Name: Atomic Energy Can Be A Blessing (1952) @shaggylocks
Uploaded: 2026-09-20T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Atomic Energy Can Be A Blessing (1952)

Atomic Energy Can Be A Blessing (1952)

shaggylocks 2026-09-20 | Atomic Energy Can Be A Blessing (1952)

Time Out for Trouble (1961)

shaggylocks 2018-03-19 | This 1961 safety film is the epitome of suburban horror. Housewife Jane is tormented by a clock in her home that was a gift from her mother-in-law. The clock somehow sets up accidents and then blames the victims for "letting their emotions run away with them." The point is supposed to be that emotionally volatile situations often result in accidents because people act irrationally and ignore safety precautions they usually follow. It's a sound mental health message, but it's undercut by the fact that we're supposed to accept at face value Jane's obvious hallucinations. This absurd premise, along with the poor production values, bizarre soundtrack (only organ and Spanish guitar appear to be used), grainy black-and-white photography, and sparse sets all add up to one dark, weird, creepy film.

Producer: The Mental Hygiene Division of the Oklahoma State Department of Health

The Price of Liberty (1950)

shaggylocks 2018-02-28 | A great Cold War film about the contributions and value of women to America's military. Narrated by Walter Cronkite, the piece repeatedly emphasizes the work that women have done and are doing to preserve the American way of life. We see (in an amazing scene) men just bursting out of their chairs from the typing pool to let the women take over, while the men do the tasks that women "can't do".

Women are shown in a variety of jobs, from nursing (natch), operating radio equipment, plotting courses on maps, operating intelligence equipment, and other jobs. Ends with women being awarded for their service, and the idea that women are needed in the military to supplement our "manpower."

Sponsor: U.S. Department Of Defense

Freedom Comes High (1944)

shaggylocks 2018-02-26 | A fast-paced drama about a young married couple, Steve and Ellen (played by James Craig and Barbara Britton), who are divided by Steve's enlistment in the Navy during World War II.

Steve's spirit appears as Ellen reads his latest letter from the front: "I am sure you'll understand that whatever I do for you and the baby is more important right now than anything else in the world. The value of these things can't be measured ordinary ways, but must be paid for in dollars and cents -- sometimes in lives. Freedom comes high. No matter what happens, I shall always be with you." And wouldn't you know it? It seems Steve's family must pay this dear price, as these words serve to console Ellen as she receives the telegram announcing that Steve has been killed in battle.

Although the final appeal has been trimmed from this version, the film ended with a short message from Vice Admiral John H. Towers, Commander Air Force Pacific Islands, encouraging the buying of war bonds ("You do your share, we'll do ours") to drive the Japanese troops from the sea and the air, so that then they will "be utterly doomed".

This film has a high cinematic feel to it, and all the acting is superb.

Producer: US Navy

Good Grooming for Girls (1940s)

shaggylocks 2018-02-23 | A quaint and charming period piece about good grooming for girls--particularly regarding dress, makeup and hair--hosted by a strangely dressed, made-up and hairdo-ed woman. A musr-see for any young strumpet.

What Is Business? (1948)

shaggylocks 2018-01-29 | "The world we live in is a world of business." This postwar paean for the glories of free enterprise showers much praise on the Trinity of production, distribution and communication, which "have made the world of business TRULY one world." There's no narrative story line in this film, just a general overview, and much impressive talk about how business is "essential to our modern mode of living" and "helps fulfill our desires for a better way of life." As the camera pans down the storefronts of Main Street, the narrator cries, "Just think what it would mean if all this were taken away!" The battle lines of the Cold War couldn't have been drawn more succinctly.

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films

We Learn About the Telephone (1965)

shaggylocks 2018-01-26 | One of the most entertaining documentaries I've seen about the telephone. The 1965 film gives a history of communications, the importance of the telephone and how to properly use it (of course 1965 was before the push button, memory dial, wireless phone, and 911 emergency system). Voice actors Mel Blanc and Paul Frees contribute to the animated portions.

Producer: Jerry Fairbanks Productions

Personal Hygiene for Young Women (1920s)

shaggylocks 2018-01-24 | This one is kind of amazing. It's a silent movie, but the advice is ridiculous and the fearmongering is some of the finest fearmongering I've yet seen. This was a part of a series of classroom films designed for high schoolers.

Producer: Bray Studios

Victory Is Our Business (1942)

shaggylocks 2018-01-22 | As soon as the trumpets blare, and the title comes up, the narrator starts SHOUTING at us, and just doesn't stop, about the manufacture of wartime machinery at Chevrolet plants. A barrage of "Kill The Enemy NOW!" patriotic jingo is used, and you can't help but be caught up in it! The second half of the movie focuses on the workers in Dayton Ohio, on how they're on the battlefield! How they're in the air! In the trenches! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Quite possibly the most propagandistic movie I've seen, and I've seen a lot.

Producer: Jam Handy Organization

Black Marketing (1943)

shaggylocks 2018-01-19 | When the U.S. government sets out to make a gangster movie, everybody wins. A weird wartime film about

Close Harmony (1942)

shaggylocks 2018-01-09 | General Motors made this wartime film to explain to the general public why it was taking so long for factories to retool for war production. A guy in a barbershop explains to everybody in the shop that retooling involves not only installing new machinery, but getting new materials, drawing up new manufacturing plans, and retraining workers. In case this gets boring, theres an African-American porter present to provide comic relief in the form of racist stereotypes. This film has the breezy Jam Handy style applied to wartime content, which means its fairly campy, though the main characters lecture gets tedious after awhile. It does have quite a bit of historical interest in that it gives you an idea of some of the rumors going around about war production in the early days of the war.

Producer: Jam Handy Productions

Fascinating History of Early Telephone Technology: The Nation at Your Fingertips (1951)

shaggylocks 2017-12-23 | This early 1950s film introduced the country to the concept of direct long-distance dialing, by showing how residents of Englewood, New Jersey, the city where the first experimental direct dial program was installed, were able to call across the country without an operator. Like many Bell System films, it's very conscious of the telephone's history and how it changed with the times--we get to see a Victorian couple shouting into an old wall-mounted phone, scurrying young male operators (the first ones were male), and an early female operator wearing a bizarre huge early headset. What this film fails to mention is that long-distance direct dial service could have been introduced years earlier, but that it had to wait until Ma Bell could invent automatic billing machines to keep tabs on its operator-independent customers. "The equipment that makes this possible is among the most complex that Man has ever devised!"

What's really interesting about this film, though, is the glimpse into the past we get from seeing a currently commonplace technology when it was first being introduced. Bell's automated switching system as described sounds very computer-like, and the description of how it searches for an open pathway to route the call through sounds eerily like how the internet works. An interesting historical relic.

Producer: Audio Productions, Inc.

Fascinating Look at Early Telephone Technology: Story Without End (1950)

shaggylocks 2017-12-22 | This film gives you a good feel for the vast, monolithic scope of the Bell System (or "the long arm of friendly telephone service," as the narrator of this film describes it) in the days when Ma Bell was still the world's greatest monopoly. A cheerful sales representative shows an appropriately dazzled group of average Americans a number of then-current Bell Telephone marvels -- repeaters, transistors, automated crossbar switching systems, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable -- and reminds them that "this is a business that has always dealt in the future!" "We've come a long way because we wanted to," the narrator adds.

Producer: Pathescope Pictures

Tobacco and the Human Body (1954)

shaggylocks 2017-12-20 | An early classroom film about the physical effects of smoking. While the film tries to remain neutral throughout, the folks at Encyclopedia Britannica are unable to deny the negative effects of nicotine and tar, and they give us some mildly upsetting experiments with cute bunnies to prove what nicotine can do to you if someone paints your heart with the stuff, or what would happen to you if someone painted your backside with tobacco tar. Interesting to note: the research into the connection between smoking and cancer is "relatively new."

