Herman Casler was co-founder of the partnership called the KMCD
Syndicate, along with
William K.L. Dickson,
Elias Koopman and
Harry Marvin, which was eventually
incorporated into the American Mutoscope Company in 1895. After
Dickson, who was part of
Thomas A. Edison's company, left there,
Casler, though the American Mutoscope Company, invented and marketed
the "Mutoscope", which was a nickelodeon machine that viewed short
films through flip-cards, unlike Edison's Kinetograph machine, in which
films were viewed through actual 35mm film. The Mutoscope was ready for
showing in 1894, be in competition with Edison's Kinetograph. In June
of 1895, the prototype Mutoscope was completed, which became as popular
in Nickeliodeon theaters as the Kinetograph. However, projected films
were being tested and going to be exhibited. Casler then designed the
Biograph Projector which was driven by an electric motor, using a
wide-gauge film. The wide gauge film was primarily used to avoid
conflicts with Edison's patents on motion picture film. the company
name was changed to American Mutoscope & Biograph[us] in 1899. Both the
Mutoscope and Biograph had great success. It was also Casler's patents
for security that funded the international expansion in the 1890s. Like
many great early film pioneers, in later years Casler faded into
obscurity and died in 1939.
