Help with International Mutoscope Reel Company flip film?

A friend found this International Mutoscope Reel Company flip film in her basement and would like to learn more about it. The imprint on the metal rim says "Inter. Muto. Reel Co. Patd, Made in U.S.A. N.Y.C. Subject No. 7680". The reel is like a circular flip book which shows a movie of a woman in various states of undress.

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According to Wikipedia...

Mutoscope

Mutoscopes were a popular feature of amusement arcades and pleasure piers in the UK until the introduction of decimal coinage in 1971 made the mechanisms obsolete. The typical arcade installation included multiple machines offering a mixture of fare. Both in the early days and during the revival, that mixture usually included "girlie" reels which ran the gamut from risqué to outright soft-core pornography. It was, however, common for these reels to have suggestive titles that implied more than the reel actually delivered. The title of one such reel, What the Butler Saw, became a by-word, and Mutoscopes are commonly known in England as "What-the-Butler-Saw machines." (What the butler saw, presumably through a keyhole, was a woman partially disrobing.)

Mutoscopes were originally manufactured from 1895 to 1909 by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, or its licensee Marvin & Casler Co., formed by two of American Mutoscope's founders. In the 1920s the Mutoscope was licensed to William Rabkin who started his own company, the International Mutoscope Reel Company, which manufactured new reels and also machines from 1926 until 1949. The term "Mutoscope" is no longer a registered trademark in the United States.

International Mutoscope Reel Company

The mutoscope was a peep show-style movie viewer that was first manufactured by the American Mutoscope and Biograph company, and is notable for being one of the first means by which motion pictures were exhibited. The company gradually changed its focus to motion picture production and projection, and by the early 1920s, had stopped production of both mutoscopes and the movie reels that were played by the machines.

Does anyone have any more information on this content? She's interested in selling this to a collector. If anyone has an idea of how much it might be worth, please post a comment below.

Technorati Tags: mutoscope, flip film, girlie reels

Comments

[David Iglehart]

Hi,

I'd like to find out if your mutoscope reel is still available for sale. I have a machine and I'm trying to purchase a few reels to go with it. If so I'd also like to find out what condition it is in. Please feel free to email me. Thanks

David Iglehart
Rhode Island

[David Iglehart]

Hi, I sent an email a short time ago inquiring about your reel and if it is still for sale. I think you may have replied but you response ended up in my Spam folder and I deleted it before I got to read it by mistake. If you did respond could you please send it again as I was unable to recover you original email. Thanks!

David

[Greg]

I'm looking for one (or more) mutoscope reel(s). I picked up a machine, and now need media for it... :-) If you happen to have a reel for sale, please email me at gk@skypoint.com. Thanks!

i geal in old arcade games, mutoscopes, fortune tellers, etc
email

rampam32@hotmail.com

[Jim Clement]

I recently purchased a mutoscope which had a "flip flim" in it. I would like to get the title of the fim. The information from the cylinder is:

Subject # 1558
Serial# 24

Date of Patent: November 5, 1895
January 25, 1898

American Mutoscope and Biograph Company

The film shows a woman shoplifting some clothing at a store and is arrested by police.

I would appreciate any assistance.

Thanks