“I am an avid collector of the very early motion picture cameras. I have wondered, for some time, if a small technical bulletin for cine equipment collectors might be worthwhile. This is my effort to start such a publication.” Wes Lambert, 1987

The Movie Machine Society

On November 20, 1987 Wes Lambert mailed out a letter to ‘over 50’ friends and collectors describing his ideas for a new technical bulletin for ‘cine equipment collectors’. In total Wes mailed four technical bulletins outlining his plans starting with that first letter on November 20, 1987 and ending with the 4th letter dated April 12, 1988. Finally in the Summer of 1988 “Sixteen Frames” was born and the first issue, Volume 1, Number 1 was mailed out to subscribers. Vol. 1 No. 3 announced that on October 15, 1988, The Movie Machine Society was formed and Sixteen Frames became the Quarterly Bulletin for the Society. By 1989 the list of members grew to 271.

Photo-historians who have an interest in motion picture related material may now join a society of like-minded. On October 15, 1988, at PhotoHistory VII, the Photo Historical Symposium held in Rochester, NY, a group of cine collectors organized The Movie Machine Society.

The new association hopes to attract those whose interests include optical toys, pre-cinema, and motion picture equipment, both professional and amateur. The aims of the society are to: encourage the study and preservation of the technical artifacts of motion picture history; promote the exchange of information in this vein; and foster good-fellowship among those with similar interests.

I was first introduced to Wes, a collector in California, in the early years of my collecting. Wes was a generous man that shared his wealth of knowledge. I recall how he excitedly described his quarterly bulletins and was very passionate about his plans for the future…I subscribed the very next day. This was at the begining’s of the World Wide Web as we know it today, so obtaining information about vintage cameras, especially early cine cameras was not as simply as it is now. This newsletter was one of the few ways at the time to obtain timely technical information from a group of experts, and it was a catalyst for my collection.

Sadly, Wes passed away just 8 years later after only 9 volumes of Sixteen Frames were mailed out, but the publication and Movie Machine Society continued under President Alan Kattelle and later President Sandra Joy Lee. The last issue I have in my Library is the Winter 1999 edition. If you have later issues, please let me know. I will be adding all of my copies to this site over time along with a list of my missing issues.

Bonus Wes Lambert humor.