Photo caption: On sound stages or on location, when Mother Nature didn’t cooperate (which was usually), movie crews created their own natural effects. Shown is an example of an early machine to create wind.

Source: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Membership rose rapidly.  Estimates in 1893 indicate about 1,500 members.  By 1900, that figure had grown to about 3,700, and by 1920 there were more than 21,000 members in the Alliance.