MetaFilter posts tagged with history and video

December 5, 1933: The Good Old Days are Back Again

churl — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:14:38 -0800

He was elected at the nadir of the worst depression in history; 25% of the workforce was unemployed, two million were homeless. Yet in the face of this, he made us an optimistic and far-reaching New Deal, creating among other programs a federal minimum wage, social security, and the FDIC. He pulled us out of dire financial straits and, when our country was called upon to fight in World War II, he brought us to the cusp of victory. In his unprecedented thirteen years in office, he cemented his undisputed legacy as one of the greatest presidents in American history. But before he could achieve any of this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a promise to keep — a promise to the "wet vote," whose indispensable support he had called upon in 1932 during his first presidential campaign when he promised to repeal the 18th Amendment and end Prohibition. And thus, as legend has it, immediately after his first fireside chat from the White House in March 1933, Roosevelt turned to his two top aides and said, "I think it's time for a beer." And yes, indeed, it was. Of course, legalizing beer was only the beginning. As Roosevelt was a man of his word, it quickly came to pass that on this very date, December 5th, in 1933, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, ended Prohibition, and our patron saint FDR made the toast heard 'round the world: "What America needs now," he said, "is a drink." Today, on the 77th anniversary of that momentous event, let us all raise a glass to that wise and forward-looking man, whose decision ultimately did more than just create 500,000 new jobs: "You saved the very foundation of our Government. No man can tell where we would have gone, or to what we would have fallen, had not this repeal been brought about." In 1933, we celebrated by raising a glass of Miller High Life, Stag, Pabst Blue Ribbon [Previously], Hamms [2] [3], National Bohemian, Old Falstaff, Schmidt's, Blatz, or Budweiser. Of course, today we have a cornucopia of choices, in both our selection of booze and our enjoyment of its oft-sublime advertisements. Please enjoy these carefully selected and hand-distilled ads for Johnnie Walker [2] [3], Jameson, Bushmills, Glenfiddich, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Bailey's [2], Absolut [2] [3], Smirnoff [2], Stolichnaya [2], or, if you'd like, you can stick to beer with Guinness [2] [3] [4], Red Stripe, Carlton Draught, or Stella Artois [2]. Cheers and happy repeal day to you, in loving memory of Franklin Delano mother fucking Roosevelt. Please imbibe responsibly.

Advertising in the public interest

Rhaomi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:54 -0800

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed

Happy 40th anniversary, mankind.

sexyrobot — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:01:13 -0800

Moon Landing Tapes Found! All the videos you've seen of the first moon landing are crap. Remember, back in the day, video cameras and recorders were two different things. So it went like this: camera on moon sends footage to Australia, where it's recorded on tape (and then those tapes were lost), then downsized onto a smaller monitor, which is filmed by another video camera, uploaded to satellite, and disseminated around the world. America watches it on TV, cheers. Some of this footage is filmed off of a television onto 16mm film. This is what goes into the national archives. Crap. So, the original tapes have been found (spoiler: they never left Australia). So what, right? How good could they be, recorded back in the late 60's and all? Pretty darn good, apparently...seems recording heads were much better than the output available at the time (like playing a Blu-Ray disc on a B&W TV), and several recent projects have shown that it's possible to extract very high resolution data from these old analog tapes. How hi-rez? High enough to see Neil Armstrong's nipples get hard. (be sure to click on that picture) So when can we see this amazing footage? Probably soon.

How to start and operate a Ford Model T

loquacious — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:52:26 -0800

How to start and drive a Model T

Inside the White House

Silune — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:19:50 -0800

Inside the White House in 2009 - 2002 - 1993 - 1990 - 1981 - 1977 - 1971 - 1962 - 1952

300 baud of awesome in a wooden box

loquacious — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:47:03 -0800

This is what 300 baud looks like online today.

We were so free

tellurian — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:43:01 -0800

Moments in Time 1989/1990 - The Fall of the Wall and reunification. Films and photos from private collections. With woodpeckers.

Harder Better Faster Further.

loquacious — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:07:38 -0800

Daft Punk revealed in bootleg video at the 1996 Even Further festival. Though it's impossible to see what gear-manipulating is going on, this is an excellent example of a "live PA" of electronic dance music as opposed to DJing.