Producer: Encyclopaedia Britannica Films

Alcohol and the Human Body (1949)

shaggylocks 2017-12-18 | An interesting overview of alcoholism as it was understood in 1949. The effects of alcohol on the human body and brain are presented with the help of primitive animated sequences of black dots of alcohol going through the bloodstream, as well as film clips of drunk people. The film's handling of alcoholics is mildly campy, especially regarding the treatment of alcoholism. A former skid-row bum is discharged from a treatment facility in a new suit and told sternly to never touch the stuff again. Cured!

Producer: Encyclopaedia Britannica Films

That Boy Joe (1944)

shaggylocks 2017-12-14 | A hilariously outdated juvenile delinquency problem film, in which young Joe is busted for shoplifting cigarettes and dragged in front of a judge to explain himself. I don't know how juvenile courts worked in the 1940s, but I guess if you're a lily-white "aw shucks" JD in a sweater vest you can skip the sentencing and trial and just have the judge chew out your parents for not enrolling you in Boy Scouts and sending you to Sunday School. All the boy needs is to have an officer of the court quote long passages of Shakespeare at him, you'll see.

Producer: Chicago Film Laboratory

Darkness Before Dawn: The Pride of Judea Story (1955)

shaggylocks 2017-11-11 | his 50s film profiles the Pride of Judea Children's Services, an agency which provides psychological and social work services to Jewish children in New York City. This film tries to be all things to all people. It starts with a brief, lurid handwringing about the problem of juvenile delinquency, then goes through all the things Pride of Judea is doing about it. There's a lot of stuff, so the narrator chatters on and on without taking a breath, covering the summer camp for troubled and underprivileged boys, the psychotherapy services provided for children and their parents, the homemaker service which provides help for families where the mother is temporarily incapacitated or absent, and the day nursery for single-parent families. Most of this is covered in a fairly standard fashion, with momentary lapses into sensationalism or sappiness, but nothing lasts long because the film is so jam-packed with stuff. It does give a historically interesting glimpse into social services and Jewish culture during the 50s. But, man, I wish that narrator would slow down and take a breath once in awhile!

Boy in Court (1940)

shaggylocks 2017-11-09 | Some juvenile delinquents steal a car and -- naturally -- it crashes. "Johnny," a huggable white kid whose only crime is that he comes from a disadvantaged background (boo hoo) gets caught and hauled into court. The narrator whines and moans about the injustices of society as Johnny is put in the tender hands of a probation officer and reforms.

Although it has some valid points, this film is incredibly simplistic in its portrayal of the causes and solutions to juvenile delinquency. It leaves you both wondering if any court system was that compassionate (Johnny's probation officer appears to have no other cases in his load) and if such treatment would really be very effective against more hardened youth-gang members, or if such options would even be available to a Black or Latino Johnny. Naive, and therefore fairly campy.

Producer: Willard Pictures, Inc.
Sponsor: National Probation and Parole Association

Caught Mapping (1940)

shaggylocks 2017-10-21 | A peppy narrator (the same one from Leave It To Roll-Oh) and fast-paced visuals try desperately to convince us that map making is exciting. The best sequences are those where we follow the "map detective" with his car full of instruments.

How a Watch Works (1949)

shaggylocks 2017-10-19 | This is absolutely fascinating.

Producer: Jam Handy Organization
Sponsor: Hamilton Watch Company

Science and Superstition (1946)

shaggylocks 2017-10-17 | An early color Coronet that instructs children on superstitions, and how the scientific method can help them tell fact from fiction. This teacher could have just gently told Alan that no, his rabbit's foot didn't really make him lucky, but this lady decided to go all in and rub his face in it for a week, changing her whole curriculum to drive home how wrong he was. A lot of skips in the print, but solid film nonetheless.

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films

Startling Anti-Gay Classroom Scare Film from 1961: Boys Beware

shaggylocks 2017-10-14 | This is THE quintessential Sid Davis scare film, which equates homosexuality with pedophilia. "Problematic" is an understatement. This film is absolutely repugnant and is presented here purely for historical purposes.

I don't have the bandwidth to constantly monitor the comments, so I'll make this blanket statement up front: if you contribute any comment supporting the thesis of this film, I'm very sorry you haven't been able to evolve and progress with the rest of society. The twenty-first century will be here waiting when you're ready to stop dragging your knuckles.

Producer: Sid Davis Productions

Vintage Stranger Danger Scare Film for Girls: Girls Beware (1961)

shaggylocks 2017-10-12 | Policewoman Norma Neufner narrates this film about the perils that face too-trusting teenage girls. Judy get a call from a stranger about a baby sitting job and ends up murdered. Elizabeth meets two older boys at a movie theatre and is raped. Mary goes out with older, unemployed Robert and ends up 'in trouble,' the fifties euphemism for pregnant. In each instance, the parents are the last to know. In Sid Davis's world, parents are unable to protect their children from the dangers that lurk in the suburban netherworld we see in his films. The fathers are usually absent and the mothers live isolated lives in dreary, postwar bungalows. Girls have to learn on their own how to protect themselves, not to open the door to strangers and to avoid too-friendly older boys. They are not allowed to have any sexual agency, and any expression of their sexuality is severely punished.

Be careful not to watch this after watching Coronet's "Are You Popular," since they offer completely contradictory advice and you'll end up unable to do anything.

Producer: Sid Davis Productions

Say No To Strangers (1963)

shaggylocks 2017-10-10 | This is "Stranger Danger Lite:" a Sid Davis safety film intended for the youngest of schoolchildren who would have found "The Strange Ones" or "Boys Beware" too traumatic. Instead, this film takes the tried-and-true "follow these rules but we're not going to tell you why" route. The creepy mustachioed gentlemen really up their game in this one, eschewing their usual candy lures for adorable puppies. Sorry, creep: these kids paid attention to their teacher!

Producer: Davis (Sid) Productions

Dont Talk to Strangers (ca. 1950s)

shaggylocks 2017-10-07 | A little girl named Earline encounters a man on her way home from school who tries to lure her into his car. Fortunately, she's watched plenty of Sid Davis films at school because she immediately turns him down and writes down the license number of the car. Then she takes this information home to her mother, who, amazingly, blows it off. The next day the man manages to successfully pick up a classmate of hers who must have been sick during the showing of "The Dangerous Stranger." At this point, we get to watch the excruciatingly long process of calling in detectives (including a female detective with cat's eye glasses that have to be seen to be believed), questioning all the children at the school, sending out an APB, and patrolling the streets at about 15 miles an hour. Fortunately, the child molester turns out to be too neurotic to work quickly, so by the time a police officer spots his car and picks him up the girl is unharmed (in real life I imagine she would have been buried in a field somewhere by this point). All this is told through narration, with overly-dramatic music on the soundtrack. Then the movie focuses on prevention, which amounts to stating that this never happens to nice families who have regular bedtimes for the children. The narrator tells us that Earline's mom feels guilty for ignoring her child's report of the strange man, but this is said over footage of her blithely reading a magazine, looking like she hasn't a care in the world. In this film, the only smart people appear to be the kids. Watch for the cheesy title cards made with plastic letters and the scary drawing Earline made to go with her theme on dental care.

Sponsored by: The Fresno Police Department

Unfinished Business (1948)

shaggylocks 2017-10-05 | Jim Robbins, a young veteran, returns from the Army following World War II. He checks in at his former employer (U.S. Steel), where a friendly counselor makes it clear there will be a job for him, suggests training courses to bring his knowledge and skills up to speed, and in every way welcomes him back into what narrator George Hicks calls the "industrial family."

This film is filled with many fascinating vignettes of the workplace and postwar economic situation and is a little less sanitized than the average industrial. What makes Unfinished Business most fascinating, though, is that it's an expression of two corporate objectives that seem largely to have vanished from the scene today: (1) maintaining a kind of "social contract," a guarantee of lifetime employment for loyal workers which also had the effect of stabilizing the national economy; and (2) explaining and justifying corporate objectives not just to stockholders but to the nation at large.
Unfinished Business was produced in two different versions. This one is the longer version and was intended for employees and stockholders. Another, trimmed down to ten minutes, was made to play in commercial theaters as a short subject and reached millions of members of the public.

But even with a twenty minute running time, this longer version didn't find time to explain how Jim has an eighteen-month-old baby after being away for four years.

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponser: US Steel Co.

