some filmographies also list an 1899 version associated with Edison’s output, reflecting duplicate or revised catalog entries common in the period. AFI records credit photography to Edwin S. Porter on the 1900 release, aligning with his early work at Edison. Survival is documented via paper-print holdings at the Library of Congress for versions of this title from the era. The prank scenario parallels other early films built on domestic gags, later echoed by American Mutoscope & Biograph in similar setups. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: December 1900 Original Studio / Distributor: Edison Manufacturing Company Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: AWringingGoodJoke SilentFilm Edison EarlyCinema PublicDomain 1900 Comedy This video was sourced from Internet Archive. Originally uploaded by Unknown uploader. https://archive.org/details/silent-a-wringing-good-joke