Instructional Videos/Social Guidance Films

[donnie]

Note this is the 2nd edition, so Coronet apparently had an earlier one on the subject.

David looks too young to be a co-pilot for a major airline, doesn’t he?

I’ve always heard it pronounced AB-do-men, never with the second syllable stressed.

The scrapbook again…and this one is more of a professional-looking job. I think Jerry and Julie are just a little on the obsessive side…

That’s true about correct posture keeping you from getting as fatigued, especially when you have to do a lot of standing. I wish mine were better—I do take stabs at trying to improve it, but the problem is (as the narrator says) that you have to watch yourself all the time, which is hard.

Posture Habits (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jWobkUSruk&list=WL&index=26

[donnie]

Wow, this guy is having a hard time. That's the loudest party I've ever heard.

The primitive sleep quality detector was interesting—precursor of today's fitness tracking watches.

The typist subjected to the noise—I would think wearing that mask would tense me up as much as the sound—though that sound is particularly irritating.

How did you do on the clock dial bell-ringing test? I missed the first two by one number, but got the third. (But I'm tired from raking leaves all afternoon.)

I was wondering why Chevrolet would sponsor this film, as most of it doesn't have to do with cars—but I guess they meant it as extolling the noise-proofing in Chevrolet models. If it worked as well as it appeared to when when the guy got into the car to escape the noise, it was pretty darned effective. And the cat really seems to be enjoying the ride. (But she could have left the radio off.)

From 1937: Relax-a Jam Handy Picture (Is that kind of like Jim Dandy? )
https://youtu.be/7unDhRG8-7s

[donnie]

This is an interesting one in terms of how methodical and involved something as simple as buying an item from a store could have been in 1950. Such formality for buying a record!

Isn’t this strange that people would be writing formal business letters to a small record shop asking about their inventory or ordering? And being answered by a secretary hired to do this, sitting at a desk right in the store? Apparently this must not have been an odd procedure for viewers in 1950.

I couldn’t make out all the words in the first letter. I see that Alice had a severe line spacing problem, though. As for Jim, if he was in the vicinity of the store, it seems he could just have picked these up. (But I couldn’t exactly find towns called Porter’s Lake nor Elmwood in Iowa, so maybe he wasn’t that close.)

Writing Better Business Letters (Coronet, 1950)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNH0eW9s230

[donnie]

Inchoate. Now that's a new one for me. It's strange one that offbeat would show up in a spelling bee!

I had forgotten about that old pronunciation of protein as PRO-tee-un rather than PRO-TEEN. It's odd how commonly used words change pronunciation like that. Examples: in sitcoms of the 1950s, deluxe is pronounced with the second syllable rhyming with spooks. And then there are those old pronunciations of radio and radiator with the rad rhyming with bad. Ok, I'm digressing. (Wonder if Jack knows that one.)

Jack certainly looks like an exceedingly calm and relaxed individual. Tranquil, serene. Imperturbable, even. (Bet he doesn’t know that one.)

I like the students' clothing and the girls' hairstyles in this era.


Reading Improvement: Vocabulary Skills (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJZXVNr0u3A&list=WL&index=20&t=5s

[donnie]

That spotlight was a dumb idea. He ought not have felt forced to be comfortable being in the focus, if that wasn’t his personality. Or maybe I just sympathize because I’ve always hated being the center of attention—even now. And especially in flippant social situations like that one. On the other hand, maybe selflessness and confidence isn’t a bad thing either. Ok, I seem to be arguing with myself. What do you think?

That girl at the very end sure looks familiar. I know I’ve seen her in something else.

Self-Conscious Guy (1951)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUp9s3DCDZY