So, give or take a year or two before the first models arrived in Manila either due to some American official or a rich Filipino family, this would be around 1910. The presence of the Model T Ford (7:01 mark on the clip): The first Model T Fords rolled out of the Piquette Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan, on September 27, 1908. The war didn't end until 1918 (and remember, America only joined in at the end) so at least Holmes' frame of mind when the film was being edited was sometime after 1918. ![]() Title card at the 7:54 mark says: "Since the war began, they have captured the world markets for their filipino (sic) product." Surely Holmes meant the First World War in which America flexed its muscle as the dominant power of the 20th century. There are a few “bookmarks” in the film that point to a date much later than its claimed "1905" pedigree: Thus, this version is really an assemblage of footage shot in at least two of Holmes and Cowling's 1917 visit to the islands. Cowling, shoots some footage for Holmes in the Philippines (this would seem to have been the right period in which most of the footage was shot)ġ921-22 - Holmes assembles a lot of film footage from his various travels into conflated editions, for his deal with Paramount and his revived lecture series. His timeline apparently reads like this:ġ913 - returns there with cameraman Oscar Depue. There is an entry in the book, Film: American Influences on Philippine Cinema, by Nick de Ocampo, that states, "1913: Lecture season features Philippines (second visit)." Thus, my educated guess put some of this footage at 1912-13.ġ915 - Holmes signs up with Paramount Picturesġ916 - adds films (to his collection) about the Philippinesġ917 - a colleague, Herford T. And Holmes specialized in sharing his exotic travels. Since they had no TV, Internet or extensive movie house complexes at the time -– radio was just in its infancy –- so-called “experts” in their particular fields, hit major cities and towns with their “show-and-tell” lectures. The footage is attributed to one Burton Holmes, an American from a well-to-do Chicago family who is credited with coining the word “travelogue.” He was like the Rick Steves of his day in that he was a major name in the lecture circuit in early 20th century America. So again, another misleading claim on the filmmakers' part. Observation #3 - The film is not so much about lingerie as the production of sinamay, piña fabrics and fine embroidery products at the start of the new American century for the Philippines. ![]() Observation #2 - The clip is labeled “made in 1905.” It was not. I would say, with the advent of American rule, renewed relations and cultural exchanges with Europe at the turn of the 20th century, those movies might have come into being more at the beginning of 1904 or thereabouts. However, even that date may be too early. The earliest Filipino movies supposedly were feature films like "Escolta," "Panorama de Manila," and "Quiapo Fiesta." One online source dates those to as early as 1898. "Luzon Lingerie" merely extols the jusi / piña / sinamay / (native fibers) embroidery scene in Central Luzon a century ago. Observation #1 - It's not really a “movie” in the dramatic, commercial “feature” sense. ![]() Finding the correct time in history in which this was more or less made, and therefore rendering it greater credibility, makes for a great detective story. Charming as the clip may be, let's dispel various inaccuracies and place things in proper historical context.
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