From the Archives: Snowball Fight, 1896

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.

"A Heavy Fall of Snow" in London, 1821 - and in Boston, 2015

Isabella reporting,

This weekend I've been visiting in the Boston area, just in time for another major snow-storm. Twenty-two inches of fresh snow fell this weekend, which helped set a new regional record for the most snow in a 30-day period: 71.6 inches. There's still more of the white stuff drifting by the window right now. The city is pretty much closed for clean-up today, with all public transportation shut down, as well as schools, universities, and many businesses.

All of which makes this 1821 print by Richard Dighton (1795-1880) seem particularly apt. I've shared other prints by Dighton that feature winter miseries, and he captures the awfulness of cold weather so perfectly that I have to think he spent much of the cold weather months dreaming of the Caribbean.

Here a dapper gentleman with yellow gloves and a fur-collared overcoat (and Herculean thighs!) runs afoul of the man clearing snow from the roof of a shop. An accident, or perhaps an intentional, irresistible attack upon that gleaming beaver hat?

I particularly like how the shop belongs to "Careless. Skate Maker...", with rows of ice skates hanging in the windows. The true question, of course, is who here is really careless: the skate maker, the shoveler, or the hapless gentleman.

Above: A heavy fall of snow (plate two of 'A London Nuisance' series), by Richard Dighton, 1821, published by G. Humphrey. Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.