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Chuck Jones

Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of shorts. He wrote, produced, and/or directed many classic animated cartoon shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, and Porky Pig, among others.

Jones started his career in 1933 alongside Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Robert McKimson at the Leon Schlesinger Production's Termite Terrace studio, the studio that made Warner Brothers cartoons, where they created and developed the Looney Tunes characters. During the Second World War, Jones directed many of the Private Snafu (1943–1946) shorts which were shown to members of the United States military. After his career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started Sib Tower 12 Productions and began producing cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a new series of Tom and Jerry shorts (1963–1967) as well as the television adaptations of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Horton Hears a Who! (1970). He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises, where he directed and produced the film adaptation of Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth (1970).

Jones's work along with the other animators was showcased in the documentary, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975). Jones directed the first feature-length animated Looney Tunes compilation film, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979). In 1990 he wrote his memoir, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, which was made into a documentary film, Chuck Amuck (1991). He was also profiled in the American Masters documentary Chuck Jones: Extremes & Inbetweens – A Life in Animation (2000) which aired on PBS.

Jones won three Academy Awards. The cartoons which he directed, For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and the Line, won the Best Animated Short. Robin Williams presented Jones with an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 for his work in the animation industry. Film historian Leonard Maltin has praised Jones's work at Warner Bros., MGM and Chuck Jones Enterprises. In Jerry Beck's The 50 Greatest Cartoons, a group of animation professionals ranked What's Opera, Doc? (1957) as the greatest cartoon of all time, with ten of the entries being directed by Jones including Duck Amuck (1953), Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953), One Froggy Evening (1955), Rabbit of Seville (1950), and Rabbit Seasoning (1952).

Early life
Charles Martin Jones was born on September 21, 1912, in Spokane, Washington, to Mabel McQuiddy (née Martin) (1882–1971) and Charles Adams Jones (1883–?). When he was six months old, he moved with his parents and three siblings to Los Angeles, California.

In his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. He recounted that his father would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. The children drew frequently, owing to the abundance of high-quality paper and pencils. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers.

During his artistic education, he worked part-time as a janitor. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute, Jones got a phone call from a friend named Fred Kopietz, who had been hired by the Ub Iwerks studio and offered him a job. He worked his way up in the animation industry, starting as a cel washer; "then I moved up to become a painter in black and white, some color. Then I went on to take animator's drawings and traced them onto the celluloid. Then I became what they call an in-betweener, which is the guy that does the drawing between the drawings the animator makes". While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who later became his first wife.

Warner Bros.
Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, the independent studio that produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros., in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935 he was promoted to animator and assigned to work with a new Schlesinger director, Tex Avery. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators Bob Clampett, Virgil Ross, and Sid Sutherland were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit was briefly assigned to work with Jones's old employer, Ub Iwerks, when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when Frank Tashlin left the studio. The following year Jones created his first major character, Sniffles, a cute Disney-style mouse, who went on to star in twelve Warner Bros. cartoons.

Jones initially struggled in terms of his directorial style. Unlike the other directors in the studio, Jones wanted to make cartoons that would rival the quality and design to that of ones made by Walt Disney Production. As a result, his cartoons suffered from sluggish pacing and a lack of clever gags, with Jones himself later admitting that his early conception of timing and dialog was "formed by watching the action in the La Brea Tar Pits". Schlesinger and the studio heads were unsatisfied with his work and demanded that he make cartoons that were more funny. He responded by creating the 1942 short The Draft Horse. The cartoon that was generally considered his turning point was The Dover Boys. Released the same year, it noticeably featured quickly-timed gags and extensive use of limited animation. Despite this, Schlesinger and the studios heads were still dissatisfied and begun the process to fire him, but they were unable to find a replacement due to a labor shortage stemming from World War II, so Jones kept his position.

He was actively involved in efforts to unionize the staff of Leon Schlesinger Studios. He was responsible for recruiting animators, layout men, and background people. Almost all animators joined, in reaction to salary cuts imposed by Leon Schlesinger. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio had already signed a union contract, encouraging their counterparts under Schlesinger. In a meeting with his staff, Schlesinger talked for a few minutes, then turned over the meeting to his attorney. His insulting manner had a unifying effect on the staff. Jones gave a pep talk at the union headquarters. As negotiations broke down, the staff decided to go on strike. Schlesinger locked them out of the studio for a few days, before agreeing to sign the contract. A Labor-Management Committee was formed and Jones served as a moderator. Because of his role as a supervisor in the studio, he could not himself join the union. Jones created many of his lesser-known characters during this period, including Charlie Dog, Hubie and Bertie, and The Three Bears.

During World War II, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, to create the Private Snafu series of Army educational cartoons (the character was created by director Frank Capra). Jones later collaborated with Seuss on animated adaptations of Seuss' books, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1966. Jones directed such shorts as The Weakly Reporter, a 1944 short that related to shortages and rationing on the home front. During the same year, he directed Hell-Bent for Election, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Jones created characters through the late 1930s, late 1940s, and the 1950s, which include his collaborative help in co-creating Bugs Bunny and also included creating Claude Cat, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog, Gossamer, and his four most popular creations, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Jones and writer Michael Maltese collaborated on the Road Runner cartoons, Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc?. Other staff at Unit A whom Jones collaborated with include layout artist, background designer, and co-director Maurice Noble; animator and co-director Abe Levitow; and animators Ken Harris and Ben Washam.

Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Productions, where he teamed with Ward Kimball for a four-month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty (1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired and reunited with most of his unit.

In the early 1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee. The finished film featured the voices of Judy Garland, Robert Goulet and Red Buttons as cats in Paris, France. The feature was produced by UPA and directed by his former Warner Bros. collaborator, Abe Levitow.

Jones moonlighted to work on the film since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner Bros. discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him. Jones's former animation unit was laid off after completing the final cartoon in their pipeline, The Iceman Ducketh, and the rest of the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio was closed in early 1963.

MGM Animation/Visual Arts
With business partner Les Goldman, Jones started an independent animation studio, Sib Tower 12 Productions, and brought on most of his unit from Warner Bros., including Maurice Noble and Michael Maltese. In 1963, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted with Sib Tower 12 to have Jones and his staff produce new Tom and Jerry cartoons as well as a television adaptation of all Tom and Jerry theatricals produced to that date. This included major editing, including writing out the African-American maid, Mammy Two-Shoes, and replacing her with one of Irish descent voiced by June Foray. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed MGM Animation/Visual Arts. His animated short film, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Jones directed the classic animated short The Bear That Wasn't.

As the Tom and Jerry series wound down (it was discontinued in 1967), Jones produced more for television. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, featuring narration by Boris Karloff.

Jones continued to work on other TV specials such as Horton Hears a Who! (1970), but his main focus during this time was producing the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth, which did lukewarm business when MGM released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's The Pogo Special Birthday Special, based on the Walt Kelly comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab. It was at this point that he decided to start ST Incorporated.

Chuck Jones Enterprises
MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises. He produced a Saturday morning children's TV series for the American Broadcasting Company called The Curiosity Shop in 1971. In 1973, he produced an animated version of the George Selden book The Cricket in Times Square and subsequently produced two sequels.

Three of his works during this period were animated TV adaptations of short stories from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Brothers, The White Seal and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. During this period, Jones began to experiment with more realistically designed characters, most of which had larger eyes, leaner bodies, and altered proportions, such as those of the Looney Tunes characters.

Return to Warner Bros.
Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of The Carnival of the Animals with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979), which was a compilation of Jones's best theatrical shorts, new Road Runner shorts for The Electric Company series and Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979). New shorts were made for Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980).

