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This Week in Universal News: Elmer Trudgen’s One-Man Band, 1937.
This week, we have a performance from Elmer Trudgen, who created a one-man band with an impressive eleven different instruments. And yet Trudgen was not content to stop at that achievement–according to...
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Introducing The Unwritten Record!
Today we’re debuting our new name! From now on, the blog of the National Archives’ Special Media Services Division will be known as The Unwritten Record. We’ll feature the same great content—film,...
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Looking to the Future: Space Culture on Film
The launch of Sputnik and the space race led to an era of optimism which influenced pop-culture in America and overseas. We imagined where we might live, the clothes we might wear and the cars we might...
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This Week in Universal News: A Pie-Baking Contest at the Beach, 1936
In this story from Universal News, swimsuit-clad women participate in a pie-baking contest on the beach. While there is not much more to be said about the story itself, it is a classic example of the...
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This Week in Universal News: Video Phone Demonstration, 1955
This week’s story features a demonstration of the “often-forecast” videophone. Today, numerous devices and programs enable video calling, but the videophone as a separate appliance never quite took...
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Mortal Moonshine: Treasury Agents Take On Backwoods Bootleggers
This post was written by Heidi Holmstrom. Heidi works in the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, which is responsible for performing conservation and preservation work on motion picture records held...
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Christmas in the Ford Collection: A Merry Christmas to All, 1926
Christmas movies are a staple of the holidays, with cable channels producing and airing so many that the season now seems to start sometime in November. Holiday films are nothing new, of course. The...
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In Search of…Leonard Nimoy
A few months ago, I spent more time than usual with a film reference request. The film copy that came down for Clear Skies, Clean Air (1971) was 35/32mm, which meant that I had to make a print before I...
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The Tale of the Forgotten Films: An Archival Rescue
Donna Anoskey and Dan Rooney contributed to this post. Years ago many government agencies, along with Hollywood and independent film makers, stored film productions with the private laboratories that...
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Vintage Footage Reveals How NORAD Tracks Santa
This Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will have tracked Santa Claus’s journey around the world for 60 years. A NORAD staff member uses a radar scope to monitor...
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Youth Visits Our Nation’s Capital: A Glimpse of Spring 1939 in Washington, D.C.
Last July, while completing a training rotation in the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, I was tasked with inspecting the condition of film. Inspections are a basic operation the lab performs to ensure...
View ArticleSummer’s Last Hurrah
Labor Day is quickly approaching, and with it, the unofficial end of summer. But, the long weekend allows for one last chance to enjoy summer pastimes, such as a trip to the fair, amusement park, or...
View ArticleSummer Road Trip: Los Angeles
Los Angeles, the City of Angels, La-La-Land, Tinseltown, no matter what you call it, the city of Los Angeles has long been a center of commerce, culture, and entertainment in the United States. It is a...
View ArticleSummer Road Trip: Chicago and Pittsburgh
We head next to Chicago! While we enjoy the modern cosmopolitan sights, it’s fun to remember the lengthy history of the city as an agricultural and industrial hub. The Still Picture Branch collection...
View ArticleSpotlight: Universal Newsreel Highlights Female Baseball Players
Note: This post was originally meant to highlight opening day of MLB baseball for the 2020 season while commemorating the role women play in the sport. While baseball may be on hold during this...
View ArticleSummer Theater in The March of Time
The October 18, 1935 release of the The March of Time newsreel serial contains a segment on "Summer Theatres." The outtakes from this segment shine a light on a time when summer stock theater was an...
View ArticleThe Draggin’ Wagon: An All American Soap Box Derby
This week’s blog post covers the U.S. Information Agency (USIA)’s film The Draggin’ Wagon, (Local Identifier: 306.6618). The film offers a unique look into the life of a young African American boy,...
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