Aunt Nancy Telegraphs

The Thanhouser Company (formerly the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser. It operated until 1918. It produced over 1,000 films during its lifetime, but several dozen of the films were of small filler subjects, educational or documentaries. Many of these smaller subjects were listed as a quarter or half a reel in length and received very little critical review or analysis by film critics and the media.

The first quarter reel comedy, of about 250 feet, was The Old Shoe Came Back. It was released on April 15, 1910. The film was appended to A 29-Cent Robbery and was first split reel released by the company. There is almost no information surrounding the short filler comedy. Film historian Q. David Bowers credits Thanhouser cameraman, Blair Smith, for the photography, but could not find any information about the film in contemporary trade journals. The film was advertised in numerous states, including theaters in Indiana,Kansas, and New York,

The second release was another short filler comedy, Sand Man's Cure is equally obscure. It was released on April 22, 1910 with Her Battle for Existence. Bowers did not find any information about the film in contemporary trade journals. A Thanhouser Filmography Analysis, provided by Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, lists it as comprising one quarter of a reel - approximately 250 feet. The reasoning is not provided, but the previous release and the next to follow were split reels of similar lengths. The film is not known to have appeared in any reviews or theater advertisements.

The last of the three consecutive split reel releases from Thanhouser was The Cigars His Wife Bought. Released on April 29, 1910, the official synopsis of the film was given in advertisements as: "The cigars his wife bought were bad - awful bad. What would you expect? A woman cannot buy cigars. How a suffering hubby tried to get rid of the cigars is better half bought him, and the mess his efforts got him into, is the story the picture tells." A review of the subject states that the scenario begins with a wife who purchases some bargain-priced cigars for her husband. The husband and those who he gives them to are also nearly sick from the poor cigars. The well-intentioned wife believes he must like them and orders several boxes for him. Little else is known about the production, but its photography was praised and Gloria Gallop is credited in the role of the wife. A Thanhouser Filmography Analysis, provided by Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, lists it as comprising one quarter of a reel - approximately 250 feet. Advertisements show the film paired with She Wanted to Marry a Hero in Texas and Kansas. Nearly a year after its release, the film was advertised without its other half in one Kearney, Nebraska theater.

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