The Orris D. Brown Collection, no. 1 - Dallas Centennial Exposition, A Holiday on Treasure Island (1936, 1937)

Year Published: 19361937

Format: 16mm

Sound: silent

Description: This home movie from the Orris Brown Collection captures scenes of the Texas Centennial Exposition at the Texas State Fair Grounds in Dallas in 1936. It was the first world’s fair south of the Mason-Dixon Line. At a cost of $25,000,000, the central exposition was built, occupying fifty buildings, including The Hall of Negro Life, the first recognition of black culture at a world’s fair. Footage in this home movie includes shots of many of the art deco statues and buildings built for the Exposition, including the State of Texas Building, the Spirit of the Centennial, and the Six Ladies of Fair Park, as well as scenes of animatronic fighting dinosaurs, a marching band, and ice skaters.Later in the film are scenes of Bruin Bears in San Antonio and a family holiday on Galveston Island for Independence Day in 1937. Brown used intertitles and trick photography in these scenes. While on vacation in Galveston, “Treasure Island,” the family acts out finding a treasure map that leads them to a magic stone which can make objects disappear, showcasing some of Brown’s best film tricks.