Watch The Public and Private Care of Infants

In a Saturday Evening Post article that appeared as this film was going into production, Thomas Edison called for motion pictures to replace text books in the schools. Meanwhile his company made films meant to educate adults about health-related issues. This one advocates strongly for private childcare and is unexpectedly critical of orphanages. This film also reveals some of the profoundly difficult choices facing working-class women. Underneath its apparently low-key informational message lurks a powerful condemnation of the socio-economic system. The Edison Company made similar kinds of films for other reform organizations. This film was apparently not given a regular release.