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  • Let's Go to the Movies
  • Early Movies
  • Silent Era
  • Golden Age

The Movies

Silent Era

The National Museum of American History is known for cinematic treasures such as Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939), but it also holds a remarkable collection of silent film artifacts. Made from the 1890s to the late 1920s, silent films lacked synchronized sound; live music and shots of printed text conveyed emotion and dialogue. These selected artifacts offer a glimpse into the early days of cinema as a global art and entertainment form.


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Dolores del Rio

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford

Stakkels Johanne

Mary Pickford

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford

Clara Bow

29c Clara Bow single

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

PÅ OLOVLIGA VÄGAR

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Harold J. Kennedy, Francis Lederer and Gloria Swanson -- "Three Curtains"

29c Theda Bara single

I've Lost You

Djaevlestenen

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo

Colleen Moore

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