Instructional-Vocational

15 DVD Box Set

Disc 1: Typing Instructional Film (1944)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: From the rare footage of beautiful antique typewriters to the educational demonstration of correct typing technique, including posture and finger positioning, this classic typing DVD has everything a typing or typewriter enthusiast enjoys. This 31 minute film is a must for your collection. Great info on old, eccentric typewriters and the emergence of the electric typewriter during this time period.

Title #1: Basic Typing Part I: Methods

Production Date: 1944

Running Time: 31 minutes

Disc 2: Accounting & Bookkeeping Film (1945)

Title #1: Bookkeeping & Accounting

Production Date:1945

Running Time: 10 minutes

Brief Description: Vocational guidance film following the work of an accountant in the pre-computer era.  Bookkeeping was much more complicated back them.  A rare look into the past of money management. 

Disc 3: Welding & Welders History Film (1942)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Classic gas oxy-acetylene welding footage and thorough coverage of the basics of welding, including spot and stick welding. This vintage vocational education film also touts welding as a wonderful occupation. You can't find this DVD anywhere else. Don't miss out!

Title #1: The Welding Operator

Production Date: 1942

Running Time: 11 minutes

Disc 4: Woodworking & Carpentry Films (1940)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Watch these historic films about the carpentry and lumber industry and see how wood production and woodworking practices have changed in the last 65 years. For one thing, there were no nail guns and the materials used to build the homes were much sturdier. You can't find this compilation DVD anywhere else. Running time 18 minutes.

Title #1: The Woodworker

Production Date: 1940

Running Time: 11 minutes

Brief Description: This film shows how well built homes were back in the 1940s and 1950s and demonstrates the difference between rough and fine carpentry while showcasing some of the numerous employment opportunities in the carpentry industry.

Title #2: Wood for War

Production Date: 1942

Running Time: 7 minutes

Brief Description: "Wood for war. Wood for peace." This film shows the importance of wood to the US war effort during WWII.

Disc 5: Auto Engine Mechanics Films (1930s - 1940s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Classic engine mechanics and automotive repair films are brought back the screen in this enjoyable classic compilation filled with vintage cars and automotive parts. 

Title #1: Around The Corner

Production Date: 1937

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: Great film discussing how the differential rear axel system invented for automobiles works in detail.

Title #2: Automotive Service

Production Date: 1940

Running Time: 10 minutes

Brief Description: Vocational film showing the daily work of an auto mechanic.  Lots of really good footage of electrical repair and body repair work.

Title #3: Down The Gasoline Trail

Production Date: 1935

Running Time: 7 minutes

Brief Description: Follows the life of a drop of gasoline as it passes through a car.  Great narration and animation make this film especially fun and interesting.

Title #4: Facts on Friction

Production Date: 19??

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: Fun Chevrolet auto safety film that explains the importance of friction and all the ways it helps to keep us safe while we travel. 

Title #5: Free Air

Production Date: 1937

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: Explains how a carburetor works to mix gasoline with air to produce energy.   Includes a great scientific experiment that shows how much air a car uses to travel 1/4 of a mile. 

Title #6: Over The Waves

Production Date: 1938

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: The importance of shock absorption to automobile safety.  Shows in detail how the double action shock absorber works on cars to keep the body of the car level and under control. 

Title #7: Something For Nothing

Production Date: 1940

Running Time: 8 minutes

Brief Description: A wacky and bizarre film that discusses perpetual motion and scientifically explains how a pistons work to increase fuel efficiency.

Title #8: Vacuum Control

Production Date:

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: Scientific film about vacuum technology and its importance to automobiles.  Explains how vacuums work within levers, gear shifters, and pistons to help cars run more efficiently, safely, and easier for drivers to operate. 

Disc 6: Airline Pilot Film: Letter From An Airline Pilot (1950s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: A wonderful behind the scenes look at the operations of an airline company.  Topics include airplane maintenance, safety, food preparation, pre-flight checks, navigation, airline pilots, and much more. 

Title #1: Letter From An Airline Pilot

Production Date: 1950s

Running Time: 22 minutes

Brief Description: A wonderful behind the scenes look at the operations of an airline company.  Topics include airplane maintenance, safety, food preparation, pre-flight checks, navigation, airline pilots, and much more. 

Disc 7: Funeral Director Film (1940s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Bizarre funeral director vocational film aimed at teaching new undertakers about how to perform their jobs.

Title #1: Monument to the Living: The Episcopal Service

Production Date: 1940

Running Time: 21 minutes

Brief Description:  Classic funeral director and services film that explains how funeral services should be done. 

Disc 8: Mechanical Engineering & Design Films (1940s - 1950s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Two (2) classic life insurance films focused on career opportunities and the benefits life insurance companies provide to the surrounding communities. 

Title #1:Mechanical Engineering at Dupont

Production Date: 1960

Running Time: 21 minutes

Brief Description: Vintage Dupont recruiting video with excellent footage of Dupont factories and plants with a focus on the role of there mechanical engineers.

Title #1:To Enrich Mankind

Production Date: 1955

Running Time: 22 minutes

Brief Description: A historical look at how machines have improved the quality of life for humans from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

Disc 9: Classic Supermarket Clerk Film (1965)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: An intriguing historical artifact, this cashier training video from 1965 features timeless tips for becoming a successful supermarket clerk. Expert clerks, dubbed the "Queens of Checking," provide instructions for accurate money counting, efficient ringing, and proper bagging techniques. This film also includes rare footage of contemporary products in vintage packaging and provides an entertaining glimpse into sixties culture with its humorous dialogue and nostalgia for big hair. 

Title #1: The Front Line

Production Date: 1965

Running Time:  14 minutes

Brief Description: Cashier training video from 1965 featuring timeless tips for becoming a successful supermarket clerk.

Disc 10: Medical Doctor Film (1960s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: This educational film presents the daily life of a medical doctor as a veteran of the trade shares thoughts with the next generation of prospective doctors.  The film has an strange obsession with both the status doctors receive in society and the difficulty of telling a family one of its members has pasted away.  The film also focuses on the exciting challenges that lay ahead for new doctors such as space flight research and curing cancer and leukemia. 

Title #1: I Am a Doctor

Production Date: 1960s

Running Time: 24 minutes

Brief Description: The American Medical Association & The Association For Medical Colleges presented this career film in about being a doctor.  The film's format is a veteran doctor dictating a letter about what it takes to be a doctor into a voice recorder intertwined with scenes from his daily work.  Oddly, the film has a very gloomy tone towards the profession, as the doctor believes, "it is you and life versus disease and death."  The film also challenges young minds to solve the puzzle of disease and to explore new science and outer space.  Scenes include childbirth, an open heart, a severely wounded leg, surgeries, stitching a wound, and x-ray machines.  This film is in full color. 

Disc 11: Electrician Vocational Film (1942)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: This vintage documentary presents the work of electricians and electrical engineers.  The various fields of electrical work and the skills needed to be a successful electrician are presented. 

Title #1: The Electrician

Production Date: 1942

Running Time: 10 minutes

Brief Description: This excellent vocational film explains the importance and the duties of electricians.  The film explores the wide variety of fields that electricians may work in such as, energy, communications, lighting, and transportation.  Electricians are shown troubleshooting, re-building, and repairing a handful of items, such as generators, telephones, small engines, signs, power lines, communication lines, electric trains, and airplanes. 

Disc 12: Shoemaker & Shoe Salesman Films (1930s - 1940s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: Take a step back in time with this vintage DVD collection of films showing the arts of shoemaking and shoe selling in their finest era. This is a rare video collectible for shoe lovers everywhere!

