Buzz
Idealistic. Authoritarian. Outdated. Simplistic. Propagandistic. These were common traits of the brief educational films presented throughout the U.S. from the 1950s to the early 1970s, aimed at grade school children, as well as junior and senior high school students.
Frequently, these films blend a subtle humor with a sincere yet friendly tone, serving a serious educational purpose. Using puppets, animated characters, peers from the viewers’ age group, or experts, they engage their audience on various subjects.
Now, these films serve as a nostalgic window into the social values, conventions, and politics of the past. Two main takeaways remain: they appear somewhat outdated by modern standards, and they are all part of the public domain.
10. “Learning Responsibility: Proper Lunchroom Etiquette”
As suggested by its title, this 1959 Coronet Films production teaches young children proper cafeteria behavior. Unlike most educational films of its time, this one features a puppet as the primary instructor.
Mr. Bungle, the puppet, demonstrates, by poor example, the lunchroom behavior that should be avoided. He neglects basic hygiene, like washing his hands and combing his hair before lunch, rushes to the front of the lunch line, creates a mess by knocking everything over, and displays rudeness. The children in the film learn that they don’t want to be like Mr. Bungle, who is friendless, and realize they enjoy lunch more when he’s not sitting at their table.
9. “Duck and Cover”
In this 1951 film from Archer Productions, backed by the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration, a turtle named Bert, donning a helmet, happily strolls through a forest, admiring a flower. When a monkey in a tree lowers a lit explosive on a string, Bert dives to the ground, covers his head with his hands, and retreats into his shell. The explosion damages the tree, but Bert remains unharmed inside his shell, while the monkey likely becomes a victim of its own reckless prank.
As various people practice Bert’s technique in different scenarios, the narrator assures viewers that by “ducking and covering like Bert,” they will increase their safety. However, the film also cautions that everyone must always be prepared to “save [themselves] if the atomic bomb ever detonates nearby.”
The notion that ducking and covering could protect children from the effects of an atomic blast has been mocked, yet this was the sole precaution offered by the Civil Defense Administration to U.S. citizens during the early Cold War period.
8. “Make Mine Freedom”
Produced in 1948 by John Sutherland and Harding College, this filmstrip contrasts the dangers of communism with the advantages of capitalism. Animated characters depict conflicts between labor, management, politicians, and farmers, until a snake oil salesman, promoting bottles of “ISM,” assures the crowd that his product can “cure any ills of the body politic.” The ‘cure’ is free to those willing to surrender their own freedoms and possessions, as well as those of their children and grandchildren.
John Q. Public interrupts the proceedings to examine what America’s flawed “free enterprise system” has achieved. After Joe invents a horseless carriage, his family and friends contribute funds to support the invention, becoming “capitalists” whose financial help allows Joe to buy “tools and property” and hire “skilled labor.” Through this collective effort, Joe’s innovation leads to the creation of the automobile industry, providing millions of new jobs. Joe’s success story is repeated “thousands of times” across the nation, bringing numerous benefits and enriching the lives of Americans.
In stark contrast to this idealized depiction of capitalism, the film portrays a tyrannical blue giant, symbolizing communism, who bans labor unions and confiscates farms and equipment while repeatedly declaring, “Everything is fine.”
After trying out ISM, none of the salesman’s prospective customers want anything to do with it. John Q. Public reminds viewers that “anyone who preaches disunity, tries to pit us against each other through class warfare, race hatred, or religious intolerance… seeks to rob us of our freedom.”
7. “Why Play Leapfrog?”
Another John Sutherland creation, produced by Harding College, this filmstrip illustrates the concept of supply and demand and their impact on inflation. As a rolled dollar bill and a price tag take turns leaping over each other, the narrator notes that “prices and wages often play leapfrog,” leading to the ongoing increase in “our cost of living.”
In a cartoon dramatization, Joe, a doll factory worker, discovers why retail prices rise. While raw materials are inexpensive, taxes and the costs of labor for production, transportation, manufacturing, and selling “a finished product” are high, making up as much as eighty-five cents of the pre-tax selling price. Joe learns that the solution to wage-price leapfrogging is “increased productivity,” which allows “wages to stay ahead of prices.”
6. “What about Prejudice?”
In this Centron Corporation film, high school student Bruce Jones, unfairly judged by his peers as unintelligent and unemployable, becomes someone to avoid. Due to his “background,” he is wrongly blamed for instigating a fight with Ed, a boy well-liked by the other students. Bruce is also falsely accused of stealing. When he skips a dance, his absence is met with relief from those who attended.
After Bruce risks his life to save a couple trapped in a car, suffering severe burns from an exploding gas tank, his classmates begin to realize that he isn’t the villain they once thought him to be. As they wait to see him in the hospital, they confront their guilt, recognizing their unfair treatment of Bruce and acknowledging the need to change their behavior. The film concludes with a rhetorical question, prompting viewers to consider the root causes of prejudice, offering possible explanations such as “a lack of understanding,” parental influence, and peer pressure.
