This early 1950s film about Spalding manufacturing of its products is produced by Sound Masters, Inc. A customer buys a Spalding golf club in a sporting goods store. The manufacturing process is overviewed (0:19-1:43). The camera pans over the Spalding factory in Chicopee, MA (2:44-3:06). Thousands of baseballs are manufactured automatically. Workers labor in a room (3:07-4:46).
GOLF CLUBS: Engineers sketch club designs at drafting tables (4:47-5:10). A Toledo scale is used. Heads are weighed, matched, and stamped with identification numbers (5:11-5:54). The Spalding Synchro-Dyned stamp is shown up-close. Record cards are stamped (5:55-6:15). A club head is manually attached to a reverse-threaded shaft, hand-measured, and grips wrapped with leather (6:16-7:48). Women weigh finished clubs, which are loaded into boxed sets (7:49-8:43). Wood is dried on pallets. Automated equipment turns and shapes wood into a gold head that is drilled and routed for attachments (8:44-9:44). A vintage Ther-Monic induction heater joins the head. