Wednesday, January 14, 2009

'Jam Handy' internet archive.

For those of us that remember the 'B' movies that were shown with the main feature at cinemas right up until the eighties might like to take a look at the Internet film archive.

Back in the heyday of those old 'Jellymould jalopies' that so often feature on these pages there was a film company known as the 'Jam handy' organisation, producing public information films, car ads, and features aimed at the modern American consumer.
The public were invited to 'See the USA in your Chevrolet', or to experience the new automatic transmission in the Oldsmobile 'New for '49' Futuramic range.







These are a few still from some of the thousands of available short features, all of which contain glimpses into a world of 1950's optimism. One thing that does hit the viewer is how beautiful these cars were in their day, and it should certainly makes one reflect on the potential of the next old jalopy that you might see parked up and forgotten someplace!

The features are free to download, and in various qualities depending on the speed of your connection. I think that downloaded and transferred to DVD (there are no copyright issues the films are public domain) they would make excellent viewing one afternoon when Mrs Nail is out shopping!

2 comments:

The Viewliner Limited said...

I have spent a lot of time looking at these old films. They are fantastic. By the way, I love your paintings. Wish I had that talent. Great stuff.

The Old Nail said...

Thanks. I now have a desktop folder full of those films! Happy days :-)