Friday, January 5, 2018

From the Archives: Snowball Fight, 1896

Friday, January 5, 2018

Susan reporting,

With much of the American east coast suffering from snow, high winds, and plunging temperatures, it seems only appropriate to pull this video from the deep-freeze (oof!) of our archives to share again.

This very short – under a minute – silent black-and-white film was shot in 1896. Directed and produced by pioneer French filmmaker Louis Lumière, the film is called Bataille de boules de neige, or Snowball Fight. This snowball battle (with an unfortunate cyclist in the middle) was filmed on a street in Lyon, France. I love how the combatants are both men and women, and despite their huge leg-o-mutton sleeves, these ladies can pitch a mean snowball.

If you're received this video via email, you may be seeing an empty space or black box where the video should be. Go here to view the video.

3 comments:

Lucy said...

They weren't giving anybody any quarter, were they? I was trying to figure out who was on which side, and I'm not sure they knew either! :D

Barbara Jean said...

When fun could be had without fear of litigation!

Bruce said...

It looks like every snowball fight I've ever been in, a pure free-for-all.

Now, shat kind of person not only rides a bike down an icy street, but tries to take a short cut through a snowball fight? Unless he was being paid by the film maker it wasn't a bright move. He may as well of had a sign on his back that said "Hit Me And Win A Prize!", the way they lit into him. That's the funniest thing I've seen in weeks!

 
Two Nerdy History Girls. Design by Pocket