AV Geeks with Melissa Dollman

[Applause] right now you were in the half of an epidemic an epidemic with one use case every 16 seconds [Music] an epidemic of diseases that can be cured but too often aren't the reasons ignorance venereal disease what is it how do you get it how do you know if you have VD what happens if you don't get VD cured can you tell by looking if someone has VD [Applause] thousands of years ago when they built the Great Pyramids of Egypt many of the workers probably had gonorrhea [Music] some of the Pharaoh's who paid the bills probably had it too gonorrhea is perhaps as old as man himself but only recently did we finally learn how to cure it [Music] when Christopher Columbus certain the world was wound sailed west to find India he discovered at least two things he never expected America and syphilis the latter broke out among his crew on the return voyage the disease may have been there before but there was no natural immunity to syphilis in Europe from the waterfront it's spread like wildfire in the first ten years early syphilis killed 12 million Europeans then natural resistance developed and syphilis no longer killed instantly but it continued to spread until it covered the entire world [Music] syphilis and gonorrhea are just two of a long list of communicable diseases some communicable diseases are spread through the air some are carried by insects and some are transmitted by food syphilis and gonorrhea are spread by sexual contact they're called venereal diseases or VD for short what kind of people get VD every kind from every walk of life they might not be one bit different from you and me first let's get rid of a lot of misinformation you do not I repeat you do not get VD from doorknobs toilet seats eating utensils you don't get VD from cups and glasses drinking fountains heavy lifting or straining uncleanliness insects you don't get VD from animals [Applause] nor any of the following there is only one way to get a venereal disease sexual contact you can't tell by appearance of someone has VD infected people look just like anyone else [Applause] birth control pills do not protect you against VD gonorrhea has many nicknames flap a dose strain bleeped the whites morning drop but of rose by any other name is still gonorrhea and here's the organism responsible it's called a gonococcus it thrives in the moist tissue of human sex organs but it can't live outside the body changes in temperature dryness will kill it gonorrhea is transmitted by sexual intercourse or some other sexual contact with someone who has it men can tell when they get gonorrhea 2 to 6 days after infection there's a painful inflammation of the urethral canal there's a thick discharge of pus and an unbearable pain when you urinate don't wait see a doctor most gonorrhea can be cured painlessly in just a few days but the clock is ticking and each day you go without treatment the effects get worse even untreated symptoms will vanish in two or three weeks but gonorrhea will still be with you silently at work gonorrhea is a scarring disease it can scar the urethral canal so that the rest of your life you will often need to get it corrected just to urinate and that hurts like mad gonorrhea can reach the testicles and cause sterility it can do a lot more but why take chances it's rapidly and painlessly cured women will probably not even know when they get gonorrhea there could be a mild pain in the lower abdomen there might be a slight discharge but don't count on it some health authorities say that in big cities one out of every ten women between 15 and 24 is walking around with gonorrhea and doesn't even know it what happens if it's not cured the infection may enter the abdomen this may require surgery gonorrhea may be the leading cause of sterility in women you can't become a mother when your ovaries and your fallopian tubes have been badly scarred by gonorrhea and gonorrhea is probably the top reason women must have their wombs removed surgically later in life gonorrhea can enter your bloodstream and cause problems such as arthritis and infections in your brain and heart men who have gonorrhea symptoms should see a doctor right now if you don't know a doctor visit your county health department maybe there's a VD clinic or a free clinic in your area tell every woman with whom you've had contact within the two weeks before your symptoms appeared to see a doctor she may be infected and not know it ladies who suspect they've been exposed to gonorrhea I should see a doctor right now if you've got it you probably don't know he can probably tell you but you may never know until too late that you have gonorrhea unless some man tells you he has it don't get mad when a man says he thinks you're infected he's doing you a favor by telling you the treatment for gonorrhea is simple just a shot or a handful of pills but remember after you're cured you can catch gonorrhea again and again there is no natural immunity here's the organism that causes syphilis it's called a spirochete you get syphilis from contact with the body of an infected sex partner like gonorrhea syphilis has many nicknames PAC's Louise bad blood sip haircut and old Joe in men the first sign of syphilis appears about two to six weeks after infection it's a sore for the infection enter the body it's called a chancre the sore is likely to be so insignificant that no attention is paid to it it might be mistaken for a pimple in a woman the first sign of syphilis is usually located inside her she can't see it it doesn't hurt and she doesn't know it's there about three weeks after the chancre both men and women develop other symptoms you may get a fever you may get a sore throat you may feel just like you have the flu sometimes there is a rash on all or part of the body but that's all there is to it the symptoms all go away without medical treatment after that you'll feel fine you can do everything you ever did before [Music] and in 85 out of every 100 cases you'll never see another symptom great isn't it except that your lifespan has been greatly reduced but let's look at the 15 out of every hundred who aren't lucky enough just to have their lives shortened further complications may appear as early as two years after infection syphilis is carried by the blood and lodges and various organs if it attacks the central nervous system it may cause insanity severe crippling paralysis or blindness if it attacks the heart it can cause death the unborn child of a syphilitic mother can be infected the child may be born dead or deformed or grow up with other effects of syphilis you know what at any point a doctor can cure syphilis almost immediately but the clock is ticking there too every day untreated syphilis does a little more damage while at the moment a man suspects syphilis he should see a doctor and be sure to tell every woman he may have gotten it from or given it to he'll be doing himself a favor look at it this way women may be the unknowing carriers of syphilis and gonorrhea men have a better chance of knowing when they have VD each woman kept ignorant of her infection may pass it along to another man who passes it along to another woman [Music] it's possible to get VD again just because you didn't speak up don't forget VD can be caught over again many times treatment of VD is quick if you don't get treatment you're asking for pain misery or death it's all up to you [Applause] yes VD can be prevented ask your doctor [Applause] hello everyone welcome to Friday the end of week 10 of us doing this lunchtime screening showing old 16-millimeter educational films I'm skip Alzheimer of a/v geeks and thank you for joining us for lunch that last film was a lot of silhouettes of people's private parts in the name of talking about venereal disease what's interesting about that film is that that was animated by Ralph McQuarrie and Ralph McQuarrie was one of the production artists on Star Wars the original Star Wars and I actually have somewhere I just found recently this Star Wars sketch book that came out once the first Star Wars came out that has his artwork and it's pretty great today we are joined by my good time friend good time friend long time friend good friend Melissa Dallman Melissa hi how are you we are also very very informal here but yeah you know I've been trying to have guests on and and folks that have connections or have films that we have talked about in the past films for my collection and you were on the list and you are joining us from Palm Springs California but you were a student still in Chapel Hill oh is that correct oh yeah there you go look at that yeah and I have superimposed my archive behind me this is actually archives that you came down down to Raleigh when you were still living in Massachusetts I think right and you were you came down around fourth of July and you helped me catalog a bunch of the films that were behind me that was really fun yeah use it fireworks tonight I live in the south one time when I was in eighth grade and so it was really fun just together yeah so you you got me with a bunch of films and you shot off fireworks so that was really crazy so let's talk a little bit about Carroll Lane how we both came to Carroll Lane the enigmatic Caroline yes when I was living up in Cambridge I wrote this lesson sure library at Harvard and um I was wanting this film series there and when when you're we didn't quote didn't have any term home story so it's going through our collections to see what we could show and we decided to do a night on travel films and I knew that we had this woman's collection named Caroline Iverson a curtain and she had a film in reflection she I know her as Caroline like we had a film and I watched it we have pictures and all this ephemera around her and then but I also had your disc what are your discs that had how to pack a suitcase which I now have under no I understand and have despaired documentation that's how to pack a bag but same thing same thing they used to call them bags but um Carol's would call them bags anyway um and yours your film had a blonde like a kind of typical 1950s television kind of blonde Carol Ann and mine was a sort of night worn 1940s looking brunette kind of reddish brunette very different styles and I was just what is going on why do you have one and why do I have another and that just led me down a rabbit hole well let's let's watch this this film the what I call how to pack a suitcase and she's cold and I've identified this woman her knee up sherry Baker and she was actually one of the women who used to go around as Cara Lee so she's not Carol Lane she's actually somebody else this is this is where it gets weird so I found this on ebay and it was instructional film on how to pack a suitcase and it was obviously not out of something and so I don't know what it was cut out of there was nothing to mention what it was it was just somebody had pulled out maybe from a show or something like all the ads and was selling those separately so here's how to pack a suitcase or how to pack a bag [Music] hello I'm Carol Lane I do research to discover ways to make automobile travel easier and more pleasant for you you know many people tell me they find packing a difficult task well it needs they if you plan properly here is what I am going to take with me on my next trip and it all fits easily into one 21 inch suitcase this is called an overnighter but actually I can carry enough in it for a week or more the first thing to do is to make a list of all the articles that you will need this avoids forgetting essentials or taking too much here's the checklist I have devised for travel I packed my heaviest items on a level layer at the bottom of the suitcase this helps to keep the rest of my clothing from being wrinkled my shoes inside my drizzle boots keep other items from becoming soiled by travel alarm fits securely between the shoes an umbrella has a collapsible handle run your belts around the inside the suitcase this takes less room and prevents crushing my cosmetics and bottles are safe from spillage in this plastic bag I use a regular refrigerator container for this bobby pins a sewing kit aspirin a roll of scotch tape which can come in mighty handy to repair a hem and all the little extras that we can't seem to get along without go into another plastic bag for easy finding in my job as women's travel director of Shell Oil Company I always have to appear fresh and neat at a moment's notice so I take along a few practical items to help me accomplish this I carry my own collapsible ironing board it's lightweight court and it won't heat through it's a motorist best friend my travel iron an expandable clothesline which requires no pins a scrub mint which is practical for linen collars or white gloves soap flakes in a plastic cigarette case I carry my own washcloth inside my shower cap to keep it from dampening other articles a sweater is a must for cool weather roll your sweaters and other knitwear Navy style to prevent creases the rolled sweater secures the bottom layer which then looks like this proper accessories will greatly extend your wardrobe I've included a stole several scarves and extra gloves inside the gloves I place my stocking to prevent snags then from my silver drawer I borrow this flannel spoon case it has wide pockets which I label making it easy to find any article of jewelry quickly that prevents scratching or tarnishing and best of all it packs flat these plastic sheets are a little trick of my own if you want something at the bottom of your suitcase you simply lift the layers out these are made from sheets of plastic which are available by the yard I cut them to fit my suitcase so handles on label them and then I have my own personal filing system the next layer is my sportswear pedal pushers a pair of shorts and a matching blouse which goes with my travel suit I've included a two-piece silk print costume for dressier occasions and this is the way I pack a suit to prevent wrinkles place the skirt flat with one end hanging over the side of the case button the jacket and place the collar in the center back of the suitcase fold the sleeves across fold over the end of the skirt and then the bottom of the jacket in this way I think you will find your suit will arrive wrinkle free on the top layer I place under clothing and nightwear all these articles including my robe are made from one of the new miracle fabrics which travel and launder so well you so Melissa I when I got this film you know immediately I'm thinking to myself like all right films are usually a solution to a problem and I was like what is the problem here like okay so shallow oil you know they make gasoline so why I mean it seems like the cars were huge back then so why'd are we caring about how efficient and concise a woman can pack a suitcase is this to counter the stereotype that women you know pack like their entire closet or like I have all these questions I wasn't sure what was going on and also Kara Lane I mean you when I first talked to you about Carol Lane or you brought it up to me why is there different Carol lanes well it's a bit of a mystery but I'll travel the first part is that what the dim is that suitcase demonstration was something that she would do live it was like whenever you read these descriptions these means kind of leaders it would stand out before sugar go to my town to sort of announce and I looked at them they were pre-scripted there were templates that would send women's page editor and then she would plug in who the hosts were and who the clean a hosting club and all that and so this was like I'm pretty certain this was part of one of five phones that were that carrot that that Shell Oil made for Caroline specifically were her techniques we made five phones that they they produced around 54 55 and I think this is part of one I think it was for TV because she would so on TV a lot when she would go to different areas and she is 24 25 different women in Canada and the United States and she'll kind of for a while there were there PR efforts were really geographically separated there was a California offense and there was a New York office and for a while double st. Louis and so those two coasts would hire their turn lanes when they would split the country in half so sherry Baker was playing here she was a West Coast she was from go and she played the west coast one so but the kind of I think the packing a suitcase that people just found it so delightful that she just did it every single time she visited a place it's really just a fun demonstration I don't know I think also it was simple it was a little bit about like how do you encourage women not just feel like like you were saying not to be bogged down you know like you can just hit the road and get going which is funny when consider you can look at the picture behind the shoes and they're very very very back think this is actually a Caroline you can't search in something like the diet's back there but she would talk to women like this and these weren't necessarily work such as they were working women but they weren't always sometimes the richest housewives not that that's not a job in itself but named she wanted them to help plan vacations and I think part of that was convincing their husbands like oh my god this is going to be so difficult you know they're gonna have to pack all this stuff and her message was doesn't have to be like you can hit the run with your girlfriends you can budget you can stretch your vacation days for you two weeks check include the weekends so I think it was like how to get on the road fast right so how many carol lands were there at any given time like he said there was 25 across North America but were there just you know like is this over a period of time as or is this all divided by space so that it's possible that there would be three Carol lands in California that were you know doing the ladies club circuit just one just one in 8 West Coast one of the East Coast and one in Canada mostly all over Canada Toronto Montreal in Ottawa region yeah so they would have one going and then I found documentation of when when Caroline betraying the other so sometimes they would appear together but in that case then someone would be Carol aid and whatever would be her sister oh but I was like I know who that is she became Carol a like a year later you know so my detective skills so why did shell Oriol care why did they do the was obviously a big concern in effort so why did shale oil care to create this I mean I don't me paralyzed of as Betty Crocker like there's a Betty Crocker that you know was a big deal why did she'll care to make a Carol Anne Cheers Kim sue I have met where Carol Lane where the care lanes went and where show was trying to open a territory and they overlap so first you know first I mapped everywhere where they were going and then I found an old map from 1957 and then I was like wait a minute I'm gonna start mapping all of their refineries and their their offices you know not to gas stations I mean say but everything else they did I mapped it I was like oh my god where she went is where the territories they were trying to open or where they were trying to ingratiate themselves so they would it was about sending an Iverson who I who I discovered at the Schlesinger library the first Caroline into my mind she invented the character and she was the first person to say we need to tap that women's club market like wait that's who we need to get and then these women well encourage their husbands to or to drive or take themselves as professionals professional single women out on the road so they were opening territories and she was help you to open this initially that's why she doesn't go very often to like Montana and Idaho because they weren't doing a lot of business there's South Dakota where my mom lives I found a couple visit so they were usually tourist areas and there was a few Midwestern Carol's and they kind of knew where to go the Midwest so you caught the Caroline bug and this is part of your what your PhD is about correct Inuk in my collections you you sent me um the actual film which I'm so delighted by exam I can't show you behind that screen is just a freakish amount of Caroline [Music] it's just so delighted that yeah I figured that you have given it more like more of a life than I could ever give it so yes it's rare that I get films to people like it's you and the Library of Congress those are the only two people two entities that I've given films to usually its they end up with me and they stay with me until I die so let's talk about this next film it's a beautiful film destination earth-like just a real quick why why did you pick this film because one of Caroline's bosses and the PR department H Oh Curtis he was instrumental in getting the American Petroleum Institute I have to always read this oil industry information committee the oh I I see to get them to start producing stones PR films um so that was her boss I'm pretty sure he's in Sherman I'm getting some heard hers man and/or his successor but so destination earth is brought to you by the American Petroleum Institute yeah this one's a Lulu it talks about free enterprise and it all has a lot to do with oil so let's watch a destination earth [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] know by special permission of the commander-in-chief me here is my first space explorer I [Music] can't tell you how happy I am to see your smiling faces once more first let me say that this trip was made possible only by our dauntless chief [Music] powered which runs most of our industry an inventor of a short time ago the master was having trouble with the state limousine he had of course developed the explosive charge just like and of course there was always the problem of friction and causing all sorts of trouble [Music] but that but our our leader was undaunted he immediately ordered our first expedition into space to bring back the secret of how other planets got their state limousine to run smoothly the target was picked with painstaking scientific accuracy [Music] destination you all know with what eagerness I volunteered for the mission and with what confidence I took off I took careful berries and set out for my goal it seemed no time till I was approaching a country of Earth called the United States of America [Music] what Charlie recce naturally I protected government property by making the saucer invisible interest in me I decided to make myself invisible to seeing moving lights in the distance I headed for them what phenomenal what I had landed close to what seemed to be an endless procession of state limousines they moved quickly and yet with fantastic smoothness I just had to get a closer look at one of those earth mobiles [Music] just as I thought not only smooth and efficient but powerful as well I watched them for hours any need they were superb I just couldn't help comparing them with ours if you call that a comparison surely these vehicles must be the property of the highest officials I was wrong it seems that almost everybody in this country has one of those they call them automobiles they use them for transportation for business for pleasure they use them I found that these vehicles gather at places called service stations where they are fed lubricated that's how they beat friction and given the finest care the source of their nourishment was something called petroleum a power source like that must be a highly prized state secret I had to find out about it perhaps the secret lay within this government archives building it was heavily guarded but testing discretion to the winds I walked boldly inside air code was remarkably easy to break they merely substituted the word oil for petroleum and I soon got hold of a veritable mine of classified information I began to assimilate the material I soon found out that though petroleum products are easily found anywhere I mean South is a very elusive substance have to search for it constantly in all the most likely and unlikely places with all kinds of scientific devices when they figure they found a good spot they drill a hole in the ground cold and oil well for almost all oil lies far beneath the surface of the earth these wells go down thousands of feet and cost a lot of money to drill but that's no guarantee that they're going to find oil matter of fact in exploratory drilling only one well in nine finds any oil at all only one in 44 recovers enough oil to pay for itself and only one in almost a thousand makes a major discovery pretty big odds yet America's proved reserves the oil supplies still underground have kept increasing steadily I couldn't imagine how this ever-increasing supply of oil was achieved until I found out that there's not just one but thousands of oil companies all competing with each other to discover and develop new sources of oil for believe it or not in the USA anyone who is willing to risk it can drill for oil but oil discovery is only part of the story once they get oil out of the ground it has to be moved through pipelines on ships or in tank cars to fantastic processing plants called refineries crude oil goes in and great Jupiter the things that come out gasoline for example the most efficient mobile power source on earth that was the stuff that powered all those cars and trucks and asphalt which makes smooth durable roads it seems that oil not only runs cars it even gives them something to run on another oil product is the diesel fuel which runs giant trains across the nation in winter fuel oil made from petroleum brings warmth and comfort to millions of homes and still other fuels help defend America's Shores and sky [Music] from refineries also come the lubricating oils and greases that keep the wheels turning in America but that still isn't all crude oil like everything else is made up of billions of tiny molecules and using the magic of research oil companies compete with each other in taking the petroleum molecule apart and rearranging it into well you name it fabrics toothbrushes tires insecticides cosmetics weed killers a whole galaxy of things to make a better life on earth and you know it isn't just oil companies that try to outdo each other competing for the customers dollar the same story is true of almost every successful business enterprise in America the result a higher standard of living in the USA than in any other country on the whole planet at last the secret was mine now to get proof of my discovery smuggle past the border guards in spite of my infinite precaution one of them became suspicious and gave the alarm [Music] farewell to the natives ringing in my ears I took off once again for Mars my landing was a little bumpy but I saved my precious cargo yes I brought the secrets back with me and [Music] the big secret is of course oil which has brought a better life to all the people in the USA but the key to making oil work for everybody is competition fellow Russians I thank you sounds indeed protector what was it competition not our kind of thing at all why competition is downright unmarked [Music] you bet I do odd it means that you are through so why don't you get lost yes the real secret is not only a great source of energy but also the freedom to make it work for everybody and if you have both of these things any goal as possible its destination [Music] you [Music] you all right we're back so yeah I mean melissa mute your your sound this is just like turn down your radio that home is awesome I like it I like the Sutherland John several ones work he's done other work that's related to free enterprise and free market economy stuff and also kind of anti-communist but also a little anti labor in a way because it's talking about the deregulation and to keep the free market free from legislation which was a kind of a post-war world war two trying to roll back some of the things that Roosevelt's administration had instituted definitely the wheel industry definitely like when you read about some of their worries as far as PR during Roosevelt man they came back with hammers we have some damage control to do here Carolyn's part of that effort oh yeah she's she was anti red yeah I did a secret I'm that I'm probably not going to make it part of my project but I looked up what all their political affiliations I could and they leaned they may in turn traitor well that's Eisenhower's right versus right so you said that there was off when we were off camera that there was actually cartoons of Caroline not animated cartoons they were cartoons comics sure they're in the newspaper and actually that's what's interesting well England [ __ ] later but I discovered that this woman named Arabo Wheatley whose illustrator she had developed the Carolinas died um and I found a document art-direction in 1957 that said she or weakly is responsible for the look but I was like okay well that's fine but there's this other kind of comics that are associated with Caroline and they are much more traditional 1950s kind of action coming not like POW but sort of just kind of sketch Jan and these all these weird little narratives within or vignettes or them the same cartoon and I kept digging I couldn't forgot about it for a while just kind of drop my ski poles and kind of look like you just leave it alone for a while and then as I was looking at more information about the oil industry information committee I found a whole page of drawings that were just the same as these other ones I couldn't identify and they were about the oil you sure he knows it oh my god there he is then he went to his owner I pull the ferret out this guy named Clem getter red critter and he had done birth lease believe it or not and he had done all these kind of hope the you know the list your voters super trippy parapsychology book he's just a nut and so that was pretty fun but Arabo airman Wheatley has a connection to one of these films I have to think about what it was so when did Carolyn start when when was that created like her her persona and the campaign I love that you keep calling her Carolyn which is I'm sorry Tara ladies yeah I'm sorry I'm just cold suck in like a problem are in poltergeist Carolyn Everson acraman she created the character in 1947 in her personal papers she acknowledges that she developed the character first they were first day we're gonna use her name human around just for a little while as Caroline Iverson and then I found this letter she says I convinced I sign my contract I convinced them not to copyright trademark my name we developed a name Carolyn to go to go forward with his character and then she started playing that character it was from 47 and a wound in 74 kind of during the crisis Wow I found some documentation where they said we just can't it just seems unseemly oh we can't afford it or something to tell people to drive their cars to make it reportedly gasoline so bang down then in the never who replaced her Bernie was a character named answer man and he's big he's been played by some kind of famous character actors whose names know a couple years later same kind of thing that she was doing which was advising people giving them techniques about care I don't care and mapping and all that stuff and then I become a man and he was in commercials I seem to remember some of the shell Answer Man commercials yeah so he could have took her place a few years later and she never came back just saying yeah and he didn't do the live event things what makes from weird interesting yeah so let's talk about what the next film is you pick this one and this one I'm cheating a little bit this isn't actually from my archive this is from the Prelinger archives but I digitized this for him or he digitized it and I put it online for him and I should say as an aside right now I'm putting up like 400 home movies that the Prelinger library has digitized at archive.org so that's there's an opportunity to see lots of interesting stuff he's totally into home movies now but anyways let's let's talk about petroleum at the New York World's Fair yeah the reason why I picked this was actually watch it the other day and show this film kind of takes place in the petroleum building the big kind of marketing building out there and I've seen really interesting photographs of these lovely display like the city of the future that show and it's been sort of putting is included in books and stuff photographs of this exhibit which I'm pretty certain was in this building but I was looking throughout the FOMA see if I could because in other periods they've had a big that a big building doesn't sell it's like a big show like in San Francisco World's Fair I think um so I just think it's really interesting more propaganda about oil and I'm pretty sure that exhibit was and this is the 39 World's Fair correct not the 64 yeah so this is before World War Two and this is where the Futurama GM had their Futurama and all these other really fascinating things so let's watch petroleum at the New York World's Fair [Music] American industry on parade at the biggest show in history 150 million dollar show that played for two summers to an audience of millions of people from all parts of the country to people who learned many things they never knew before about steel and railroads automobiles and aviation and about the importance of the one great industry on which all these others must depend for continued operation petroleum here were gathered exhibits representative of the entire industry no one company being featured in any way exhibits so designed and presented with such dramatic and novel effect that the visitor might trace the development of this great industry from the discovery of the first oil will to the varied and complex uses of oil today and now it affects all of us in our daily lives far from being a mere shelter for a display the Petroleum building in itself was carefully designed to focus attention upon the industry the great triangular structure resting upon four huge petroleum tanks was a streamlined modernization of a cooling tower the walls rose 80 feet above the ground each side measuring 200 feet and the concave wall design included effective night lighting so as to keep the brilliant blue color equally attractive both night and day the observation roof reported a superior vantage point from which to view the fairgrounds a modern well-equipped restaurant deep comfortable lounges and chairs and tables conveniently placed provided rest and relaxation for visitors while on all three sides the movement color and life of the fair's vast panorama lay before the visitors eyes and one could linger and view the dazzling sights at leisure the strange modernistic buildings forward in design and bold in color housing the wonders of industry science art education Commerce and communications the courts fountains and colorful displays of flowers and shrubs flags the music the endless stream of people a sight to challenge the mind and stimulate the imagination a modern miracle come to life on what was once a barren flatland and towering above it all the highest oil derrick in the world rearing its giant framework against the sky attention compelling in its structure an exact duplicate of the thousands of oil derricks to be found in oil fields all over the world from mountains to coastal plains wherever man seeks to find nature's petroleum deposits this Derrick and well beneath it were constructed in order that every detail of modern oil drilling methods might be demonstrated to the public at the fair 200 feet in height it weighed nearly 40 tons its base was 34 feet square and could support a load of a million pounds the well beneath it 440 feet deep was bottomed in solid granite kissed off with a steel pipe and cemented from top to bottom while from the crown all glory kept proud watch they signed erected visitors to the derrick exhibit and the demonstration shows which were put on many times a day giving thousands who had never seen an oil well some idea of the great labor and cost involved in the production of oil and depicting the work of the men who bring up petroleum from the depths of the earth as visitors crowded around the derrick well-kept Rost the announcer for Station PE te the petroleum Broadcasting System delivered a lecture on the rotary method of drilling for oil the equipment was described in every detail of the operation the derrick man his working position on this derrick was 110 feet above the derrick floor hooking on his safety belt he rides the drill pipe up into the derrick where the pipe is stacked while the announcer described his job up there in latching or unlatching the elevators on the pipe and how he racks it in the derrick [Music] each member of the drilling crew as well as the announcer was recruited from major oil fields in Texas or Oklahoma experienced oil men who by their teamwork their expert handling of this equipment gave the audience a realistic view of actual operations here are the giant rotary tongs and the huge winch is suspended on cables with counterbalance weights beneath the derrick floor and here the intent faces of the crowds of people who gathered round the derrick at every show people who had never seen an oil well drilled before and probably never would again they're deep and absorbed interest is indicative of the fact that this was a never to be forgotten experience which gave thousands of people a new concept of the actual production of oil they saw the diesel electric unit of 700 horsepower half a million watts of electricity capable of drilling oil wells to depths exceeding 15,000 feet almost three miles down the man at the controls who is the head driller boss of the job at all times and the success or failure of the oil well dependent on his experience and judgment yes the crowds followed every step of the procedure people from all walks of life drawn here from all over the land people learning about petroleum all the day by day procedure in drilling for oil as employed by the oil companies in the great oil fields was reenacted there were descriptions of the pipe being used and the safety methods employed in handling this heavy equipment as the derrick man wrote down with the last stand of drill pipe the narrator described the various rock formations for which the drill must penetrate and the climatic and working conditions found in oil fields from Pennsylvania to California here the spectators learned something of the operation of the drill stem the Swivl unit and the speed of drilling the functions of the different parts of equipment shown on the drill floor were described as well as the process of pumping mud through the rotary hose the number of pounds of mud pumped per minutes the work of the gun perforator and how it operates as the drill was lowered in the derrick the narrator described the drill collar on the construction of the drilling bed itself the flexibility of the pipe and the speed of drilling and how Wells could be sunk at angles under lakes rivers oceans as well as tall buildings the crowds followed every detail as the drill went into action they heard a description of the electric photographic outfit and its ability to picture the bottom of the drill hole to permit directional drilling they heard of the difficulties involved in fishing for lost drill pipe drilling bits and other equipment and how the drilling bits are replaced and again lured to the bottom of the hole slowly the crowds passed by each exhibit saw the giant pump capable of lifting oil from a depth of 8,000 feet competent geologists were on duty to answer all questions on geology and formations and to exhibit the complete geological display every hour during the day the colorful and intriguing motion picture oil can and does was shown on a great screen in one angle of the hall of industry plot and action were carried out by a puppet character called petroleum and a large number of supplementary puppets called petroleum cousins every show played to large