Herbert Lubin Archive
The following items included in this lot were personal items of Herbert Lubin, the nephew of Siegmund Lubin. Herbert was brought over to the U.S. from Berlin in 1912 just prior to the outbreak of WW I in 1914. He worked for Lubin Studios in several capacities including an extra, and office staff. After Lubin Studios closed in 1916, Herbert tried ventures on his own and in partnership as evidenced by some of the papers in this archive, but does not seem to have made a name for himself. This archive was handed down through relatives of Herbert and was featured in the July 13, 2009 episode of History Detectives (Season 7, Episode 4), titled “Lubin Photos”. The photo albums contain the only known photographic record of both Lubinville and Betzwood Ranch and will be of great interest to film historians and researchers.
1.) Lubin Manufacturing “Lubinville” Photo Album - A circa 1914-1916 bound photo album measuring 11” X 9” containing 195 identified B&W photographs of varying sizes from 4 X 5 to 8 X 10. The photos are organized in groups beginning with interior photos of the Lubin Offices located at 16th & Glenwood in Philadelphia, the Lubin Factory located at 20th & Indiana Streets in Philadelphia, the company managers, female stars, male stars, directors, producers, cameramen, etc. The album is in good stable condition with expected dryness and deterioration to the page edges.
2.) Betzwood Ranch Photo Album - A circa 1914-1916 bound photo album measuring 8” X 11”, hand titled, “From The Betzwood Ranch”. It contains 109 pages of identified B&W photographs, of the buildings on the ranch, the livestock, and the cowboy actors including a lot of pictures of Herbert Lubin as a cowboy . It is in overall VG condition.
3.) A 14” X 10” B&W photograph of the 1914 Hallow Eve party at the home of S. Lubin showing costumed people around a big table with a giant carved pumpkin in the center next to Seigmund Lubin. In good condition with paper loss at the corners.
4.) A baseball program from July 17th, 1915 featuring Vitagraph vs.Lubin in good condition.
5.) Two Lubin Studio color 2 page promotional flyers sent to exhibitors in advance of the film so that they would have a synopsis of the film, the cast, and a list of posters and press kits that were available. These types of promotional flyers are extremely scarce today as most were discarded after use. One is for, The Gods of Fate (1916), and the other is, The Great Divide (1915). Both pieces measure 12” tall, 9” wide folded, and both are in VG original condition.
6.) A Lubin “Edgar Jones” Popular Photo Player pennant in overall fair to good condition with a tear on the cardboard photo at the top and some felt loss due to moths. Measures 28” long, 12” wide.
7.) 26 post cards of Buck Hill Falls, PA and the surrounding area, all unused.
8.) A 1923 contract for Herbert to work with the Berliner Film Studio with current translated sheet.
9.) A 9” X 7” B&W photo of Herberts father (S. Lubins brother) sent to him by his sister who was still living in Germany.
10.) Herbert Lubin’s boyhood photo album from Germany circa 1911 containing approx.20 B&W snapshots.
11.) Herbert’s Kleines Kommersbach (song book) with traditional German drinking songs in good condition.
12.) A qty of paper including business cards, news articles, train tickets, etc.
13.) An envelope of 19 – 3” X 5” B&W negatives of a man and 2 women mot likely Herbert Lubin in swim suits probably in Florida.
14.) A fine leather man’s wallet (presumably belonging to Herbert Lubin) with 5 business cards for, The People’s Moving Picture Corporation, H. Lubin Vice Pres.
15.) A quantity of German coins and paper money from the 1920’s
The Lubin Manufacturing Company (often referred to as Lubin Studios) located at16th & Glenwood in Philadelphia, PA was an iconic pioneer of the early silent film era. Founded in 1896 by German-Jewish immigrant optician Siegmund "Pop" Lubin, it grew into one of the largest and most commercially successful movie empires in the world before closing its doors in 1916.
In 1912, Lubin purchased a massive 350-to-500-acre estate originally owned by Philadelphia brewer John F. Betz located along the Schuylkill River in West Norriton Township, Pennsylvania. He converted the property into a state-of-the-art studio complex and was the largest and most advanced silent movie studios in the world at that time. The "Betzwood Ranch" portion of the estate served as the central hub for filming massive outdoor epics. Lubin brought in actual longhorn cattle by train and hired real cowboys (as well as a few "urban cowboys") to live on-site in a large Victorian boathouse near the river. Long before Hollywood became the definitive home of cinema, Betzwood Ranch was famous for producing high-quality "Eastern Westerns" and Civil War dramas. A complete western village set was constructed on the backlot to serve as the backdrop for these films. Beyond the ranch lands, the campus featured a massive glass studio, early air-conditioned processing laboratories, dark stages, and its own train station. At its peak, the operation employed around 700 people. After Lubin faced bankruptcy in 1916 and the studio ultimately closed in the 1920s, much of the history was forgotten due to a catastrophic film vault fire. Today, parts of the original property are integrated into the Schuylkill River Trail system, where a historical marker and a few original brick processing structures still stand.
Lubin manufactured his own high-quality lenses, cameras, and projectors. His films were marketed with a signature Liberty Bell trademark and the motto "Clear As A Bell". The studio served as a career springboard for major Hollywood talent, including legendary comic Oliver Hardy, who made some of his earliest film appearances there. A catastrophic studio fire in June 1914 destroyed the negatives of many unreleased films. The loss of lucrative foreign markets during World War I, legal battles with Thomas Edison over patents, and federal antitrust rulings against the Motion Picture Patents Company alliance ultimately forced the company into bankruptcy in September 1916.