VD is for Everybody (1969)

shaggylocks 2017-10-03 | Although this popular TV public service announcement informs the public that everybody is susceptible to venereal disease, strangely, it also seems to imply that having VD will make you successful, attractive and happy. And the song is, well, you might say it's quite infectious.

Publisher: Ad Council
Sponsor: American Social Health Association

VD: Name Your Contacts (1968)

shaggylocks 2017-09-30 | Coronet Instructional Films--famous for their 1950s films on dating tips and personal hygiene--managed to keep up with the times, releasing this stunning classroom film during the free-wheeling, free love 60s on gonorrhea and the importance of informing your sexual partners if you are infected. Sure, everyone seems to be sleeping with everyone else in this film, but all of the ominous music takes all the fun out of youthful promiscuity.

Everybodys Prejudiced (1961)

shaggylocks 2017-09-28 | A discussion film which presents a comparison between the kind of prejudices we all have and the unreasoning prejudices of the bigot.

Producer: McGraw-Hill
Sponsor: National Film Board of Canada

Private SNAFU: Going Home (1944)

shaggylocks 2017-09-23 | Although it was completed by May or June, 1944, Going Home was never released. The rationale behind the decision is unknown, though there are several theories on the subject. The prevailing theory is that the secret weapon able to obliterate entire islands was deemed a bit too close in nature to an actual military secret: the atomic bomb.

This is one of 26 Private SNAFU ('Situation Normal, All F***ed Up) cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale the troops. Originally created by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Phil Eastman, most of the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Animation Studios - employing their animators, voice actors (primarily Mel Blanc) and Carl Stalling's music.

Public domain film from the US National Archives.

Production Company: U.S. Army Signal Corps / Warner Brothers

Private SNAFU: Fighting Tools (1943)

shaggylocks 2017-09-21 | Ya ain't shootin' Nazis without a well-maintained instrument, no sir.

This is one of 26 Private SNAFU ('Situation Normal, All F***ed Up) cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale the troops. Originally created by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Phil Eastman, most of the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Animation Studios - employing their animators, voice actors (primarily Mel Blanc) and Carl Stalling's music.

Production Company: U.S. Army Signal Corps / Warner Brothers

Private SNAFU: The Chow Hound (1944)

shaggylocks 2017-09-19 | This is one of 26 Private SNAFU ('Situation Normal, All F***ed Up) cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale the troops. Originally created by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Phil Eastman, most of the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Animation Studios - employing their animators, voice actors (primarily Mel Blanc) and Carl Stalling's music.

Here, a bull drops everything to join the war effort... in the only way a bull can.

Production Company: U.S. Army Signal Corps / Warner Brothers

Maintaining Classroom Discipline (1947)

shaggylocks 2017-09-16 | Mr. Grimes is an "old sour puss" who hates "confusion and disorder." His bratty students keep acting up, but the narrator explains that the kids' bad behavior is actually Mr. Grimes' fault, since he has created "undesirable learning situations." Mr. Grimes punishes some of the little monsters, but the narrator asks, "Aren't you covering up a symptom of your own deficiency?" Oh, brother. Mr. Grimes learns new teaching methods and becomes a quick-witted, respected pal to the kids. The kids come over to his side almost instantaneously and everything is peachy keen. Riiiight. God, I can just see the beginnings of a total henpecked teacher with the classroom just rolling all over him. This film is quite funny actually, and is highly recommended!

Producer: McGraw-Hill Films

1935 Chevy Promo Envisions the Self-Driving Car: The Safest Place

shaggylocks 2017-09-14 | Where is the safest place in a Jam Handy film? In a Chevrolet, of course. This film contrasts the hazards of home life with the safety of the 1935 Chevrolet (which of course has no seat belts, a big metal dashboard with metal knobs sticking out, a big hard steering wheel, old-timey brakes, etc.). "Your living room on wheels" is shown driving itself around, as the narrator explains that if an invention could be made allowing the car to drive itself, we'd all be a lot better off. This early film is a good example of the automobile industries long-standing attempt to shift automobile safety short-comings onto customers.