audiences creating goodwill for the petroleum industry and its products by this interesting and amusing method of illustrating the use of petroleum in our normal everyday life and what would happen to the modern world in the supply of petroleum were to come to an end in fact there was an interesting and colorful exhibit of some kind always in progress in the petroleum building exhibits linking petroleum to the world of today and tomorrow in this little show about the use of petroleum on the farm and in the home hundreds of thousands of visitors to the petroleum building learned of countless uses of petroleum quite unfamiliar to them the housewife represented the average American who either does not know or does not realize the many ways in which petroleum he has used in the home on the farm from the dialog between the oil salesman in the housewife visitors to this exhibit learned that petroleum is used throughout the construction of the house from the asphalt in the cellar to the shingles on the roof that modern homes of today are waterproofed and weatherproof through the use of petroleum products they learn that petroleum is in building paper in varnish in paint that it preserves wood and inhibits rusts they salesman explained to the housewife that oil goes into insecticides and fertilizers but oil is needed in cars trucks and tractors to keep them operating smoothly and efficiently visitors learn that oil produces kerosene and diesel fuel used in farm equipment and that it goes into the making of rubber tires and is also used in refrigeration that even the cosmetics the lady wears contain oil or lipstick and Rouge for creams and lotions for nail polish and perfume [Music] at last the salesman convinces the housewife that petroleum meets many real needs in her home [Music] the second show presented to the public demonstrated the importance of petroleum and transportation the bride-and-groom starting on a modern honeymoon is an airplane powered by high-octane gasoline recounted a history of travel from the time of old Dobbin until the present day as the couple pointed to the different exhibits which were lighted in turn they told of the chronological development of various methods of transportation which went hand-in-hand with refining developments during the last 80 years drawing comparisons between transportation methods at different time stages here the public learned of the drilling of the first oil well 80 years ago and the first uses of oil in transportation and the great strides in the development of automobile and aviation engines which have been made possible by petroleum research and improved refining methods as the skit concluded the couple emphasized the improvement in oil affected by research and mentioned the benefits of knock was engine operation increased acceleration and better lubrication which the motoring public enjoys today the third petroleum show was based on a discussion of the gas dollar and where it goes they attended explained to his customer how every penny of the dollar she pays for gasoline to spend here the public learned of the many and varied taxes which the oil industry pays taxes totaling 25 cents of every gas dollar of the huge payrolls in the oil industry representing twenty eight cents of every gas dollar that ten cents of every gas dollar goes for service stations for the benefit of the motoring public that the costs of pipelines Wells and refineries absorbed 34 and 1/2 cents of each dollar that management claims only half a penny of the gas dollar and that the remaining two cents represents profits profits which are returned to the people who have invested their savings in the oil industry one of the most unusual and convincing displays was that of petroleum in industry [Music] the mechanic and his son conversing in the machine shop discussed and emphasized the many uses of oil in keeping the machinery of Industry well-oiled and running smoothly grinders shapers lathes drill press and an airplane motor were prominently displayed and visitors learned about the many uses of oil beside that of lubrication of machinery they learned about oil and water mixtures used for cooling mixtures achieved by chemical research which make it possible to cool and lubricate work simultaneously they learned of the uses of oil in hydraulic pressure and the accuracy necessary in internal grinders used for airplane engines which must be accurate to within a twenty five thousandth of an inch they learned that oil pumped under pressure assured smooth action and accuracy in this delicate operation they learned of the special importance of lubricants for the superchargers which spin in airplane motors 30,000 times per minute the work of the world powered and cushioned by oil all the little known facts about oils for industrial lubrication were presented in this exhibit the only team of oxen at the New York World's Fair drawing an old fashioned wagon Illustrated transportation in bygone days as the wagon makes its slow laborious way along the road a vivid contrast could be drawn between it and the transportation methods of today we see the huge creaking wheels lubricated with the first crude forms of grease and could compare these with our modern lubricating equipment water wheels and windmills portrayed primitive methods of developing power prior to the 19th century accustomed as we are to modern high speed machines it is difficult to imagine that this huge waterwheel was once an important source of power on this beautiful relief map the public saw natural gas lines crude oil lines pumping stations refineries and Derrick's light up as a commentator traced the history of oil in our country from the time of Colonel Drake at Titusville Pennsylvania in 1859 to the present time it was pointed out that each of the 900 little green Derrick's on the map represented an entire oil field not just one well and that each field thus designated has hundreds of wells depth of wells and the total amount of crude oil produced in the United States and other information of interest was supplied by a scroll at the rear of the map which was synchronized with the operation of the lights on the map the public was able to study the network of 280 thousand miles of underground pipelines which transport the crude oil safely from the fields to the refineries and from the refineries to different points of distribution and consumption they learned of the movement of oil not only by pipeline but by tank cars ocean tankers and barges and that one-third of all the freight tonnage handled in the United States today is composed of or related to petroleum products as the map darkened and the lights representing