From 1977 to 1978, Jones wrote and drew the newspaper comic strip Crawford (also known as Crawford & Morgan) for the Chicago Tribune-NY News Syndicate. In 2011 IDW Publishing collected Jones's strip as part of their Library of American Comic Strips.

In 1978, Jones's wife Dorothy died. He married Marian Dern, the writer of the comic strip Rick O'Shay in 1981.

Jones–Avery letter
On December 11, 1975, shortly after the release of Bugs Bunny: Superstar, which prominently featured Bob Clampett, Jones wrote a letter to Tex Avery, accusing Clampett of taking credit for ideas that were not his, and for characters created by other directors (notably Jones's Sniffles and Friz Freleng's Yosemite Sam). Their correspondence was never published in the media. It was forwarded to Michael Barrier, who conducted the interview with Clampett and was distributed by Jones to multiple people concerned with animation over the years.

Later years
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Jones was painting cartoon and parody art, sold through animation galleries by his daughter's company, Linda Jones Enterprises. Jones was the creative consultant and character designer for two Raggedy Ann animated specials and the first Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas special A Chipmunk Christmas. He made a cameo appearance in the film Gremlins (1984) and he wrote and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Jones directed animated sequences for various features such as a lengthy sequence in the film Stay Tuned (1992) and a shorter one seen at the start of the Robin Williams vehicle Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Also during the 1980s and 1990s, Jones served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute.

Jones's final Looney Tunes cartoon was From Hare to Eternity (1997), which starred Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, with Greg Burson voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to Friz Freleng, who had died in 1995. Jones's final animation project was a series of 13 shorts starring a timber wolf character he had designed in the 1960s named Thomas Timber Wolf. The series was released online by Warner Bros. in 2000. From 2001 until 2004, Cartoon Network aired The Chuck Jones Show which features shorts directed by him. The show won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project.

In 1997, Jones was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal.

In 1999, he founded the non-profit Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, in Costa Mesa, California, an art education "gymnasium for the brain" dedicated to teaching creative skills, primarily to children and seniors, which is still in operation.

In his later years, he recovered from skin cancer and received hip and ankle replacements.

Death
Jones died of congestive heart failure on February 22, 2002, at his home in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach at the age of 89. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. After his death, Cartoon Network aired a 20-second segment tracing Jones's portrait with the words "We'll miss you". Also, the Looney Tunes cartoon Daffy Duck for President, based on the book that Jones had written and using Jones's style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000, was released in 2004 as part of disc three of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 DVD set.

Academy Awards
Jones received an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 by the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century." At that year's awards show, Robin Williams, a self-confessed "Jones-aholic", presented the honorary award to Jones, calling him "The Orson Welles of cartoons", and the audience gave Jones a standing ovation as he walked onto the stage. For himself, a flattered Jones wryly remarked in his acceptance speech, "Well, what can I say in the face of such humiliating evidence? I stand guilty before the world of directing over three hundred cartoons in the last fifty or sixty years. Hopefully, this means you've forgiven me." He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb in 1988.

Honours
Jones was a historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. In 1990, Jones received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University in 1993. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7011 Hollywood Blvd. He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1974. In 1996, Jones received an Honorary Oscar at the 68th Academy Awards.

Art exhibit
Jones's life and legacy were celebrated on January 12, 2012, with the official grand opening of The Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus Las Vegas. Many of Jones's family welcomed celebrities, animation aficionados and visitors to the new attraction when they opened the attraction in an appropriate and unconventional way. Among those in attendance were Jones's widow, Marian Jones; daughter Linda Clough; and grandchildren Craig, Todd and Valerie Kausen.

Publications

 * Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51893-X.
 * Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51893-X.

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Costume

Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture.

The term also was traditionally used to describe typical appropriate clothing for certain activities, such as riding costume, swimming costume, dance costume, and evening costume. Appropriate and acceptable costume is subject to changes in fashion and local cultural norms.

This general usage has gradually been replaced by the terms "dress", "attire", "robes" or "wear" and usage of "costume" has become more limited to unusual or out-of-date clothing and to attire intended to evoke a change in identity, such as theatrical, Halloween, and mascot costumes.

Before the advent of ready-to-wear apparel, clothing was made by hand. When made for commercial sale it was made, as late as the beginning of the 20th century, by "costumiers", often women who ran businesses that met the demand for complicated or intimate female costume, including millinery and corsetry.

Etymology
Derived from the Italian language and passed down through French, the term "costume" shares its origins with the word signifying fashion or custom. Variedly, the term "costume," indicating clothing exclusively from the eighteenth century onward, can be traced back to the Latin consuetudo, meaning "custom" or "usage."

National costume
National costume or regional costume expresses local (or exiled) identity and emphasizes a culture's unique attributes. They are often a source of national pride. Examples include the Scottish kilt, Turkish Zeybek, or Japanese kimono.

In Bhutan there is a traditional national dress prescribed for men and women, including the monarchy. These have been in vogue for thousands of years and have developed into a distinctive dress style. The dress worn by men is known as Gho which is a robe worn up to knee-length and is fastened at the waist by a band called the Kera. The front part of the dress which is formed like a pouch, in olden days was used to hold baskets of food and short dagger, but now it is used to keep cell phone, purse and the betel nut called Doma. The dress worn by women consist of three pieces known as Kira, Tego and Wonju. The long dress which extends up to the ankle is Kira. The jacket worn above this is Tego which is provided with Wonju, the inner jacket. However, while visiting the Dzong or monastery a long scarf or stoll, called Kabney is worn by men across the shoulder, in colours appropriate to their ranks. Women also wear scarfs or stolls called Rachus, made of raw silk with embroidery, over their shoulder but not indicative of their rank.

Theatrical costume
Costume often refers to a particular style of clothing worn to portray the wearer as a character or type of character at a social event in a theatrical performance on the stage or in film or television. In combination with other aspects of stagecraft, theatrical costumes can help actors portray characters' and their contexts as well as communicate information about the historical period/era, geographic location and time of day, season or weather of the theatrical performance. Some stylized theatrical costumes, such as Harlequin and Pantaloon in the Commedia dell'arte, exaggerate an aspect of a character.

Costume in Folk Dances
Costume plays a significant role in traditional folk dances around the world, serving as a visual representation of cultural identity, heritage, and tradition. Drawing upon diverse sources, including studies on costume design in film industries and theatrical productions, as well as explorations of fashion and traditional crafts, this section sheds light on the importance and characteristics of costumes in folk dances across different cultures.

Role of Costume in Cultural Representation
In both Hollywood and Bollywood film industries, costume design is integral to character portrayal and storytelling. Costumes are meticulously crafted to evoke specific time periods, social statuses, and cultural contexts, enhancing the authenticity and visual appeal of characters. Similarly, in folk dances, costumes serve as cultural markers, reflecting the unique attributes of a community or region. The Indian fashion industry, for instance, has embraced traditional crafts and embellishments, contributing to the vibrant and diverse range of costumes seen in Indian folk dances.

Intersection of Fashion and Theatrical Design
The intersection of fashion design and theatrical costume design offers valuable insights into the creative processes and influences shaping costume design practices. While fashion design emphasizes innovation and individual expression, theatrical costume design often prioritizes historical accuracy and character representation. This dynamic interplay between fashion and theater resonates in folk dance costumes, where traditional aesthetics merge with contemporary influences to create visually stunning ensembles that preserve cultural heritage.