Title #1: You And Your Work

Production Date: 1948

Running Time: 10 minutes

Brief Description: A Coronet instructional film. A young man seems to hate his job selling shoes, but has the revelation that he must change his attitude or else he won’t find any work he can enjoy. This is a testament to the life of a shoe salesman.

Title #2: A Story Of Shoes

Production Date: 1930s

Running Time: 24 minutes

Brief Description: This is a silent color film from the 1930s that shows the handmade production of a pair of leather shoes. It offers an interesting glimpse into an earlier era of craftsmanship. Presented by Thom McAn Shoe Stores. A William J. Ganz Production.

Disc 13: Interior Design Films (1950s - 1960s)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: This compilation features home interior design and decorating ideas from the 1950s - 1960s.  Topics include, color theory, paint color selection, re-modeling, designer products, function vs. utility, painting, and the American obsession with style and relaxation. 

Title #1:  Something New From Something Old

Production Date: 1958

Running Time: 13 minutes

Brief Description: This fun story is about a couple with "more love than money," who decide to fix up their New York City apartment.  The film discusses some vintage furniture remodeling techniques, painting, and sewing styles to add flavor to a room on a budget.  This film is one of the first do-it-yourself home remodeling films ever made. 

Title #2: American Look

Production Date: 1958

Running Time: 28 minutes

Brief Description: This propaganda film promotes style and beauty as a great source happiness.  The film shows how engineers go through many layers of refinement, improvement and revision to produce sleeker, more efficient, productive and beautiful designs. It also shows some of the work of early interior designers and focuses on how to make your personal environment an enjoyable one. 

Title #3: Color Harmony for Your Home

Production Date: 1956

Running Time: 20 minutes

Brief Description: This stylish film promotes the Colorizer Paint Store, where "you'll find what you're looking for." The film describes in detail how to use the Colorizer Color Harmony Selector, which helps customers to choose colors which work in harmony together.  The film discusses basic interior design principles with a focus on harmonizing colors. 

Title #4: Color Keying in Art and Living

Production Date: 1950

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: This educational film begins by explaining the basics of light and the visible light spectrum.  As the film progresses, the focus turns to color keying and the science of color manipulation to draw the eyes to given point or to evoke a controlled emotional response.  This film was produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films.

Title #5: The Hillsborough with New Hideaway Styling

Production Date: 1959

Running Time: 2 minutes

Brief Description:  This sales film promotes the new "Hillsborough" hideaway television, which folds into a coffee table.  Neato!

Title #6: Let Yourself Go

Production Date: 1940

Running Time: 8 minutes

Brief Description: The focus of this film is on how to create a relaxing environment by utilizing space properly and minimizing distractions. 

Title #7: Once Upon a Honeymoon

Production Date: 1956

Running Time: 14 minutes

Brief Description: This playful musical promotes a new line of colored telephones as both useful and a nice addition to any room.

Disc 14: Pharmacist & Pharmacy Film (1946)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: This DVD features a vintage vocational film that’s all about what it’s like to become a pharmacist. This movie was digitized and converted to DVD format from 16mm film…you can’t find this special product anywhere else!

Title #1: Pharmacist, The 

Production Date: 1946

Running Time: 9 minutes

Brief Description: This movie shows the ins and outs of a career as a pharmacist, including footage of training, pharmacy work life and everyday job tasks.  The film was part of the Your Life Work Series presented by Vocational Guidance and was written by Arthur P. Twogood, Professor Vocational Education, Iowa State College.

Disc 15: Custodian and Janitor Film (1966)

Brief Synopsis of DVD: This vocational film gives a vivid inside look at the work of a custodian.  The film documents the importance of sanitation in public buildings and details the cleaning of a restroom. 

Title #1: Color it Clean

Production Date: 1966

Running Time: 19 minutes

Brief Description: This presents the under-appreciated work of the custodians. The picture documents the emaculate cleaning of a men's university restroom with narration written and performed by a university janitorial staff.  Gives great insight into the minds of sanitation workers and the great pride they take in their work.