The 25 films in this collection
provide a glimpse back in time. They range from
commercial advertisements to documentaries to
experimental films. Some things have changed quite
a bit since the time these films were made like
styles of dress and language. Much of the
technology we take for granted in the 21st century
was in its infancy or non-existent when these
films were produced. The mores and morals of the
times were different, sometimes it seems radically
so. Some of the situations seem naive and
simplistic. In others things seem to not have
changed at all.
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Third Avenue El
Impressionistic picture of the Third
Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York
City, before it was demolished. (Watch:
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17 Days: The Story of Newspaper History
in the Making
How a New York City newspaper
delivery drivers' strike in 1945 failed to
divert readers' interest in their favorite
newspapers. Shows the newspapers of the day and
huge lines of people outside newspaper offices
waiting to purchase updated editions. (Watch:
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(Download)
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Cindy Goes to a Party
Cindy, a tomboy unsure of her social
status, dreams of a party where her fairy
godmother gives her etiquette lessons, and wakes
up to receive her very own invitation. Filmed in
Lawrence, Kansas. Produced: 1955 Run time: 9:21
(Watch:
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(Download)
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The
Golden Years
Bowling made respectable and appealing to
middle-class Americans through modernization and
"Populuxe" design. (Watch:
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(Download)
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New
York Worlds Fair 1940/1941
Amateur film of the fair. (Watch:
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(Download)
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The
Girl on the Magazine Cover
Modeling in the 1940's
(Watch:
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(Download)
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Freedom
and Power
This opulently produced film defines
freedom as the abundance of electric power, and
reviews U.S. history from an electrocentric
viewpoint. With animation. (Watch:
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(Download)
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Oakland
California in 1928
Real estate promotional film on
Oakland, California and her sister cities made
by Wickham Havens, a local developer. (Watch:
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(Download)
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A
Progress Report from BART
Shows stages in the construction of
the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system.
Never has so much cutting, digging, blasting and
concrete-laying been so beautifully depicted.
(Watch:
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(Download)
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Classic
Television Commercials
Collection of TV commercials
significant to the history and development of TV
as an advertising medium. (Watch:
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(Download)
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Chevrolet Sales Convention Musical
Rare record of song-and-dance at a
1954 Chevrolet sales convention, designed to
motivate the sales force. (Watch:
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(Download)
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Ask Me, Don't Tell Me
San Francisco teenage gangs and the
unfriendly world they inhabit.
Produced: 1961 Run time: 20:55 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Good Eating Habits
Drama focusing on gluttony and
"hidden hunger," where well-nourished people eat
poorly and malnourish themselves.Produced: 1951
Run time: 9:45 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Mother Takes a Holiday
(Part I)
How the all-electric home emancipates
women: a drama of how the women in the family
manipulate their men to upgrade the laundry
facilities. Produced: 1952 Run time: 12:52(
Watch:
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(Download)
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Mother Takes a Holiday
(Part II)
How the all-electric home emancipates
women: a drama of how the women in the family
manipulate their men to upgrade the laundry
facilities. Produced: 1952 Run time:15:10
(Watch:
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(Download)
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Working Dollars
Animated explanation of how the stock
market works, told through the story of an
Everyman named Mr. Finchley
Produced: 1957 Run time: 10:44 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Wastage of Human
Resources
How crippling disease, avoidable
accidents, crime, war, old age, alcoholism and
poor living conditions waste human lives and
their potential. This film grew out of the
effort to build a better world out of the
devastation of World War II. Produced: 1947 Run
time: 10:17 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Valley Town
Social documentary showing the damage
visited on the people of a Pennsylvania steel
town by the deployment of new technology.
Director: Willard Van Dyke. Script: Spencer
Pollard, Willard Van Dyke. Photography: Roger
Barlow and Bob Churchill. Music: Marc Blitzstein.
Produced: 1940 Run time: 24:32 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Something for Nothing
Cartoonist Rube Goldberg creates a
little animation to explain how fuel is
converted to power in the modern automobile
engine. Produced: 1940 Run time: 8:47
(Watch:
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(Download)
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We, The People (Willkie
& McNary Know Their Farming)
Agriculturally-themed campaign film
for Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign.
Produced: 1940 Run time: 14:43 (Watch:
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(Download)
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Girls Beware
Girls Beware is a trilogy of
tragedies brought about by teenage girls'
attempts at independent behavior. Covers do's
and don'ts in the babysitting situation.
Develops the problem of the 'PICK UP' and the
girls who go with boys that are too old.
Produced: 1961 Run time: 0:10:02
(Watch)
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To The Fair (Pt 1)
Provides a trip to the New York
World's Fair of 1965, showing the various
activities at the fair. produced: 1965
(Watch)
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Design for Dreaming
Set at the 1956 General Motors
Motorama, this is one of the key Populuxe films
of the 1950s, showing futuristic dream cars and
Frigidaire's "Kitchen of the Future." Produced:
1956 Run time: 9:16 (Watch:
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(Download)
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My Japan
Complex and disturbing anti-Japanese
propaganda film produced to spur the sale of
U.S. war bonds. CONTENT ADVISORY: Explicit
racism and extreme violence. Produced: 1945 Run
time: 16:03(Watch:
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(Download)
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American Women:
Partners in Research
Describes the market research
undertaken by Corning Glass Works prior to
marketing a coffeemaker.
Produced: 1960 Run time: 12:54 (Watch:
Low
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High)
(Download)