Derrick's oil fields pipelines and refineries were shown in vivid colors the visitors were able to get a comprehensive idea of the enormous extent of petroleum production transportation and distribution a fourteen billion dollar industry which has helped make the American standard of living the highest in the world another phase of the vast petroleum industry was illustrated to the public by the model miniature L refinery where a lecturer described four different ways of refining crude oil here in front of the chart showing refining methods of technical research the public learned of the ceaseless research which has resulted in countless new petroleum products for the world of today and here the visitor could trace the course of the crude oil from the time it entered the refinery until it emerged as many different byproducts they saw a model miniatura finery accurately worked out to scale typical of modern refineries in use today capable of refining any type of crude oil and producing all of the products which we now get from petroleum the narrator described the storage of crude oil and the huge tanks bordering the refinery trace the oil through the crude pipe stills to the bubble towers or fraction izing units then followed the cuts of gas oil through the complete refining processes to the finished products [Music] the wall charts also demonstrated clearly to Fair visitors a few of the many intricate and scientific processes by which petroleum is refined the cracking process illustrated the method by which refiners obtain the higher gasoline content from their crude base stock as high as 60% content from the proper stock visitors learned about the work of the absorption units whose trays filled with absorption oil absorbs the heavy structures of gas present each step in the process of polymerization dewaxing and purifying was graphically and simply illustrated and explained in a manner comprehensive to all and as night falls and the sky bursts into light and color we see the petroleum building set like a great blue jewel in the night reflected in the waters of the lake surrounding the Paris fear while from the roof there is spread before us the spectacular display of water light flame and color the thrilling pageant of the greatest spectacle of our time you you sorry about that we're back so is it beautiful yeah it's really really something the and I was saying that there's two there's two things about this it's the World's Fair 1939 World's Fair which is just glorious everything is so optimistic and super happy and super corporate and then you know this is a cheerleading film for the petroleum industry exactly it was it reminded me of two things well one thing in particular is that that look that my favorite maybe make one of my favorite documentaries ever the batch jobs over Broadway about corporate theater um so I think this is also a really in those corporate theaters it with theatre productions it would often entail that the employees themselves what are the actors and she'll have one for very brief time it was like 50 to 52 which in New York City they had a play on Sun I found very little except for like actors saying that they had participated in this Playhouse um but yeah it was really a big thing at the time too to do these big theater productions but also it was funny that I think maybe I've never told you this that I never had a car um until really the last couple of years from age 22 to a few years ago Oh quite a while I didn't have a car so so this is all like kind of like study these are all kind of a world didn't know much about because I never visited very many gas stations right right the novelty is it's still a novelty to get gas in your car pretty exactly the rest of us it is it is just the most tedious task you can imagine but for you it's it's a glorious path so so you're working on this project do you have an online kind of work in progress about Carroll Lane I do it's until I defend the dissertation next it's not open to the public but I do have a video walkthrough okay I made in February that's not the most up-to-date but it's pretty up-to-date I'm happy to do me to drop it in there oh yeah if you could type it in the comments and then I'll copy it over to YouTube I should have thought about that while we were off camera but but while you do that let me just say thanks Melissa for tuning in and for giving showing us what your research is about and kind of adding a backstory to some of these films and thank you everybody out in the world for tuning in on this Friday well pick this up again on Monday that will be the start of our 11th week doing this and one of the films that I will be showing that you pick that we just don't have time for is visual perception I habits which is a film by Triple A which is pretty awesome actually when you mention that film I was like oh yeah I want to show that no we didn't have time for it this time but we'll definitely show it next week but did you enter in the thing yeah yeah so this is a site walkthrough of what you're working on specifically related to the Carroll Lane project which is it's really fascinating it's and this is why one of the reasons I enjoy collecting films is because they are literally a tip of an iceberg well not literally but they are a tip of an iceberg to something the whole world so when I collect films about you know niche industry things then it's like this little tiny glimpse into a world that I know nothing about and you know certainly it seems like Carole Lane was a gateway drug for you I mean no your your film and and that iverson collection the Ackerman collection just set me down it's so super oh yeah right and so this is ultimately we call this a digital humanity you mandy's project correct that's right yeah so this is and besides working with you I have worked with other digital command you made humanities majors who are doing research on a variety of different things and they come to me you know like I'm looking for footage of this such-and-such and sure enough I have it and then they it's it adds to whatever they're writing about and what are they whatever they're trying to show so this is one of the fun things about what I I do is either that or talking to somebody who actually was in the film but this is giving me that life I feel like I've kind of met Carol Lane in a way through all this and watching this video and stuff collaboration to kind of sometimes come back to me like I found this description well thanks again Melissa and thanks everybody out there and if you like what you saw go to AV geeks calm you can donate on patreon but otherwise everybody have a good safe fun weekend take