Symbolism and Tradition in Costume Design
In traditional Japanese Kabuki theater, costumes are imbued with symbolism and meaning, serving as integral elements of performance and storytelling. From elaborate makeup to intricate garments, each costume element conveys specific character traits, emotions, and narrative motifs. Similarly, in folk dances, costumes carry symbolic significance, reflecting historical narratives, religious beliefs, and social customs. Through meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship, folk dance costumes preserve age-old traditions while adapting to modern sensibilities.

Evolution and Innovation
While rooted in tradition, folk dance costumes continue to evolve and adapt to changing cultural landscapes. Modern interpretations of traditional attire incorporate contemporary elements and materials, reflecting the dynamic nature of cultural identity. As seen in Kabuki theater, the fusion of tradition and modernity gives rise to innovative costume designs that captivate audiences while honoring ancestral heritage.

In conclusion, costume in folk dances serves as a tangible expression of cultural identity, tradition, and artistic creativity. From the elaborate attire of Bollywood films to the symbolic costumes of Kabuki theater, the diverse array of folk dance costumes underscores the rich tapestry of global cultural heritage.

Costume construction
A costume technician is a term used for a person that constructs and/or alters the costumes. The costume technician is responsible for taking the two dimensional sketch and translating it to create a garment that resembles the designer's rendering. It is important for a technician to keep the ideas of the designer in mind when building the garment.

Draping and cutting
Draping is the art of manipulating the fabric using pins and hand stitching to create structure on a body. This is usually done on a dress form to get the adequate shape for the performer. Cutting is the act of laying out fabric on a flat surface, using scissors to cut and follow along a pattern. These pieces are put together to create a final costume.

Pros and cons of draping

 * It is easier to visualize the finished product
 * It is hard to keep the fabric symmetric
 * You are able to drape in your fashion fabric rather than making a muslin mockup
 * Draping makes it difficult to replicate for multiple people
 * There are no needs for patterns
 * It can be hard to keep the grain of the fabric straight
 * There is less waste when using the specific fabric from the start

Pros and cons of cutting

 * You are able to create your own pattern to fit a certain size
 * You may need instructions to piece the fabric together
 * It is easier to control the grain of the fabric as well as symmetry
 * There is more ability to create many of the same garment
 * The measurements can be very accurate
 * It takes time to see the final product

Jobs

 * Costume designer: Designs and creates a concept for the costumes for the play or performance.
 * Costume technician: Constructs and patterns the costumes for the play or performance.
 * Wardrobe supervisor: Oversees the wardrobe crew and run of the show from backstage. They are responsible for maintaining the good condition of the costumes.
 * Milliner: Also known as a hatmaker, responsible for the manufacturing of hats and headwear.

Religious festivals
The wearing of costumes is an important part of holidays developed from religious festivals such as Mardi Gras (in the lead up to Easter), and Halloween (related to All Hallow's Eve). Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form of jesters and other fantasy characters; Halloween costumes traditionally take the form of supernatural creatures such as ghosts, vampires, pop-culture icons and angels. Halloween costumes developed from pre-Christian religious traditions: to avoid being terrorized by evil spirits walking the Earth during the harvest festival Samhain, the Celts donned disguises. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory VIII designated November 1 as All Saints Day, and the preceding days as All Hallows Eve; Samhain's costuming tradition was incorporated into these Christian holidays. Given the Catholic and pagan roots of the holiday, it has been repudiated by some Protestants. However, in the modern era, Halloween "is widely celebrated in almost every corner of American life," and the wearing of costumes forms part of a secular tradition. In 2022, United States households spent an average of $100 preparing for Halloween, with $34 going to costume-related spending.

Christmas costumes typically portray characters such as Santa Claus (developed from Saint Nicholas). In Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States the American version of a Santa suit and beard is popular; in the Netherlands, the costume of Zwarte Piet is customary. Easter costumes are associated with the Easter Bunny or other animal costumes.

In Judaism, a common practice is to dress up on Purim. During this holiday, Jews celebrate the change of their destiny. They were delivered from being the victims of an evil decree against them and were instead allowed by the King to destroy their enemies. A quote from the Book of Esther, which says: "On the contrary" (ונהפוך הוא) is the reason that wearing a costume has become customary for this holiday.

Buddhist religious festivals in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and Lhasa and Sikkim in India perform the Cham dance, which is a popular dance form utilising masks and costumes.

Parades and processions
Parades and processions provide opportunities for people to dress up in historical or imaginative costumes. For example, in 1879 the artist Hans Makart designed costumes and scenery to celebrate the wedding anniversary of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and Empress and led the people of Vienna in a costume parade that became a regular event until the mid-twentieth century. Uncle Sam costumes are worn on Independence Day in the United States. The Lion Dance, which is part of Chinese New Year celebrations, is performed in costume. Some costumes, such as the ones used in the Dragon Dance, need teams of people to create the required effect.

Sporting events and parties
Public sporting events such as fun runs also provide opportunities for wearing costumes, as do private masquerade balls and fancy dress parties.

Mascots

Costumes are popularly employed at sporting events, during which fans dress as their team's representative mascot to show their support. Businesses use mascot costumes to bring in people to their business either by placing their mascot in the street by their business or sending their mascot out to sporting events, festivals, national celebrations, fairs, and parades. Mascots appear at organizations wanting to raise awareness of their work. Children's Book authors create mascots from the main character to present at their book signings. Animal costumes that are visually very similar to mascot costumes are also popular among the members of the furry fandom, where the costumes are referred to as fursuits and match one's animal persona, or "fursona".

Children
Costumes also serve as an avenue for children to explore and role-play. For example, children may dress up as characters from history or fiction, such as pirates, princesses, cowboys, or superheroes. They may also dress in uniforms used in common jobs, such as nurses, police officers, or firefighters, or as zoo or farm animals. Young boys tend to prefer costumes that reinforce stereotypical ideas of being male, and young girls tend to prefer costumes that reinforce stereotypical ideas of being female.

Cosplay
Cosplay, a word of Japanese origin that in English is short for "costume display" or "costume play", is a performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually always identified with a unique name (as opposed to a generic word). These costume wearers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play, so they can be seen most often in play groups, or at a gathering or convention. A significant number of these costumes are homemade and unique, and depend on the character, idea, or object the costume wearer is attempting to imitate or represent. The costumes themselves are often artistically judged to how well they represent the subject or object that the costume wearer is attempting to contrive.

Design

Costume design is the envisioning of clothing and the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the artistic, visual world that is unique to a particular theatrical or cinematic production. The most basic designs are produced to denote status, provide protection or modesty, or provide visual interest to a character. Costumes may be for, but not limited to, theater, cinema, or musical performances. Costume design should not be confused with costume coordination, which merely involves altering existing clothing, although both processes are used to create stage clothes.

Organizations
The Costume Designers Guild's international membership includes motion picture, television, and commercial costume designers, assistant costume designers and costume illustrators, and totals over 750 members.

The National Costumers Association is an 80 year old association of professional costumers and costume shops.

Publications
The Costume Designer is a quarterly magazine devoted to the costume design industry.

Notable designers and awards
Notable costume designers include recipients of the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Tony Award for Best Costume Design, and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design. Edith Head and Orry-Kelly, both of whom were born late in 1897, were two of Hollywood's most notable costume designers.

Industry
Professional-grade costumes are typically designed and produced by costume companies who can design and create unique costumes. These companies have often been in business for over 100 years, and continue to work with individual clients to create professional quality costumes.

Professional costume houses rent and sell costumes for the trade. This includes companies that create mascots, costumes for film, TV costumes and theatrical costumes.

Larger costume companies have warehouses full of costumes for rental to customers.

There is an industry where costumers work with clients and design costumes from scratch. They then will create original costumes specifically to the clients specifications.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Cable car (railway)

A cable car (usually known as a cable tram outside North America) is a type of cable railway used for mass transit in which rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars, where the cars are permanently attached to the cable.

History

The first cable-operated railway, employing a moving rope that could be picked up or released by a grip on the cars was the Fawdon Wagonway in 1826, a colliery railway line. The London and Blackwall Railway, which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system. The rope available at the time proved too susceptible to wear and the system was abandoned in favour of steam locomotives after eight years. In America, the first cable car installation in operation probably was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway in New York City, as its first-ever elevated railway which ran from 1 July 1868 to 1870. The cable technology used in this elevated railway involved collar-equipped cables and claw-equipped cars, proving cumbersome. The line was closed and rebuilt, reopening with steam locomotives.

In 1869 P. G. T. Beauregard demonstrated a cable car at New Orleans and was issued.

Other cable cars to use grips were those of the Clay Street Hill Railroad, which later became part of the San Francisco cable car system. The building of this line was promoted by Andrew Smith Hallidie with design work by William Eppelsheimer, and it was first tested in 1873. The success of these grips ensured that this line became the model for other cable car transit systems, and this model is often known as the Hallidie Cable Car.

In 1881 the Dunedin cable tramway system opened in Dunedin, New Zealand and became the first such system outside San Francisco. For Dunedin, George Smith Duncan further developed the Hallidie model, introducing the pull curve and the slot brake; the former was a way to pull cars through a curve, since Dunedin's curves were too sharp to allow coasting, while the latter forced a wedge down into the cable slot to stop the car. Both of these innovations were generally adopted by other cities, including San Francisco.

In Australia, the Melbourne cable tramway system operated from 1885 to 1940. It was one of the most extensive in the world with 1200 trams and trailers operating over 15 routes with 103 km (64 miles) of track. Sydney also had a couple of cable tram routes.

Cable cars rapidly spread to other cities, although the major attraction for most was the ability to displace horsecar (or mule-drawn) systems rather than the ability to climb hills. Many people at the time viewed horse-drawn transit as unnecessarily cruel, and the fact that a typical horse could work only four or five hours per day necessitated the maintenance of large stables of draft animals that had to be fed, housed, groomed, medicated and rested. Thus, for a period, economics worked in favour of cable cars even in relatively flat cities.

For example, the Chicago City Railway, also designed by Eppelsheimer, opened in Chicago in 1882 and went on to become the largest and most profitable cable car system. As with many cities, the problem in flat Chicago was not one of incline, but of transportation capacity. This caused a different approach to the combination of grip car and trailer. Rather than using a grip car and single trailer, as many cities did, or combining the grip and trailer into a single car, like San Francisco's California Cars, Chicago used grip cars to pull trains of up to three trailers.

In 1883 the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway was opened, which had a most curious feature: though it was a cable car system, it used steam locomotives to get the cars into and out of the terminals. After 1896 the system was changed to one on which a motor car was added to each train to maneuver at the terminals, while en route, the trains were still propelled by the cable.

On 25 September 1883, a test of a cable car system was held by Liverpool Tramways Company in Kirkdale, Liverpool. This would have been the first cable car system in Europe, but the company decided against implementing it. Instead, the distinction went to the 1884 Highgate Hill Cable Tramway, a route from Archway to Highgate, north London, which used a continuous cable and grip system on the 1 in 11 (9%) climb of Highgate Hill. The installation was not reliable and was replaced by electric traction in 1909. Other cable car systems were implemented in Europe, though, among which was the Glasgow District Subway, the first underground cable car system, in 1896. (London, England's first deep-level tube railway, the City & South London Railway, had earlier also been built for cable haulage but had been converted to electric traction before opening in 1890.) A few more cable car systems were built in the United Kingdom, Portugal, and France. European cities, having many more curves in their streets, were ultimately less suitable for cable cars than American cities.

Though some new cable car systems were still being built, by 1890 the cheaper to construct and simpler to operate electrically-powered trolley or tram started to become the norm, and eventually started to replace existing cable car systems. For a while hybrid cable/electric systems operated, for example in Chicago where electric cars had to be pulled by grip cars through the loop area, due to the lack of trolley wires there. Eventually, San Francisco became the only street-running manually operated system to survive—Dunedin, the second city with such cars, was also the second-last city to operate them, closing down in 1957.

Recent revival
In the last decades of the 20th-century, cable traction in general has seen a limited revival as automatic people movers, used in resort areas, airports (for example, Toronto Airport), huge hospital centers and some urban settings. While many of these systems involve cars permanently attached to the cable, the Minimetro system from Poma/Leitner Group and the Cable Liner system from DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car both have variants that allow the cars to be automatically decoupled from the cable under computer control, and can thus be considered a modern interpretation of the cable car.

Operation

The cable is itself powered by a stationary engine or motor situated in a cable house or power house. The speed at which it moves is relatively constant depending on the number of units gripping the cable at any given time.

The cable car begins moving when a clamping device attached to the car, called a grip, applies pressure to ("grip") the moving cable. Conversely, the car is stopped by releasing pressure on the cable (with or without completely detaching) and applying the brakes. This gripping and releasing action may be manual, as was the case in all early cable car systems, or automatic, as is the case in some recent cable operated people mover type systems. Gripping must be applied evenly and gradually in order to avoid bringing the car to cable speed too quickly and unacceptably jarring passengers.

In the case of manual systems, the grip resembles a very large pair of pliers, and considerable strength and skill are required to operate the car. As many early cable car operators discovered the hard way, if the grip is not applied properly, it can damage the cable, or even worse, become entangled in the cable. In the latter case, the cable car may not be able to stop and can wreak havoc along its route until the cable house realizes the mishap and halts the cable.

One apparent advantage of the cable car is its relative energy efficiency. This is due to the economy of centrally located power stations, and the ability of descending cars to transfer energy to ascending cars. However, this advantage is totally negated by the relatively large energy consumption required to simply move the cable over and under the numerous guide rollers and around the many sheaves. Approximately 95% of the tractive effort in the San Francisco system is expended in simply moving the four cables at 9.5 mph. Electric cars with regenerative braking do offer the advantages, without the problem of moving a cable. In the case of steep grades, however, cable traction has the major advantage of not depending on adhesion between wheels and rails. There is also the advantage that keeping the car gripped to the cable will also limit the downhill speed of the car to that of the cable.

Because of the constant and relatively low speed, a cable car's potential to cause harm in an accident can be underestimated. Even with a cable car traveling at only 9 mph, the mass of the cable car and the combined strength and speed of the cable can cause extensive damage in a collision.

Relation to funiculars
A cable car is superficially similar to a funicular, but differs from such a system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started. A cable car cannot climb as steep a grade as a funicular, but many more cars can be operated with a single cable, making it more flexible, and allowing a higher capacity. During the rush hour on San Francisco's Market Street Railway in 1883, a car would leave the terminal every 15 seconds.

A few funicular railways operate in street traffic, and because of this operation are often incorrectly described as cable cars. Examples of such operation, and the consequent confusion, are:
 * The Great Orme Tramway in Llandudno, Wales.
 * Several street funiculars in Lisbon, Portugal.

Even more confusingly, a hybrid cable car/funicular line once existed in the form of the original Wellington Cable Car, in the New Zealand city of Wellington. This line had both a continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, and a balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. This line was rebuilt in 1979 and is now a standard funicular, although it retains its old cable car name.

