#sponsored films

[thirtytwoelvismovies]

A regular at the cinema dropped off a can of 16mm film last night. To my surprise, it also contained a catalogue/order form for some sponsored films. Classics such as Good Looks Here and Now and Drivin’ and Drugs.

[hagleyvault]

The roller skate’s debut in the historical record dates back to 1760, when  Belgian inventor John Joseph Merlin (the ‘father of the roller skate’) careened his way through a fancy grand salon while playing a violin on skates; the spectacle ended abruptly when he crashed into and shattered a large mirror. The roller skate would be improved upon in various ways following this inauspicious introduction. Toe stops for braking, a component sadly lacking from Merlin’s design, would be added by the early 1850s.

By the 1980s, various inventors and tinkerers had introduced other safety and comfort features, like flexible, adjustable trucks (invented in 1863), ball-bearing wheel inserts (ca. 1884), and plastic components and polyurethane wheels.

As this 1980 public service announcement from the American College of Surgeons points out, however, 220 years of innovation didn’t make us any more graceful. This montage of people falling down comes courtesy of the Hagley Library’s Sponsored and industrial motion picture film collection (Accession 2018.222). You can view it, as well as other videos from the collection, online in our Digital Archive by clicking here.

[andrewburke]

Your Hair and Scalp. 1963. Unilever Films.