Instructional Videos/Social Guidance Films

[Kitty]

It's All in Knowing How (1954)

How to what? Sleep and eat, I guess. Spoiler: Bob’s life is changed by dairy products. Can you guess what industry sponsors this film?

Probably the fisherman industry. JUST KIDDING!

All kidding aside, last year I got into a serious slump, and, guess what? I know it was because I wasn't eating the right things. I was Bob!

1:03: And well, Hap Andrews… Ok, what about Hap? What do you think the missing line is? Or maybe it’s just: Hap Andrews…nuff said. Yep. Hap looks like trouble.

It sounds like they might be saying Cap Andrews. Later, they call him Tom Andrews. Maybe he's the Captain of the football team? I think the line is "Lately, he hasn't been much fun to be around. And, well, Cap Andrews is!" He's losing his girl all because he hasn't been drinking milk. Poor guy.

Four glasses of milk, a serving of cheese, a serving of ice cream, and three pats of butter. Wow, that’s a lot of dairy. And low fat dairy wasn’t a thing back then. Curious, I looked up how much saturated fat that would be, with the current recommended daily maximum being 13 grams. Bob would be getting about 36.5.

I think the comment about how easy it is to get all the nutrients you need is a pretty upper class white person statement. Poorer people have to just eat whatever they can get, and it's not always easy --- even back then.

I thought the father was strangely cast. He didn't look that much older than Bob.

[Kitty]

Pattern for Smartness (1948)

OMG I laughed out loud when she said "sweater big enough to fit Babe Ruth".

The acting is bad --- uncharacteristically bad --- in this one. And the I'm better than them attitude that is showing from the beginning is a little sickening ---- But let me keep watching, maybe it gets better.

I wonder who the lady in the picture behind her is --- it's quite reminiscent of Mary Shelley, but I'm not so sure.

When they have the closeup of her dress hem, during minute 13, you can see her stockings really well. I know they couldn't do better back then, but, oh, my! Stockings were gross looking with that harsh dark seam in the back. Maybe they didn't look so bad with darker stockings, but the lighter colors with that deep line were off-putting!

I thought that was a lovely video! Pretty inspiring. I'd love to go to an economics class to learn the 'fundamentals of sewing'. I freehand my plushies, but clothing always overwhelmed me, since you have to do it a certain way.

I was surprised at what a complicated-looking process that is! I don’t understand how you can visualize how something is going to look when it’s just little bits of thread sticking here and there in various loose pieces of cloth. It seems it would take real skill and patience to keep from making a mess of something like that. I ended up with more respect for people who make clothes. (Do girls still do that any?)

Absolutely! Though I think this would require a grandmother or parent to instill this skill at an early age (but I guess you could look into anything online now and learn anything you want to if you really want to.... Yes, that was a weird sentence. I'm leaving it. ). Clothes nowadays can be so affordable, that it's just easier to buy. You would have to have a real love for fashion to make things like that for yourself.

The poor, unfornate girl walking on the street—as usual in these films, I can’t see anything wrong with the appearance of the supposed bad examples.

I am inclined to agree with you, though the demeanor and posture contributes a lot to the bad look. If your attitude is bright, often people will forget anything else about you.

Her boyfriend is kind of odd. And he carries photos of buildings in his pockets at all times?

The whole thing was a ruse to get her to put a fashion show on for the basketball team's fundraiser. I originally thought it was weird that he was listening to so intently to her babbling about clothes making (unrealistic portrayal of a typical teenage boy!) but when you put into perspective that it was his big scheme from the beginning, it makes sense. He figures, I'll listen to her drone on about sewing for 20 minutes, then I'll get her to raise money for basketball equipment.

[Kitty]

High School: Your Challenge (1952)

A pleasant Coronet with a stay-in-school message, this features Woody again. (Well, he's "Mac" here.) The thing I most noticed here is how formally dressed the students are—even more so than in other films of this period. And that's some impressive looking school!

It's a big, rich looking school, so rich people probably went there, hence the more formally dressed students.

Apparently, in this time period only students who were graduating got yearbooks.

I'm going to guess that richer schools gave out the yearbooks for free - so it would make sense that only people who graduated would get the yearbooks. Though, I don't know why anyone would want one if they didn't graduate. I don't know how it was in the past, but I think nowadays parents buy the yearbooks for their children.

[donnie]

Here is another one on improving reading skills. Don't those displays in the bookstore windows look attractive and interesting? This makes me think that even though we now have everything imaginable available to read at the touch of our fingers, I think we miss something from the old days.

The reading clinic is interesting. I didn't know they had anything exactly like that. Some of the tests he took looked unusual and very scientifically analytical.

Oddly, my problem is the opposite of this student's. My reason for reading rather slowly (not everything, fiction mainly) is not lack of ability to read more rapidly, but an obsession to get every bit of the meaning, which slows me down. My OCD tendencies make me have to pause to relate and analyze and compare too much. I wonder if they have a clinic for that.

I noticed that Harold's mother is played by the same actress that portrays the much-lauded Ms. Purcell in Office Etiquette. She looks maybe a little old for this role (?)

Better Reading (1952)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DjSoxvMl0w

[Kitty]

Ooh this one looks interesting. I'll watch this --- and the few others I'm missing --- before the end of the week.

[Kitty]

Re: Better Reading (1952)
This one was inspiring. I think I'll time myself one of these days and see how many wpm I can read, too! There's always room to improve oneself.

Don't those displays in the bookstore windows look attractive and interesting? This makes me think that even though we now have everything imaginable available to read at the touch of our fingers, I think we miss something from the old days.

Those displays are still able to be seen in any bookstore! They've not gone the way of the dinosaur yet!

The reading clinic is interesting. I didn't know they had anything exactly like that. Some of the tests he took looked unusual and very scientifically analytical.

They reminded me of the SATs we'd take in school. Weirdly, I liked those.

Oddly, my problem is the opposite of this student's. My reason for reading rather slowly (not everything, fiction mainly) is not lack of ability to read more rapidly, but an obsession to get every bit of the meaning, which slows me down. My OCD tendencies make me have to pause to relate and analyze and compare too much. I wonder if they have a clinic for that.

It just means you care a lot about what you're reading! My reason for getting through a book so slowly is that I don't want to say goodbye to characters sometimes!

I noticed that Harold's mother is played by the same actress that portrays the much-lauded Ms. Purcell in Office Etiquette. She looks maybe a little old for this role (?)

Mothers of 17 year olds are always portrayed as 65 year olds in everything back then. Perhaps he was adopted?
Speaking of Office Etiquette, I know I watched that post, but I don't see the comment I made. Strange!

[Kitty]

Re: Office Etiquette (1950)
I think I possibly started watching this and was interrupted and never came back to it. So I watched it in full this time!

Regarding Ms. Purcell’s famous speech, I don’t see anything in those brief remarks that would impress a person deeply enough to remember it years later. Although certainly good advice, it didn’t seem that unique or profound. Am I missing something?

Really, I feel like the whole thing could have been summed up as "treat everyone you encounter as you'd like to be treated". Everything else that was really useful she learned on the job.

Also, from her comment at the beginning, it seems that all of these students are headed toward a business career. Would that necessarily be the case in a high school typing class??

I'm not sure about today, but traditionally, the typing class would have been a business elective, so I'd definitely expect it to be a little more serious in motive.

The number of students wearing glasses in the class seems unusually high. But I’m thinking it’s really not, that it just impresses me that way, because few of the actors and actresses in these films wear them.

It's funny, I noted that, too. I think it's just that they're in the front of the camera and very noticeable. I also saw that there were a few boys in the class, as well.

Joan is very likable, if a little idealistic. Her handwriting on the application form is beautiful. And she’s using one of those fountain pens that were common in this era, the ones that have the nib almost entirely enclosed by the barrel, so that they look almost like ballpoint pens.

Speaking of the application, I noticed how different the applications looked back then. It would be unthinkable to ask if you were married or how many children you had on an application ---- even her weight and height is on there, too!

It’s surprising how all the workers are just crammed together in that big room without even any cubicles, many of them sharing desks. It looks like a rather nerve-racking place to work.

And distracting! One wouldn't last long in an office setting like that if they weren't a focused individual.

I got a kick out of the goofuses.

Yes, the girl eating the plum or whatever that was --- I bet her papers were stained all over the place! The old man who took a peek at his gambling book under his papers (I think that's what that was) was super suspicious. He looked like he was stealing! But the one who got me the most was the girl who was typing her love letter. The kiss at the end was especially silly. If you stop the video and read what she's writing ----- It would be so embarrassing to be caught writing something like that in a work setting!

[donnie]

Thanks for watching!

Don't those displays in the bookstore windows look attractive and interesting? This makes me think that even though we now have everything imaginable available to read at the touch of our fingers, I think we miss something from the old days.

Those displays are still able to be seen in any bookstore! They've not gone the way of the dinosaur yet!

Yes, but those seem different somehow—the big plate glass window, and the way the books are all attractively presented. Maybe there are windows like that and I've just not seen them.

If you stop the video and read what she's writing ----- It would be so embarrassing to be caught writing something like that in a work setting!

Yes, she was laying it on pretty thick.

Which of the goofuses are you most like? Mine would the man yawning and nodding off because he can't manage his time.

[Kitty]

Which of the goofuses are you most like? Mine would the man yawning and nodding off because he can't manage his time.

I'm a perfect in every way employee.

Actually, I never used to get enough sleep due to late nights, so I used to be the sleepy one, but I guess I would be the one who sneaks a text or two between customers, so maybe the phone call girl. But it never affects business.

[donnie]

This is an odd one. I’m confused about exactly what type of discussion this is. They’re preparing a detailed, structured plan and doing extensive background research as if it’s a class project or presentation before an audience, yet it seems to be just a conversation among friends. Am I missing something? And the dialogue, especially that of the leader, is really stilted and artificial sounding.

Discussion in Democracy (1948)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRu0tVupj9c