Traditional cable car systems
The best-known existing cable car system is the San Francisco cable car system in the city of San Francisco, California. San Francisco's cable cars constitute the oldest and largest such system in permanent operation, and it is one of the few still functioning in the traditional manner, with manually operated cars running in street traffic. Other examples of cable powered systems can be found on the Great Orme in North Wales, and in Lisbon in Portugal. All of these however are slightly different to San Francisco in that the cars are permanently attached to the cable.

Modern cable car systems
Several cities operate a modern version of the cable car system. These systems are fully automated and run on their own reserved right of way. They are commonly referred to as people movers, although that term is also applied to systems with other forms of propulsion, including funicular style cable propulsion.

These cities include:

 * Oakland, California, United States – The Oakland Airport Connector system between the BART rapid transit system and Oakland International Airport, based on Doppelmayr Cable Car's Cable Liner Pinched Loop
 * Perugia, Italy – The Perugia People Mover, based on Leitner's MiniMetro
 * Shanghai, China - The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, based on Soulé's SK
 * Caracas, Venezuela - The Cabletren Bolivariano, based on Doppelmayr Cable Car's Cable Liner Pinched Loop
 * Zürich, Switzerland - The Skymetro connects the Zurich Airport's main Airside Center, Gates A, B and C with its mid-field Gates E, based on OTIS's Otis Hovair

Australia

 * Melbourne (1885–1940, the Melbourne cable tramway system)
 * Sydney (1886–1905)

France

 * Laon – The Poma 2000 (service ended in 2016)
 * Paris (Tramway funiculaire de Belleville 1873–1935)

Lebanon

 * Beirut (Late 1880s until destruction during the Lebanese Civil War)

New Zealand

 * Dunedin (1881–1957, the Dunedin cable tramway system)
 * Wellington (1902–1979, the original Wellington Cable Car hybrid system)

Philippines

 * Manila (Early 1900s-1930s, the Manila-Malabon railway.)

Portugal

 * Lisbon (converted to regular tram lines in the early 20th century: São Sebastião, Estrela, and Graça)

United Kingdom

 * Birmingham (City of Birmingham Tramways Company Ltd, 1888–1911, converted to electric traction)
 * Edinburgh (Edinburgh Corporation Tramways, 1899–1923, converted to electric traction)
 * Glasgow (Glasgow Subway, 1896–1935, converted to electric traction)
 * Hastings
 * Liverpool (trial in 1883)
 * London, England (1884–1909, Highgate Hill Cable Tramway connecting Archway with Highgate, the first cable car in regular operation in Europe)
 * Matlock (1893–1927, the Matlock Cable Tramway)

Isle of Man

 * Douglas (1896–1929, the Upper Douglas Cable Tramway)

United States

 * Baltimore, Maryland (1890–1897)
 * Binghamton, New York (trial in 1885)
 * Brooklyn, New York
 * New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway
 * Brooklyn Cable Company's Park Avenue Line
 * Brooklyn Heights Railroad's Montague Street Line
 * Butte, Montana (1889–1897)
 * Chicago, Illinois (1882–1906)
 * Chicago City Railway
 * North Chicago Street Railroad
 * West Chicago Street Railroad
 * Cincinnati, Ohio
 * Cleveland, Ohio
 * Denver, Colorado (1886–1900, the Denver Tramway)
 * Grand Rapids, Michigan
 * Hoboken, New Jersey (1886–1892, the North Hudson County Railway's Hoboken Elevated)
 * Kansas City, Missouri (1885–1913), including 9th St Incline (1888–1902), 8th St. Tunnel in use (1887–1956)
 * Los Angeles, California (1885–1889) Second Street Cable Railway, (1886–1902) Temple Street Cable Railway, (1889–1896) Los Angeles Cable Railway
 * New York City
 * West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway's Ninth Avenue Line
 * New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway
 * Third Avenue Railroad's 125th Street Crosstown Line
 * Third Avenue Railroad's Third Avenue Line
 * Metropolitan Street Railway's Broadway Line
 * Metropolitan Street Railway's Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line
 * Metropolitan Street Railway's Broadway and Lexington Avenue Line
 * IRT Ninth Avenue Line (defunct)
 * Newark, New Jersey (1888–1889)
 * Oakland, California (1886–1899)
 * Omaha, Nebraska
 * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * Portland, Oregon (1890–1904)
 * Providence, Rhode Island (1888–1895)
 * St. Louis, Missouri
 * Saint Paul, Minnesota
 * San Diego, California (1890–1892)
 * Seattle, Washington (1888–1940)
 * Sioux City, Iowa
 * Spokane, Washington (1899–1936)
 * Tacoma, Washington (1891–1938)
 * Tulsa, Oklahoma
 * Washington, D.C. (1890–1899, part of the Washington streetcar system)
 * Wichita, Kansas

title: Cable car (railway)


text:
Talk:Cable car (railway)

First Comments (2004)
Article read:
 * Cable cars take many different forms, the only attribute in common is the cable that pulls the vehicles.

I disagree with that. There are at least two, different, but quite specific, definitions of "cable car". One is a cabin suspended along a cable in the sky, pulled by that cable. The other is a light rail system using a cable in the road to pull the light rail cars along. Rather than saying that, the article should differentiate the two different senses of this word. -- SJK

Two questions:
 * the article lists Saint Paul, MN as having a cable car. I am in Saint Paul. Where is the cable car?

 * It doesn't exist anymore, see http://web.hamline.edu/students/orgs/oracle/archives/22701/neighborhood.html for details (btw, I live in Minneapolis) dml

 * In San Francisco, I believe there are intersections where cable cars move on both intersecting streets. Given that the cars grip the cable, how does that work? AxelBoldt

 * The car degrips the cable to crossover, presumably rolling downhill on track, before regripping dml

 * Actually, moving with its own momentum. I doubt you'd want to do this with a down-hill track, as that means it's going up-hill on the return trip. Aliter 14:57, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

- I live in Sydney and I've been to Melbourne and I've never seen cable cars in either... except if you count roller coasters. Where are they? And where did the original author get this amazingly accurate list? -- Tim

 * Except for the San Francisco lines, all the cable car services have been terminated. Nl:Kabeltram (rails) Aliter 14:57, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

A Cable Car on rails is not a vertical mover. Eg. one of the most succesful networks was Chicago. A cable car can go nearly anywhere, as long as there's a cable to pull. That's quite different from the possibilities of the funicular, and it's the latter that should be categorized vertical transport system. Aliter 14:57, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Should San Francisco be in the 'previous' list? I believe some of its lines have indeed ceased, but the list title stresses cities, rather than lines.
 * Agreed; removed. Gwimpey 22:56, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

We probably should add a bit more of the mechanics, as for Axel Boldt's question above.Aliter 19:06, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I added both Kansas City and Denver to the list of cities previously having cable cars. Both cities switched to trolleys that were later also abandoned in favor of buses. Gwimpey 22:56, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

San Francisco isn't the only city using cable cars! Wellington, New Zealand runs a line between the central city and the university area. I've amended the article to accommodate this. Grutness|hello?
 * Nothing personal, but the Wellington line is a funicular, of which there are quite a few in the world (including ones that have stations). Only SF has a Halladie cable car, which were once quite common. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 04:04, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