... all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by

madamjujujive — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:28:32 -0800

Around Cape Horn - if you've ever wished for an authentic glimpse into the bygone era of the majestic age of sailing, this is it - a rare 1929 true adventure film about sailing a four-masted commercial barque around the Cape Horn during a huge gale. It was shot with a hand-cranked camera by Captain Irving Johnson who offers a spirited narration. 36 minutes, B&W

Final Edition

yiftach — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:49:50 -0800

Newspaper says goodbye via Vimeo. The Rocky Mountain News published its final edition today, after 149 years, 311 days in circulation.

Presidential Inauguration Videos.

grapefruitmoon — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:16:49 -0800

Looking forward to Tuesday, here's a blast from the past. Videos of previous Presidential Inaugurations. The first recorded on video was McKinley's Second (March 4, 1901). Theodore Roosevelt (March 4, 1905) Woodrow Wilson's Second (March 4, 1917) Warren G. Harding (March 4, 1921) Calvin Coolidge (March 4, 1925) Franklin D. Roosevelt's First (March 4, 1933) Frank lin D. Roosevelt's Fourth (January 20, 1945) Harry S. Truman (January 20, 1949) Dwight D. Eisenhower's First (January 20, 1953) Dwight D. Eisenhower's Second (January 20, 1957) John F. Kennedy - (part 2) (January 20, 1961) Lyndon B. Johnson (January 20, 1965) Richard M. Nixon's First (January 20, 1969) Richard M. Nixon's Second (January 20, 1973) Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977) Ronald Reagan's First (January 20, 1981) Ronald Reagan's Second (January 20, 1985) George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989) Bill Clinton's First (January 20, 1993) Bill Clinton's Second (January 20, 1997) George W. Bush's First (January 20, 2001) George W. Bush's Second (January 20, 2005)

Just People, Talking

Miko — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:09:32 -0800

The recent passing of Studs Terkel sparked a renewed interest in his interview projects, like Working, Race, and Hard Times. But Studs was not just a broadcaster who liked people; he was a practitioner of oral history, a method of gathering information about the past through preserving individual recollections. It's a subfield of history, with its own ethics, techniques, professional literature, uses, and limitations. Learn how to collect and share oral histories yourself, from interviewing to recording and getting clearances to preserving and disseminating. Oral histories have been preserved as text transcripts for decades; now digital media isreinvigorating the form, bringing new ease to recording and wider opportunities for the public to see and hear the content. Explore oral history projects on the web with stories of veterans, suffragists, Tibetans, jazz cats, Nevada nuclear test site witnesses, Basque Americans, rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, musicians, Katrina survivors, ACT UP activists, Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge, Native Americans, women whose lives were affected by the Pill, survivors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,women in World War II, Hawai'ians, workers in Paterson, NJ....

(Internetworking Frequency, 2.4 gigacycles.)

TheOnlyCoolTim — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:36:35 -0800

The Early Television Foundation and Museum Website covers the nascent days of the nation's pastime, with interesting items like mechanical TVs and programming schedules from 1939.

Swastika Tube

hortense — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:43:50 -0800

Spiegel TV has tracked down rare Nazi TV footage, complete with everything from bizarre cabaret acts to interviews with people like Albert Speer. Pop culture done by Nazis, the banality of showbiz evil. found here alternate link

Moving maps of American elections

imposster — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:04:58 -0800

'Cinematic maps' of American elections a project from the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond Video overview and short article from the Chronicle of Higher Education ('Cinematic' apparently means squished into little Flash videos. Some of the maps don't really benefit from animation (and I can't get the Interactive Map to load), but the analysis section provides some good commentary and by golly there's a bunch of maps to look at. Too bad they don't yet have the maps for this year's election. Warning: video)

Don't Say It Can't Be Done! -- This Brave Nation

carsonb — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:52:40 -0800

Pete Seeger and Majora Carter sit down together and bridge the generational gap with a discussion on environmentalism, activism, history, and music. A kind of "living history" project composed of short videotaped conversations, This Brave Nation brings together the most intelligent, passionate and creative voices of one generation with the activists, journalists and artists of the next to dialogue on loves, lives, politics and history. A coordinated effort from The Nation and the The Brave New Foundation.

Illustrated Histories of Various Recording Technologies

carter — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:25:29 -0800

Illustrated Histories of Various Recording Technologies

The Mike Wallace Interview(s)

steef — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:27:31 -0800

"My name is Mike Wallace. The cigarette is Philip Morris." Before there was 60 Minutes, there was The Mike Wallace Interview. Thirty minutes with Steve Allen, Frank Lloyd Wright, Kirk Douglas, Pearl Buck, and Salvador Dali, to name just a few.