Producer: Jam Handy Organization

Hemp for Victory (1942)

shaggylocks 2017-09-12 | A "how-to" film on the production of hemp, produced by the US government as they tried to convince farmers to grow help in support of the war effort.

Vintage 1964 Safety Film: The Child Molester

shaggylocks 2017-09-09 | One of the most extraordinary films I have ever seen! Features several prime examples of the "sketchy men in dark glasses hanging around playgrounds" cliche. This was designed to educate parents, but a generation of traumatized children can attest that this was frequently shown in elementary schools. Horrible acting, terrifying plot, and, like any good safety scare film of this era, an unnecessary graphic and bloody ending, featuring footage from a real crime scene. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Producer: Highway Safety Films

Gracias Amigos (1944)

shaggylocks 2017-09-07 | Lowell Thomas reminds us how vital it was to the U.S war effort to have strong alliances with Southern and Latin American countries.

Produced by: U.S. Office of Inter-American Affairs

Anyone at All: Safety in the Community (1954)

shaggylocks 2017-09-05 | It's like someone told the folks at Encyclopaedia Britannica that their classroom films had a reputation for being dry and boring and some enthusiastic executive was like, "Well, we have a safety film on the docket: let's make it bonkers!" Because that's what you have here: the rare Encyclopaedia Britannica Films production that opts to be over-the-top and extra extra at every turn.

Producer: Encyclopaedia Britannica Films

Refreshing Look (1958)

shaggylocks 2017-09-02 | A sleek sales pitch for Vendo and Coca Cola. There's a lot to like here. The industrial designer is straight from central casting, a real mid-century classic. His mantra--"modern sells"--was in its heyday during this time. These machines were everywhere in the 60's, so I guess he succeeded.

Producer: Jam Handy

America For Me (ca. 1950s)

shaggylocks 2017-08-31 | A screwball classic of the highest order! This jaw-dropping film, made about the many wonderful reasons to travel Greyhound, is just about the corniest thing this side of Kansas. A woman gives up her teaching career and her hope of earning a master's degree (for which she is writing a "theme" instead of a thesis--I wonder if there are book reports involved, too?) in order to marry a guy from Texas that she meets on a Greyhound bus. Of course, said bus exists in a 1950s Jerry Fairbanks universe, where every passenger is pleasant, white, and middle-class. Everyone the woman meets tries their level best to get her interested in the cowboy, even though it's obvious that she can't exchange two words with him without feeling waves of disgust. This movie has it all: overt sexism, double entendres, bad process shots, Greyhound as the only available transportation in the whole universe (they're the only thing on the road, it seems), and more. The film naturally ends with the cast breaking into song. Naturally. Don't say I didn't warn you about this one.

Producer: Fairbanks (Jerry) Productions

Note: the opening titles and first few seconds of this film have been lost to posterity, but you'll figure out what's going on right away because you're a smart cookie.

City of Proud Memories (1934)

shaggylocks 2017-08-29 | A stunning tour of the historic buildings and landmarks of old Charlston, South Carolina, with constant reminders that this is the Jim Crow South.

The Best Made Plans (1956)

shaggylocks 2017-08-26 | This delightfully outdated and corny film introduces us to Ann, a 50s suburban housewife who solves all her problems with Saran Wrap. Of course her problems are the kinds we all want to have, such as freezer burn, last-minute party favors, and an unexpected trip to visit her sister, who has just given birth. Ann's obsession with wrapping everything in plastic wrap in this film is certainly over the top, but this film conveys the innocent pleasure that people then took in such innovations. The film also shows how exciting the idea of owning a deep freezer was and how the family saved up their pennies for it. I have a special affection for 50s home economics films like these: they inhabit an unreal, spotless suburban utopia where all problems are quickly and easily solved by using the correct products. My favorite moment in this one is when the friendly neighbor lady solves the party favor problem by showing the little girl how to make "flowers" from hard candies wrapped in Saran Wrap. When the husband asks if he can help, she sends him into the kitchen to boil water, as if a home birth were imminent.