OK - if that's the case it shouldn't be here... but perhaps there needs to be some explanation of the exact differences between the two. ISTR that Wellingon's is driven by a "wheelhouse" and the cars grip onto the moving cable, which is pretty much what it gives as a definition here. Meanwhile the cable cars listed for Dunedin were IIRC run by individual motors like trams, but on a cable (contrary to the definitions here). I'm now thoroughly confused as to which is which. Grutness|hello? 05:30, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I explained cable car vs. funicular in some more detail. See if you think it needs more. It might not matter as much, but there were many Halladie systems at one time, as well as many funiculars (and still quite a few of the latter). Some funiculars look pretty much like street railways while others (inclines) are virtually tandem elevators where the car is balanced by another car instead of a counterweight and are not quite vertical. I'm going to look into Dunedin to see if I can find a technical explanation of how a cable car could have a motor. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 06:30, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * According to a couple of web sites I have found, http://www.cablecarmuseum.co.nz/ and http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3589/cablecar.html, the original Wellington Cable Car was a rather strange hybrid of a cable car and a funicular. There were two seperate cables involved. One was a continuous loop haulage cable which the cars gripped using a cable car gripper. The other was a balance cable permanently attached to the cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. However the first reference also implies that the haulage cable was stopped and started, perhaps just to save energy moving it when both cars were stationary. It seems a weird system that combines the disadvantages of both systems, but it explains the name of the cable car. However all of that was replaced by what sounds like an off the shelf Swiss funicular in 1979, so if Wellington belongs in this article, it is in the cities previously section. I'll amend article accordingly. -- Chris j wood 13:49, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Another thought. As NZ obviously seems to delight in strange hybrids, perhaps the Dunedin system referred to could have been similar, retaining the balance cable but with the haulage cable component replaced with motorised cars. I think at least one of Lisbon's street running funiculars works on this principle. -- Chris j wood 13:49, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Title
I changed the title of this to conform to the style that articles should be titled to what they describe. There is no public or industry nomenclature of a "cable car on rails" (i.e., no one call it that), and the name is a little awkward. It sounds like a rock group, like Death Cab for Cutie. I will fix the redirects. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 03:43, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Good move. -- Chris j wood 12:03, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Recent updates by Cecropia
These are a great improvement on what went before. I have made a few further changes, explanation here:

 * One of the problems over the life of this article has been contributors failing to understand the difference between a cable car and a funicular, and adding random funiculars (of which there are hundreds still operating around the world) to the list part of the article. To try and avoid this, I added the section comparing the cable car wrt the funicular at the front of the article. This rewrite has moved that way back, which is much better from a stylistic/readership pov, but risks getting back into the 'I'll add my favorite funicular' syndrome. So I have added a little more detail to the lead para to try and minimise this.

 * I've also removed the speed statement from the lead para, as it seemed a bit out of place there. I've replaced it in a more example form in the operation section; and I'll make sure it goes into the San Francisco cable car system article if it isn't already there.

 * I've removed the detail on which cable car routes are still in operation in San Francisco. The San Francisco cable car system has an article of its own, which covers this and is linked in an earlier paragraph in the same section, so this seemed a little too detailed for the summary here.

 * Under 'cities currently operating', I've removed the picture of the Wellington Cable Car, as this is a funicular not a cable car. This is in fact pointed out in the 'compared to/funicular' section earlier. There may be a case to re-insert the image there as a 'this is NOT a cable car' example, but that may be too confusing.

 * I've reworded the comparison to funiculars; hopefully improved and pointed out true status of Wellington Cable Car.

 * I've added a section on cable traction in subways.

-- Chris j wood 13:03, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Also under 'cities currently operating', the text now reads 'San Francisco ... is now the only city in the world which has more than one cable car route in permanent operation' which kind of implies there is somewhere else with only one cable car route in permanent operation. This differs from what the article previously said, perhaps because of an earlier erroneous re-addition of Wellington. I havn't changed this, but I rather suspect that there are no other cable car systems in permanent operation.

Development
Though I don't mind the details of every line being treated in separate articles, which was actually why I made every line a link, the details I did mention in this article gave a development of the cable car. If most people prefer a list of "In the was introduced by the to make possible.", that's OK with me. But don't move out the development details entirely, as that returns us to the "Some bloke in San Francisco one day thought up the Cable Car as it runs today", which I wanted to refute. Aliter 00:12, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * I don't think I can be other than blunt here. Until a few days ago this article was very ragged around the edges, and I include my contributions in that analysis. Then Cecropia put a lot of effort into editing the article, produced an article that IMHO told a really good story about cable cars. With a few reservations (which you can read about above) I thought this a major improvement. My first reaction on seeing your rewrite, which came only a few hours later and positively demolished most of his changes, was devastating. I got the distinct impression you hadn't read the discussion above that explained why a lot of the article was as it was. However on reading further I realised you had some good points to make, about the continued development and about some modern people mover use of cable car technology (I confess that until I researched these, I'd assumed these were all horizontal funiculars). However I'm still firmly convinced that your changes, whilst improving the article from a pov of versimilitude and breadth, have made it much less accessible/readable; it may tell a more correct story now but it isn't necessarily a better story. What I'm now trying to do is produce an article that is as user-friendly as it was prior to your changes, but incorporating your good factual corrections. The changes are still in progress; I hope that by the time I've finished you won't think that I've returned the article to "Some bloke in San Francisco one day thought up the Cable Car as it runs today"; one of my main aims in creating the article San Francisco cable car system was to offload most of the SF specific stuff from the general article. -- Chris j wood 01:38, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I have no problem with blunt. It has that it's your opinion, and it also happens to be mine. I knew that in the process I was reversing several changes that improved the look of the article, but in my opinion hid information. I probably overdid it a bit, but for a mostly historical topic the article drifts remarkably fast, so I saw no better solution than to make as much explicite as I could recall. (I think Denver used to have a spare cable running through the vault, and there was a system that had powered cars, but I can't recall the details.) I just hoped that if I pulled it all together into a historical development, we would afterwards be able to improve the readability again without losing that part. If you say your edits will do that, then they're fine with me. (Horizontal movers with cable car technology were added just after I changed the article. They were a surprise for me too.) Aliter 16:52, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I am the "guilty" party who inserted the small parts about the automated cable cars-people movers in this and other related articles, such as the one on the town of Laon. Right after doing so I wondered if I sould not have mentioned that there is another big manufacturer, Doppelmayr, in addition to Poma-Otis, even if Doppelmayr has only three installations (and Doppelmayr does much more business with its funiculars and ski lifts than with its true cable cars)because this way it would have seemed less likely that this might be an ad for Poma-Otis. But before I could change anything these artciles went thoough massive restructurings! I think I will wait till the dust settles before I do any form of change. --AlainV 00:11, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Incidentally, I wonder if you could cite some sources for your down-playing of Andrew Smith Hallidie in favour of Benjamin Brooks and William Eppelsheimer. I know that http://www.cable-car-guy.com says something similar, but the cable car museum (both from memory of visting it, and from its web site) is fairly unequivocal that Hallidie was 'the inventor of the cable car'. -- Chris j wood 02:01, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, I've thought about this a bit. It would certainly have been better if Aliter had discussed this a bit, before tearing apart an article I worked on for hours after the prior article had lain fallow for some time, but I would like to address the substantive issues:

 * Aliter's article is interesting and useful, but in replacing the previous article he (assume) deleted much that was useful and accessible to the ordinary reader, especially the economic and social implications of the rise and fall of the cable car. The substitution, IMO, rather muddies the differences between systems of different concept and application, which happen to use cables as a means of propulsion. The Brooklyn Bridge cable railway was not the same as a street railway cable car which was not the same as the West Side Patent. Removal of the fact that the line was rebuilt and effectively became the beginning of the Manhattan Elevated system is an unfortunate omission.

 * However, we can live happily ever after, or at least until the next revision. I believe this should be broken out into two articles (Wikipedia has the space, trust me), the current one as Development of Cable Railways, the other Cable Car (railway) or maybe more appropriately Cable Car (street railway). Not everything can or should be folded into a "this is the definitive article that all other terms must redirect to" as we have had with Tram.

