Growth of Cities and Their Problems

Year Published: 1920

Creator: Society for Visual Education

Description: 1920 silent (soundtrack added) educational film produced by the Society for Visual Education in 1920. Seems to have been filmed in Chicago and Manitowoc Wisconsin, very well could be other locations shown as well. Notably, Chicago's famous "El" train is briefly featured. The 16mm print we have is a later positive copy, appears to have been produced from original negative around 1930. From a 1920 Issue of Moving Picture Age: "Remarks: Unpaved streets that cause wear and breakdown, good roads bring trade and improve business, city built along stream has to maintain bridges, insanitary ditch drains, dirty streets cause disease, flies and mosquitoes breed; organized street cleaning; modern tenements are fire traps, proper building laws require safety from fire, growth of modern fire department; necessity of traffic rules, elevated and subway trains; cities need strong police force; small water systems soon outgrown, city pumping station; cities often outgrow their schools, portable barracks are erected, well-equipped schools make better citizens, crowded streets make poor playgrounds; public parks and playgrounds." *Please Contact Regarding Usage* Put in a lot of corrections to help restore this film to be more pleasant to watch. Did independent scene by scene contrast/exposure adjustments, exposure uniformity, and applied frame stabilization and slight flicker reduction. Played back at 16FPS. Due to being hand-crank footage from a number of sources, there isn't really one 'correct' speed for this film. Score compiled from period songs sourced from Library of Congress, with timings adjusted and EQ: Ziegfeld Follies of 1920, Medley Fox Trot - Irving Berlin & Joseph C. Smith Orchestra The Midnight Waltz - International Novelty Orchestra Honeydew Medley Waltz Ev'rybody Shimmies Now Honolulu Eyes Medley Waltz 0:00 Road Conditions 2:49 Bridges 3:33 Street Cleaning 4:35 Fire Safety 5:29 Traffic Management 6:41 Police Forces 7:35 Water Systems 8:46 Schools 10:49 Santitation/Streets #1920s #roaring20s #historicalfilm #historicfootage #silentfilm #silentera Keywords: 1920 educational film, 1920 silent film, Society for Visual Education, 1920s America, roaring twenties, historic footage, historic film, archival film, archival footage, restored silent film, early 20th century cities, urban history, urban growth, city problems, unpaved roads, road conditions, traffic history, traffic management, early automobiles, bridges, street cleaning, sanitation history, dirty streets, flies and mosquitoes, public health 1920s, disease prevention, modern tenements, fire traps, fire safety history, early fire department, building laws, police force 1920s, law enforcement history, city schools, overcrowded schools, portable schools, education history, playgrounds history, public parks history, urban planning 1920s, water systems 1920s, pumping station, infrastructure history, transportation history, elevated trains, subway trains, Chicago history, Manitowoc Wisconsin history, Wisconsin history, Midwest history, early American cities, vintage documentary, vintage film, vintage 16mm film, rare film, rare 1920s footage, restored film, silent era, silent film era, hand-crank film, historical documentary, America 1920s, daily life 1920s, city life 1920s, American history, U.S. history, educational documentary, historic Chicago, early urban America, rare archival film, preservation, restoration, contrast correction, flicker reduction, stabilization, historic streets, municipal history, civic history, progressive era cities, public works history

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv81gwpJjNw

Metadata Source:YouTube