“Safety on the School Bus” is a black-and-white PSA-style film from 1951. This short educational film, which was sponsored by Superior Coach Corporation of Lima, Ohio, aims to educate America’s bus riding students on the proper safety guidelines of riding the school bus. A collaboration between Young America Films and Centron Corporation, this film features some reenactment footage of school-aged students riding on a school bus in a quiet country town and also features shots of the bus’ exterior and interior details.
Centron Corporation was a leading industrial and educational film production company, specializing in classroom and corporate 16mm films and VHS videocassettes. Although a slightly smaller company than its contemporaries, it was nonetheless very successful from the late 1940s through the early 1990s.
Opening credits and text (0:10). Title page (0:32). Close-up of horse hooves clacking along dirt road (0:46). Boy dressed in button up and trousers and girl in dress ride on horse to school (0:57). The young boy and girl pass a neighbor with a horse-drawn cart on a quiet country lane (1:15). Exterior of school house – children play and congregate on the school house stairs (1:35). Interior of a classroom – kids reenact an exchange at the New York Post Office using cardboard cutouts (1:47). 1940s model school bus stops for two kids on a rural road (2:03). School bus safety sign from the School Bus Body Manufacturers Association; narrator talks about structural safety features (2:20). Non-skid floors (2:25). Grab rails (2:28). Emergency door at the back of the bus (2:32). Blinking turn signal (2:38). Speed limit sign (2:42). Cars stop behind school bus while it picks up a young boy (2:51). School bus undergoes inspection by an official inspector (3:01). Profile shot of school bus driver concentrating on the road (3:16). Montage of portraits of young students seated on the bus (3:27). Reenactment of sibling pair carrying out bus safety duties: leaving their suburban house (3:42). Arriving on time at the bus stop located in a desolate area (3:55). Crossing the street safely to get to the bus (4:10). State trooper pulls over to remind young boy to stay off the road and out of the way of traffic (4:33). Finding seats on the bus: rows of students sitting and talking (4:42). Young boy eats a banana and litters on bus floor (5:29). Three boys rough house on the bus (5:51). Two boisterous girls engaged in conversation (6:00). Students riled up singing school songs (6:19). Boy hangs pinwheel out the window and loses it due to a narrow underpass (6:52). Student uses knife to carve initials into the leather seats (7:30). Young boy tampers with fire extinguisher (7:56). Students get off the bus one by one on residential street (8:12). City bus makes a stop and passengers get off (8:21). School kids line up to board the school bus with their books in hand, girls wear swing skirts (8:59). Two students depart the bus and head towards a small PETCO Gas station (9:29). Closing credits (9:55).
Superior Coach was a coachbuilder in the American automotive industry. Founded in 1909 as the Garford Motor Truck Company, Superior is best known for constructing bodies for professional cars (hearses) and school buses. Following major downturns in both segments in the late 1970s, Superior was liquidated by its parent company in 1980. From 1925 to 1980, the company was based in Lima, Ohio.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