 * I am not compulsive about the exact names of the respective articles, just the concept of not throwing out useful and interesting material. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 03:39, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * I did wonder about this. As it was presented before Aliter's changes, the article was really about cable streetcars or cable trams, and the only reference to cable propulsion on railways came in the sections on comparisons with other systems; although the article title and the Cable car dab article tended to imply a broader coverage. Aliter somewhat changed the emphasis, bringing railways and people movers into the fold; although even after those changes the lead para still insisted on the vehicles being streetcars or trams which rather contradicted the rest of the article. I removed broadened the lead para to any rail-mounted vehicle; if I understand you (Cecropia) correctly, you are suggesting instead narrowing the article (back) to street running systems only, and having a seperate article on the more general topic of anything using rails, a cable and a detatchable grip.

 * I'm somewhat uncertain about such a split. I think to a certain extent it depends on how closely these railway and people mover systems relate in a developmental sense to the street running cable cars. And that is difficult to know because info on how they work(ed) seems hard to come by; what exactly does a cable operated people mover's grip look like?; how did the collar mechaninsm of the West Side Patent work?; etc. If you feel like going ahead with such a split, I don't have any objection. It may be worth having the general article about cable hauled rail systems in general, subsuming funiculars as well, and having the current funicular article as a sub-article much as this article would become.

 * I think your reservations on the loss of the social and economic history are more easily dealt with; we just merge it back alongside the more technical stuff Aliter added. I will continue working on this (probably slowly as I'm about to go out for the day); I don't think this will conflict with any split you may do. -- Chris j wood 10:57, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Regarding the nonn-technical details - Most of them were still there in the modified article, just not collected in a single spot. Some may have been replaced by a fact refuting their claim, though. Regarding the line details - I dropped some details about the lines from the article and left out many more, but I hope those, being more relevant to the individual lines than to the topic of Cable Cars, will create many pages on specific Cable Car lines. Regarding the sources - I don't recall; they were quite some time ago. But it's quite easy to compare the historical line with the current lines. The current grips are a later design. The California cars were a later design, let-go curves and pull-curves were later additions. The slot-brake was a later invention. What's left is mostly the concepts of detachable cars and the grip. The former existed in New York, though I admit that I have never seen Hallidie's 1867 patent, and have only assumed it was about furnicular-style. This would leave the grip. That is indeed an immense improvement over the earlier collar and claws system, and it is enough to make Hallidie a leader in his field, just not a hero. Mind you, what I see in Hallidie's biographies is a liar and meddler, who thought himself superior to others, and whose success stemmed from his fathers invention of steel cable. That would be just the person to take over the franchise and the design, lie about his first run after he himself ran out of time, and finally patent the technology he had taken over. But I did not write that in the article; all I wrote there is that it's unknown how much of the earlier design was used. I expect the museum is unintentionally prejudiced, being in the city itself, but if they have the notes of Brooke, of course, we should adapt the article accordingly. As you mentioned the cable guy I looked him up as well; he has a newspaper article on Brooks, which refers to Brooke as the true inventor. Maybe that would give more information. There was a suggestion that I could have discussed the changes first. That is true; it is unfortunate that I choose to do as those that went before me. Aliter 16:52, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

My compliments for Chris' syncretic skills, which created a superior article. Through the contributions of all of us, we've taken the article well beyond this version of just 15 days ago. Aliter 15:58, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

When bad things happen to nice cable cars
Since SF-style cable cars still exist today, what happens when they come to minor grief is more than an academic question. I'm referring to cases like hitting a dead spot (i.e., stopped at a location where it is impossible to pick up the cable) or derailment.

In the latter case, I actually saw a derailment, at the turntable at the end of the Powell-Hyde Line. This took place in 1982, before it was all rebuilt. I couldn't get clear as to the cause, I thinkit was a slight misaligment of the turntable with the track stub, aggrevated by the poor condition of everything. I do recall a nearby German tourist commenting something about the "stupid incompetent Americans" as though he were watching a badly designed carnival ride. (His comment was in German, but my wife translated for me). In that case, all that was needed was to lever the car back onto the tracks.

Now I assume that we simply get out and push if you're on a dead spot, but remembering the steepness of the hills, that seems like that could cause too much excitement (as it were) if the pushing was done at the intersection of California and Powell if the cable weren't picked up smoothly. Anyone know what current protocol is? I think it would be worth mentioning in the article. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 20:00, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * I was on a waterfront bound Powell & Hyde car a couple of years back when we stalled at the crossing at Jackson and Mason. We sat there for five or so minutes and then a large tow-truck with a metal plate welded to its front arrived and proceded to push us uphill, still with a passenger load onboard. After a few yards we picked up the cable and continued. The gripman said 'the cable had gone down' which at the time I interpreted as meaning it had stopped, but the location and us picking up the cable after a short push makes me wonder if this wasn't actually a case of us ending up on a dead spot.

 * I noticed afterwards several large Muni tow trucks, and smaller pickup trucks, with similar 'push panels' welded to their front, so I'm guessing pushing cable cars in this way is a common procedure. I also saw one of the smaller trucks being used to shunt cars at Taylor and Bay terminus, which has a uncabled crossover and siding as well as the turntable. -- Chris j wood 14:00, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Cable gone down isn't that the cable had stopped, but that at that pointin the road the distance of the cable below the road (and hence below the grip) was too low to reach. The cable will be highest (ie nearest the road) at the pulleys but between them it sags and at the change between incline and flat the distance is greater. If the grip is already on then the cable will stay up but if the driver releases at the wrong point it will then be too low to catch again. --Vamp:Willow 15:30, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Except that in the October 2004 entry in Val Lupiz's 'Tales from the Grip' (http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cctftg.html#october2004), he describes a situation where the cable clearly had stopped with the words This can mean only one thing - the rope is down. As Val is a working gripman as well as an acknowledged writer about the San Francisco cable cars, then the words the cable is down from my gripman (and he may well have said rope rather than cable) is at best ambiguous. Don't get me wrong; I think it probably was as you describe but I also suspect the gripman may well have been well have been being a bit defensive about his part in the circumstances. -- Chris j wood 17:48, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I know little about gripmen parlance, but I expect at the crossing of California and Powell, one of the cables has to "go down" under the other. The gripman at the lower cable has to release the grip, NOT TOUCH HIS BRAKES for several yards, and grip the cable again. If he eg. elects to not mow down a pedestrian that should have passed behind him, the car is dead on the street. A line crossing is level, so there's no way the car can coast to a point with cable. (I seem to recall a system with a second grip in the rear, that might lessen the problem, but I can't recall whether it's a historical line, or one of those new people movers. I wonder if that would work on the SF lines.) Aliter 17:22, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Great Orme Tramway
I have added this cable tramway, despite the fact that it isn't in a city, as I think it is significant.--John 11:18, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Removed from article: Memphis

 * Memphis, Tennessee has included a return to this once popular form of transportation as part of its redesign of Downtown Memphis.  Memphis has two versions that are currently in service; one that runs from the Irish "Pinch" district to the south end near the world famous "Arcade" restaurant and Ernestine and Hazel's Juke Joint.  The second version makes a loop, sharing the first's tracks and adding a trip down Riverside Drive as well.  The plan for the future will connect Downtown to the FedEx area near the airport.

I can find no reference to this in a web search. Susvolans ⇔ 18:07, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

- Hey, no need to look elsewhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Area_Transit_Authority 16:47, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There's no information anywhere (not even Wikipedia itself!) that Memphis has anything other than electric streetcars or buses - neither of which are cable cars. I've removed that claim. Kesmet 21:15, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Merger with Tram
This article and Tram have been tagged for merger. Obviously since a cable car is a kind of tram that would mean merging this article to Tram. (It is noted below that not all cable cars are trams. Note also that not all trams are cable cars.  So they'd both have to be merged under a different title.  All the more reason not to merge.) The problem (other) is that this article is about 15 kilobytes & Tram is about 32 kilobytes. If they were merged, either some heavy trimming would have to be done or we'd produce a huge article. I therefore oppose any merger. Jimp 17:52, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

 * Oppose: Not all the systems described here are street railways (Glasgow subway, London & Blackwall) and they would lie very uncomfortably within Tram. User:Jimp's point about size is also very relevant. --Old Moonraker 18:01, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

 * OPPOSE: I find it hard to believe that anyone could make a serious suggestion to merge these two articles, unless of course they were 'just passing', knew nothing about either subject and didn't bother to read either article. The merge-proposer, who was anonymous, did not have the decency to give any reason why he thought the merge should take place. The main reasons for a merger would be: size – two smaller articles merged together, or a stub/small one into a larger one – or subject overlap – in which case, these two both need to be merged with 'railway' to create one huge mega-article. As has been discussed, neither criteria are satisfied here, and I cannot think of any other reasons why a merge would be appropriate. It's clearly not going to happen, so I would suggest the merge banners are removed 'soon' to stop wasting people's time.
 * PS - apologies for shouting -- I've seen a number of pointless merge requests in my time, and this has to be the most pointless yet -- EdJogg 12:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

 * I also oppose, since a cable car is a type of technology that has many differences from trams. I'm going to remove the tags. --NE2 17:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Just to back up NE2 in removing the merge tag and add my OPPOSE to the others. An encyclopedia is not an exercise in "One Size Fits All." Cable railways are unique enough and of enough interest in and of themselves to merit a separate article. -- Cecropia 18:40, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

A proposal
I'm proposing a small re-organization of articles including this one at: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Trains. I'd be grateful for your thoughts. Please post comment to Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Trains to keep the discussion in one place. Many thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gwernol (talk • contribs) 18:50, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Cities currently operating cable cars
I believe the line, "The only moving National Historic Landmark in the United States..." to be incorrect. The Wiki entry for San Francisco cable car system states, "The San Francisco cable cars are one of two moving National Historic Landmarks, along with Mystic Seaport Museum's steamship Sabino." Reference: Report on San Francisco's Cable Cars, San Francisco Beautiful May 2007 Dick Kimball (talk) 20:16, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Laon Poma 2000
Sometime between late 2006 (when I last edited this article) and now, the Laon Poma 2000 link has migrated from 'Cities currently operating cable cars' to 'Cities previously operating cable cars'. When and why did this line close?. -- Starbois (talk) 13:31, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Digging further, it seems the Laon Poma 2000 is still operational, and indeed celebrated its 20th anniversary in February. So I guess the move was either accidental (the editor spotted the France subheading without realising the section it was in) or a bit of unspotted vandalism. I've moved it back, and added a reference to the info I found. -- Starbois (talk) 11:16, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Wellington
Given the previous discussion about Wellington having a funicular, surely it should be removed from Cities Previously Operating Cable Cars, as the system has not fundamentally changed. While it is a hybrid it either should be in here as a current system, or removed as it is considered a funicular. It cannot be a former system if it is still running with the same characteristics as it always has done. Libertyscott (talk) 14:47, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Question
How do the cable-cars go around corners/curves in the street? If there cable is adjusted with a guidance-wheel the clutch-thingy would damage the wheel or make the cable derail, right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.229.200.50 (talk) 10:02, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

 * Well you could try reading the article; or use the question to spur some further research. Try here. Or here. Moonraker12 (talk) 11:28, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
 * PS Comments on talk pages should be added to the bottom of the page, and signed.Moonraker12 (talk) 11:30, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
 * That second EL deserves to be added: thanks, Junior! --Old Moonraker (talk) 12:08, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Thailand
User:Goldensmith recently added the following:

 * Bangkok (1892–1968, Cause traffic jamsBangkok Tram 1905.jpg)
 * Lopburi (1956–1964, Cause traffic jams)

However a brief web search suggests that neither city ever operated cable cars. See for example, http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok-Tram-overview.shtml and http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok-tram-lopburi.html.

What is more, the illustration included in the article and above is clearly of an electric car.

I have reverted the addition. If I've missed something, please re-add with cites showing these were cable cars. -- chris_j_wood (talk) 12:38, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Cable car guy blacklisted?
Why is http://www.cable-car-guy.com blacklisted as a link? Sammy D III (talk) 16:10, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

The names
It is all very well to mention the cities in which the cable car railways were located, but what about the actual names of the systems in the list of cable car systems? Peter Horn User talk 14:52, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Modern cable car systems
Hello Arnld, Cable car (railway) Most links here go to the cities without giving the name and describing the system in that city. Not helpful. Rgds, Peter Horn User talk 20:00, 19 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi Peter. The system links were there, but maybe not presented consistently. I edited the section to make the links a little clearer.--agr (talk) 12:51, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 * All those systems appear to be Cable Liners rather than Cable car (railway)s. Correct me if I br wrong. Peter Horn User talk 19:24, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi Arnold, I don't know if it is the laptop that I borrowed or if it is a problem with Wikipedia, but the link Aria Express behaves in an unusual manner by going directly to "==References==" when I click on the link. Peter Horn User talk 00:44, 21 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm experiencing the same overshoot problem with Safari on a MacBook laptop. I tried a few edits to the target article to fix it, but they did not help. The modern examples do seem to be Cable Liner systems. I know of one more that has since closed that isn't, I may add it later.--agr (talk) 14:47, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

Article issues
This is listed as a B-class article that has had an inline "citation needed" tag since February 2015. The criteria states, The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. I hid the tagged content pending a review. -- Otr500 (talk) 14:49, 13 June 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Cable car (railway)


text:
Creaky voice

In linguistics, creaky voice (sometimes called laryngealisation, pulse phonation, vocal fry, or glottal fry) refers to a low, scratchy sound that occupies the vocal range below the common vocal register. It is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact. They normally vibrate irregularly at 20–50 pulses per second, about two octaves below the frequency of modal voicing, and the airflow through the glottis is very slow. Although creaky voice may occur with very low pitch, as at the end of a long intonation unit, it can also occur with a higher pitch. All contribute to make a speaker's voice sound creaky or raspy.

In phonology
In the Received Pronunciation of English, creaky voice has been described as a possible realisation of glottal reinforcement. For example, an alternative phonetic transcription of attempt could be.

In some languages, such as Jalapa Mazatec, creaky voice has a phonemic status; that is, the presence or absence of creaky voice can change the meaning of a word. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, creaky voice of a phone is represented by a diacritical tilde, for example. The Danish prosodic feature stød is an example of a form of laryngealisation that has a phonemic function. A slight degree of laryngealisation, occurring in some Korean language consonants for example, is called "stiff voice".

Social aspects
Use of creaky voice across general speech and in singing is termed "vocal fry".

Some evidence exists of vocal fry becoming more common in the speech of young female speakers of American English in the early 21st century, with researcher Ikuko Patricia Yuasa finding that college-age Americans perceived female creaky voice as "hesitant, nonaggressive, and informal but also educated, urban-oriented, and upwardly mobile."

It is subsequently theorized that vocal fry may be a way for women to sound more "authoritative" and credible by using it to emulate the deeper male register. Yuasa further theorizes that because California is at the center of much of the entertainment industry, young Americans may unconsciously be using creaky voice more because of the media they consume.

title: Creaky voice