Producer: Dallas Jones Productions
Sponser: Dow Chemical Company

Safety Patrol (1937)

shaggylocks 2017-08-24 | A member of a schoolboy safety patrol takes a walk with his police sergeant friend, and over double ice-cream sodas this unlikely duo reviews safety precautions for juvenile pedestrians. Although it was shot in and around the urban landscape of 1930s middle-class Detroit, they somehow managed to cast a boy with an inexplicable New York accent.

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Chevrolet Division, General Motors Corporation

Conquering Roads (1937)

shaggylocks 2017-08-22 | A 1930s Jam Handy film that talks about the improvements in roads that have had to be made to keep up with innovations in cars. This is a good historical record of the evolution of roads in the first half of the 20th century, and the breezy Jam Handy style makes it more interesting than it might be.

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Chevrolet Division, General Motors Corporation

Nation To Defend (1952)

shaggylocks 2017-08-19 | A straightforward military recruitment video for high schoolers. Although it feels like a call to arms for WWII, this film was produced in the 1950s, likely in preparation for a potential armed conflict with the Reds.

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films

Ways To Better Conversation (1950)

shaggylocks 2017-08-17 | This delightful little classroom film undoubtedly helped a generation of empathy-free sociopaths mimic the basics of normal human behavior. Thanks, Coronet!

Keep your eyes peeled for Dick York!

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films

#Bfl O {ggGX = STwWcfl x 2s4 (Calvin Workshop) (1963)

shaggylocks 2017-08-15 | A look at the mid-60s instructional film industry, but with a cast of chimpanzees instead of people. Because why not?

Producer: Calvin Company

Zip Code with the Swingin 6 (1967)

shaggylocks 2017-08-12 | This truly needs to be seen to be believed.

Producer: Rothberg (Lee) Productions, Inc.

Invitation to a Nation (1946)

shaggylocks 2017-08-10 | Written and produced only a year after the end of the Second World War, this travelogue film, narrated by none other than the real George Washington himself, begins with a little historical biography of Mr. Washington, then explores his namesake city of Washington, D.C. We see a very nice (color) overview of Washington landmarks in the 1940s--the Washington Monument, White House, "and other government offices"--and George takes time out to tell us about the many shopping opportunities that the city has to offer. I never knew that George Washington would care so much about our shopping habits!

Unsurprisingly, when "George Washington" talks about Mount Vernon and recalls his life there, he skips over mentioning the slaves, because of course he does.

Choosing a Classroom Film (1963)

shaggylocks 2017-08-08 | This film was made by McGraw-Hill for teachers in order to encourage them to use films in the classroom. It features a guy talking to the camera about the various purposes classroom films can be used, such as "to develop interest" or "to change attitudes." This would be dull as dishwater, except 1. the guy uses lots of great signs and visual aids; and 2. he shows clips from various McGraw-Hill films, including that classic of child mind-control, Manners in School, and my personal favorite, The Snob. These two factors make the film a great deal of fun.

Producer: McGraw-Hill Films

Check... And Let Me Know (1962)

shaggylocks 2017-08-05 | This film plays one gag over and over for ten minutes... and it works. The president of the Snodgrass Company meets a salesman from an industrial film company on a business trip and gets all hopped up about making an industrial film. So he puts the wheels into motion by telling his vice president about it and asking him to do some research on the cost. This order gets passed around from employee to employee, changing in the process like a game of Telephone, until it metamorphoses into an order for 5,000 toasters and the fact that a great industrial film can be made for only $5,000. The salesman must bear the brunt of this, because the guy from Snodgrass who calls him insists that the $5,000 was his (the salesman's) bid. This is sort of like a 50s version of Dilbert, which makes it amusing, though it's hard to figure out who this was made for. The film company that made it obviously has a poor opinion of its customers, but no advice is given for how to handle such a screwed-up situation. This makes it a great weird piece of ephemera, giving us a glimpse into what it was probably really like in the corporate offices of that time. Of course, Calvin, the company that made it, revealed in Calvin Workshop that its films were made by chimps, so maybe they could make a film for under $5,000. So whats the salesman's problem? On the other hand, the employees of the Snodgrass Company make the chimps look pretty smart.

Producer: Calvin Company