Dog Factory

SUMMARY
In the middle of a store or factory set sits a machine identified as the "Patent Dog Transformator." On the walls behind it are coils of sausages or hot dogs, labeled with the name of the dog they represent: Pointer, Setter, Fighting Bull, Bull, Terrier, Spaniel, Poodle, Plain Dog, Trained Dog, Bull Pups, Boston Bull, Daschund [sic], Mut, and Pug. At the top of the back wall is a sign that reads "Dogs made while you wait--Dog Factory--Dogs mixed to order." A bearded man in a suit stands by the machine looking bored, as his partner in a cap and apron dusts the rows of sausages. A tramp enters the store with a string of three dogs, which he sells to the man in the suit. One by one, the three dogs are loaded into the top of the machine, cranked by the man in the apron, and transformed into links of sausage that come out the right end of the contraption. These links are then hung up in their proper places on the wall: Plain Dog, Trained Dog, and Boston Bull. A man identified as a dandy with his cane and straw topper enters and orders a spaniel. The process is then reversed, as the appropriate coil of meat is taken off the wall and put in the top of the machine, resulting in a dog exiting from the left end of the transformator. The next customer, a woman, orders a dachshund, but the dog proves too jumpy for her and is changed back to a sausage; the woman then settles on a terrier, and leaves happily with her purchase.
A man in a suit enters the factory and orders a trained dog. The resulting canine does tricks such as a back-flip at the urging of the owner in the apron, and the customer leaves satisfied. When the next woman requests a small dog, a string of bull pups are produced for her, from which she selects her favorite; the rest of the puppies are turned back to sausage. Finally, a "tough" enters the store and orders a Boston Bull, but he rejects the resulting dog as not mean enough. The factory owners then create a fighting bull, which comes out of the transformator biting. In the resulting commotion, with the Boston Bull also running around the store, the fighting bull grabs the tough by the seat of his pants and the two wrestle. The factory owners laugh as the bull and customer exit the shop, still fighting.
From Edison films catalog: On the walls of the factory a lot of different varieties of frankfurters are hung. Each is marked with the breed of dog it is made from. A combined dog and bologna making machine is seen in the foreground, and two Germans are working industriously over it. A tramp enters with about a dozen dogs of various types, and sells them to the Germans. They are soon transformed into sausage and the tramp departs with his cash. A dude now enters who wants to buy a spaniel. The dog is quickly made and sold. A number of customers follow and are supplied with dogs that suit their fancies. Finally a tough enters who wants a bull dog. A Boston Bull is produced, but does not suit him. He wants a fighting bull. The dog is made, and as he jumps from the machine he grabs the tough by the pants, and dog and man mix up in a rolling match all over the floor. The tough finally releases himself and disappears, leaving the fighting bull dog to be again turned into bologna. 240 ft. $36.00.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States: Edison Manufacturing Co., 1904.
NOTES
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 21Apr1904; H44668.
Camera, Edwin S. Porter.
Filmed in Edison's New York City studio.
SUBJECTS
Dogs--United States--Buying--Drama.
Dog industry--United States--Drama.
Dog owners--United States--Drama.
Factories--United States--Drama.
Sausages--United States--Drama.
Frankfurters--United States--Drama.
Bulldog--United States--Drama.
Silent films.
Comedies.
Vaudeville.
Shorts.
RELATED NAMES
Porter, Edwin S., camera.
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
DIGITAL ID
(m) varsmp memory.loc.gov/...) memory.loc.gov/...)