This film, created during WW2 shows how three inventions have made major contributions to the U.S.A.’s war effort. It shows the use of celluloid which lead to the booming plastic’s industry, Edouard Benedictus’ innovation of using a thin layer of collodion on glass to prevent shattering and the silk of spiders which is the best material used for the cross hairs in periscope sights and bomb sights. The film is a part of a series hosted by John Nesbitt that were produced from 1938 to 1949 (:09). It was produced by MGM / Loews Incorporated (:23). The three trifles are pictured over WW2 era troops marching (:55) which are a billiard ball, an empty glass bottle without it’s cork and a spider and it’s web. As the Civil War ended, the US was cut off from it’s supply of ivory which had been used for billiard balls (1:24). A newspaper clipping shows an advertisement posted by Phelan Collander Company searching for a replacement material for ivory and offering a reward of $10,000 (1:26). Workers are seen opening samples of the materials sent from inventors in the testing room of the billiard company (1:39). Some of the samples are shown to crack upon impact (2:08) and others shaped liked eggs (2:19). One sample with ‘S 13’ written on it does not crack (3:07). Upon inspection of the note sent with the sample it is found to have been made with nitric acid added to cotton to form celluloid (3:20). This led to the plastic’s industry and plastic tooth brushes are seen being manufactured (3:33). The military was also able to utilize the material during a time of war shortages for war machinery and supplies (3:46). A sign points to Paris (4:05) as the second trifle is addressed. The story of the French scientist, Edouard Benedictus and his wife getting into a car accident which resulted in shattered glass permanently damaging her face in 1912 follows (4:15). The inventor was traumatized from the accident and set about to find a way to ‘beat glass’ (5:03). Upon knocking over an uncorked bottle of collodion (5:42) he discovers that a thin layer of the material over glass holds the glass shards in place when shattered (6:48). This lead to the invention of shatterproof glass being used in automobiles (6:55) as well as in aircraft (7:04). Pilot’s are seen of the 342nd Fighter-Day Group in cockpits composed with the shatterproof glass (7:08). The spider and it’s web are then addressed (7:40). A woman collects a spider from a jar and sets it onto a shelf among others which were being used by the military (7:58). She is then seen encouraging the spider to produce it’s silk (8:23). A microscopic image compares human hair to the spider’s silk (9:13). The military used the silk to fire torpedoes (9:18), as the sights of anti-aircraft weapons (9:26) and range finders of heavy guns (9:30). The film concludes with the three trifles shown again (9:43) and a bomber plane dropping it’s payload (10:03).

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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