2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Chaplin's Essanay films as well as Edna Purviance's first appearance on film.

I'm glad that we will have a year to focus on Chaplin's Essanay films. Maybe it's just me, but I feel when people look at Chaplin's overall work the Essanays get neglected. I have to admit that if I'm in the mood to watch Chaplin I rarely pull out the Essanay box (I know, shame on me). Well thanks to the centennial I'll have an excuse to give these films another look. I should also mention that Flicker Alley will be coming out with the new Essanay restorations later this year as well.

Essanay Red Letter postcard, 1915

J. Beagles postcard, c. 1920s

Postcard, c. 1920s

Hand-tinted J. Beagles postcard, c. 1920s

Japanese postcard, c. 1930s

German Ross Verlag postcard

"Hat Trick" by Edward Steichen

This famous multi-panel shot, entitled "Hat Trick," was taken by Steichen in New York in February 1931, while Charlie was in the city promoting his film City Lights and just before he left for Europe on his world tour.

The photo is described in the book Steichen's Legacy: Photographs 1895-1973, edited with text by Joanna Steichen:

The point in the photographs of actors in this section is not individual portraiture but the story being told. Among Steichen's favorites were Beatrice Lillie as 'Rule Britannia' and Charlie Chaplin. Steichen claimed that Beatrice Lillie did all the work, and all he had to do was push the button. Chaplin, however, was shy when he didn't have an action to perform. So Steichen set up a scene consisting of a vertical panel and a horizontal one along which he moved a bowler hat a little closer to the actor with each shot. Armed with a cane as protection against the encroaching hat, Chaplin sprang to life.

Real Photo Postcard, c. 1916

The photo shows Chaplin and a visitor on the set of his 1916 film, The Vagabond.

Essanay Red Letter Postcard, 1915

This is a card from By The Sea. Margie Reiger is next to Charlie. 

Photos by Edward Steichen, 1925

I'm sorry about the size of this one.

Two versions of the famous Edward Steichen photo

Look closely and you'll notice that the top photo is a slightly different pose than the more commonly seen version below. Both photos magically depict Chaplin, the handsome movie star, in the foreground and Charlie, the Little Tramp, in a shadow on the wall behind him. These portraits were part of a series taken by Steichen during the summer of 1925 while Charlie was in New York for the premiere of The Gold Rush.

Cobb Shinn postcards, c. 1915

J. Beagles postcard, c.1920s

Hand-tinted J. Beagles postcard, 1920s.

Photo of Chaplin by Hartsook, c. 1915.