Hitler Speaks

auralcoral — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:39:37 -0800

Hitler Speaks

Using advanced speech recognition technology, researchers and voice-over actors have been able to put a soundtrack to long-silent video relics of Adolf Hitler: Eva Braun's infamous home movies filmed at the Berghof, private filmed meetings between Hitler and various Reich cronies, as well as the last known footage of him taped before an awkward bunch of Hitler Youth at the Reichstag in the final days of the war made famous in Downfall. Chilling stuff.

Via.

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day

dhammond — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:59:39 -0800

2007 has come to a close and so we now conclude our broadcast day. WCBS, New York City (1960s) WKYC, Cleveland (1976) WJZ, Baltimore (1981) WCBS, New York City (1981) CHCH, Hamilton, ON (1979) WUAB, Cleveland (1981) KOAP, Oregon (1981) WCLQ, Cleveland (1982) WNAC, Boston (1982) KXLY, Spokane, WA (1982) KTHI, Fargo, ND (1983) KFSM, Fort Smith, AR (1983) KCET, Los Angeles (1984) WNEW, New York City (1984) KTXL, Sacramento, CA (1985) KHQ, Spokane, WA (1985) WLVT, Allentown, PA (1986) WNEV, Boston (1986) WSBK, Boston (1986) WUSI, Carbondale, IL (1986) WNJS, Camden, NJ (1986) KITV, Honolulu, HI (1986) KCOP, Los Angeles (1986) CBWT, Winnipeg, MB (1986) WABC, New York City (1986) WNBC, New York City (1986) WNYW, New York City (1986) WTNH, New Haven, CT (1986) KYW, Philadelphia (1986) WPVI, Philadelphia (1986) WTAF, Philadelphia (1986) WPHL, Philadelphia (1986) WTAE, Pittsburgh (1986) WBOC, Salisbury, MD (1986) KOMO, Seattle (1986) KHQ, Spokane, WA (1986) WNET, Trenton, NJ (1986) WNJT, Trenton, NJ (1986) WTVN, Columbus, OH (1987) CBUT, Vancouver, BC (1987) CHEK, Victoria, BC (1988) WPTF, Durham/Raleigh/Fayetteville, NC (1988) WCOM, Mansfield, OH (1988) WJZY, Charlotte, NC (1989) WRAL, Raleigh, NC (1989) WNRW, Winston-Salem, NC WKFT, Fayetteville NC (1993) KDLT, Sioux Falls, SD (1993) WNYC, New York City (1996) WOAY, Oak Hill, WV (2007) Lots more patriotism and conclusions of broadcast days at TV-Signoffs.com: Piedmont Triangle, North Carolina | Charlotte, North Carolina | Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville | South Carolina | Tennessee | Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia | North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma | California, Oregon and Washington | Los Angeles | U.S. Cable Stations | 1950s TV sign-off audio recordings

History of Western Civilization Video Series

Chinese Jet Pilot — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:13:16 -0800

The Western Tradition, an outstanding 52-part instructional video series about the history of western civilization, is available as free streaming video.

Spots Before Your Eyes

LinusMines — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:23:44 -0800

Spots Before Your Eyes, an award-winning series of animated shorts promoting tolerance and human relations, produced in the 1950s by the American Jewish Committee (at AJC Archives)

Tetris Documentary

loquacious — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:03:09 -0800

Tetris - From Russia with Love (Google Video) A BBC documentary about Tetris and its creator Alexey Pajitnov.

You hear bats. You feel a draft. You smell a Wumpus.

BlackLeotardFront — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 12:46:18 -0800

The Dot Eaters. A dauntingly comprehensive history of video games, beginning with proto-PONG and Spacewar!. If it's difficult to navigate through Captain O's prize matrix, use the handy timeline/scape (the dates don't work, so don't try). It's an interesting site, for sure, but if it doesn't pique your interest maybe the links page will, since it's the largest I've ever seen. In just minutes I found the First Church of Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros fanfiction (@), and a great Robotron shrine. Plus, this noise (wav).

Zapruder Film

kdern — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:32:10 -0800

Stablized Zapruder Film of Kennedy Assassination (link to .mov) Clearer than you've ever seen before. Amazing and disturbing (from kottke).