How much of an interest did Thomas Edison have in boxing?

Question

Did he record fights just for the money and recognition or did he have a legitimate interest in the sport as well?

Answer 1

It has been my understanding that he was just so passionate about his inventions. He was excited to get to share his genius with the world through different mediums (ie. film) I pulled this from a website listed below.

"It was also at the West Orange laboratory, in 1889, that Edison invented the motion picture camera. His early motion picture cameras needed sunlight to record images on film, so in 1893, Edison built the first motion picture studio, in West Orange. The building, affectionately called the "The Black Maria" by the staff, was a wooden structure covered with black tar paper, with a steep roof that was hinged for opening. The entire building was mounted on a turntable set on a circular railroad track. During filming, the studio was rotated to stay in the sunlight, which was directed onto the stage through the open roof.

The movie industry began with the filming of the trivial: an organ grinder and his monkey; a sneeze by one of Edison's assistants, Fred Ott; dancing girls; and scenes of everyday life around West Orange. Each film lasted about 90 seconds and was viewed through a peep-hole box called a "Kinetoscope."

Edison's Wall Street backers would not finance the development of the Kinetoscope because they considered it vaudevillian. In time, however, speculators stepped forward and offered to license Edison's invention to open Kinetoscope parlors around New York City. The installed machines were coin operated and attracted long lines of patrons. Films of boxing matches were a favorite, and when a full-length match was shown in six successive machines, the police had to be called to control the crowds of customers.

For most of the next decade, films were limited to the Kinetoscope until a projector was devised. By this time, the idea of telling a story on film began to take hold, and in 1903, Edison's studio produced a silent movie known as The Great Train Robbery. The comparative epic, a Western that came complete with a posse chase and a shoot-out, was filmed in New Jersey's Watchung Mountains. The movie's success unleashed the potential of storytelling through movies, and within a few years, movie theaters began to pop up around the country. Edison, however, had failed to take his invention seriously. He did not file for patents on the motion picture camera in Europe, and competitors took advantage of his mistake by producing movies of their own. Inadvertently, he had let control of the movie industry and the fortune it would produce slip through his fingers."

Answer 2

The Gordon Sisters, Bessie and Minnie, who claimed to be the first female boxing act. In the early years of motion pictures, there was such a demand for motion pictures that Thomas Edison's company filmed all sorts of things. This film of the sparring sisters was made in 1901. The Edison Manufacturing Company was able to shoot "Gordon Sisters Boxing" and many others only after Edison and his employee William Dickson had spent years inventing the motion picture camera.

Answer 3

Edison invented the motion picture camera and thats when the motion picture cameras took films of the fights early in the 1900;s or around that time

Answer 4

Oh, he had a very intreaguing interest in boxing, he just loved the sport

Answer 5

All that I know is that his first moving pictures were of boxing matches. They were shown in nickelodeons.

Answer 6

It was for the public interest.

Answer 7

I love you jane!!! Ur MY IDOL!! ONE DAy i hope I have as many points as you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also think that he didn't have much of an interest unless it involved money and fame

Answer 8

HE OBVIOUSLY WANTED THE RECOGNITION , IT'S NOT CHEAP TO INVENT .THIS WOULD LEAD TO MANY MORE SPONSORS .

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Too hard to decide..

Answer 11

as much as i have in u