A closer look
Victorian fairground audiences craved the illusion of speed, and guys like A. J. Pilgrim literally risked their lives to provide it. To create immersive 'phantom rides' for traveling exhibitors, early filmmakers would strap heavy, unwieldy wooden cameras—and themselves—to the front bumpers of speeding steam locomotives. The resulting footage made audiences feel like they were hurtling down the tracks, entirely oblivious to the terrifying reality that one stray cow on the line would have vaporized the cameraman.