5. “Despotism”
In this 1946 political science filmstrip from Encyclopedia Britannica, democracy and despotism are portrayed as complete opposites. The film argues that no single form of government can independently shield a nation from tyranny, but experts agree that two scales reveal whether a nation is despotic or at risk of becoming despotic.
The respect-power scale suggests that despotism exists when only a few individuals are given respect or the authority to make decisions that impact their lives and society as a whole.
The economic distribution-information scales suggest that despotism is more likely to emerge in the future when there is a shrinking middle class, a larger decline in small farm ownership, increased national control over employment and business opportunities, a heavier tax burden on the poor compared to other income groups, concentrated media control, government and corporate censorship, and an emphasis on authoritative teaching.
4. “Are You Popular?”
It appears that Coronet Instructional Films even focused on promoting students’ popularity in dating. This 1947 filmstrip showcases high school boys’ opinions of the new girl, Carolyn Ames. Her well-maintained appearance is one of the qualities they admire, along with her sociability and her reputation for being free of scandal. Outgoing, she takes an interest in others’ activities and offers help when needed, ensuring she includes everyone in conversations. Wally, the boy she dates, is respectful of her and involves her in making their dating plans.
These positive traits stand in stark contrast to Jerry Brown’s last-minute approach to asking a girl out and to Jenny’s attempt at popularity through “dating all the boys” and “parking in cars with [them] at night.” The filmstrip suggests that taking a girl for granted and being inconsiderate is no more effective in making friends than promiscuity. Instead, it’s better to model oneself after Carolyn and Wally rather than follow the examples of Jerry and Jenny.
3. “Stillman Fires Collection: Five Fires”
Like many educational filmstrips from the twentieth century, the title of this silent film makes its nature and contents immediately clear. Each fire is introduced by subtitles, though there are seven fires in total, not five as the title suggests.
The first fire featured is the 1946 La Salle Hotel fire in Chicago, which claimed 58 lives. Inside the towering hotel, the hallways and rooms have been devastated by flames. The bodies are laid out on the floor, on tables, and on stretchers, some covered, others showing limbs as they are fingerprinted for postmortem identification. One woman is seen turning away in disgust.
The other fires covered include those at Weehawken Pier in 1946, in San Francisco (date unknown), in a Tokyo barracks in 1946, at the Yokohama Post Exchange in 1946, at a refinery in Whiting, Indiana (date unknown), and on the Staten Island Ferry in 1946. These fires show dramatic scenes, although not as gruesome as the La Salle Hotel blaze. The footage includes walls of fire and thick smoke with firefighters scaling ladders, dragging hoses. There are billowing clouds of smoke, collapsing walls, surging jets of water from hoses, waterfalls cascading off flat roofs, and fire-damaged subway cars. If any filmstrip could teach the dangers of fire, this one would certainly do so.
2. “What About Juvenile Delinquency?”
This 1955 Centron Productions filmstrip reflects American educators' interest in teaching students about various social issues, including street gangs and curfews. The film shows four gang members becoming impatient with a man they believe has been waiting too long at a stop sign. They ram his car twice with their convertible. When the driver confronts them, the gang members viciously beat him. Later, James, the driver’s teenage son, who is also part of the gang, learns of the attack and rushes home to find his mother caring for his father’s injuries.
As a result, James confronts the gang and defends the actions of law-abiding students to the city council. His speech may have helped prevent the council from passing laws that would restrict teenagers’ activities. The film concludes with an open-ended question for the audience: “What can you do to prevent juvenile delinquency?”
1. “Supervising Women Workers”
This 1944 training film by the United States Office of Education, produced by the Division of Visual Aids, transports viewers to a time when blatant sexism shaped how female workers were viewed as presenting unique challenges for their supervisors.
As a group of women enters the factory floor, Joe, the foreman, confesses to his supervisor Mr. Brooks, “Women scare me—at least, they do in a factory.” Mr. Brooks replies, “Maybe the women are scared, too, Joe,” reminding the foreman that “most of them are working their first industrial job” in an “entirely unfamiliar world.” However, Mr. Brooks adds a sexist remark: “They’re not naturally familiar with mechanical principles, nor machines,” as men were assumed to be. Despite this, Mr. Brooks reassures Joe, “Women workers can be surprisingly good producers.”
Mr. Brooks offers advice on how to “break in new workers, especially women,” suggesting simplifying processes, avoiding technical language, and giving them “routine, repetitive work.” It’s only after Joe asks his wife about her day and she lists her many tasks, reminding him that many women juggle “two jobs, one in the home and one in the plant,” that Joe begins to understand his female employees’ perspectives. Nevertheless, Mr. Brooks and Joe continue to exchange sexist remarks during his return visit.
