Wheels A' Rolling
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In January 1949, the National 4-H News magazine reported that John Nash Ott's film production Wheels A-Rolling, "transfers to the screen all the color and drama of the pageant given at the Chicago Railroad Fair during 1948, and depicts the history of transportation. Narration is by the real performers and the music by the symphony orchestra which gave tempo to the original presentation." The pageant was held at Chicago's Burnham Park.
Credits
John Nash Ott Jr. (filmmaker); Lenox R. Lohr (producer); Helen Tieken Geraghty (director); John Ott Pictures, Inc. (production company); D.M. MacMaster (production assistant); Edward Hungerford (music); Arthur Mayberry (assistant director); Isaac Van Grove (assistant director); Earl J. Brisgal (assistant director); Gilbert Reade (narrator); Judith Jeffrey (narrator); Aristides Copulos (actor)
Complete catalog record
Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: John Nash Ott's film production, Wheels A'Rolling, is a recording of a pageant that shares the same title which was performed along the shore of Lake Michigan at the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair. The pageant and film both provide a romanticized historicization of 100 years of railroad development and the locomotive's concurrent participation in colonial expansion throughout the United States of America and the entire North American continent. The film narrates the establishment and growth of numerous railroad companies, and shows various historical reenactments including Abraham Lincoln's Farewell Address and life during the Civil War.
Subjects: Railroads; Fairs; Performances; Historical reenactments
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Chicago
Cfa elements: Print, 1,200 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36050
Notes: John Nash Ott's film production, Wheels A'Rolling, is a recording of a pageant that shares the same title which was performed along the shore of Lake Michigan at the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair. The pageant and film both provide a romanticized historicization of 100 years of railroad development and the locomotive's concurrent participation in colonial expansion throughout the United States of America and the entire North American continent. The film narrates the establishment and growth of numerous railroad companies, and shows various historical reenactments including Abraham Lincoln's Farewell Address and life during the Civil War.
Subjects: Railroads; Fairs; Performances; Historical reenactments
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Chicago
Cfa elements: Print, 1,200 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36050
Related films
Sources
- Chicago Film Archives · record ↗ — title, year, creator, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record, video
Record added 2026-11-08 21:25:25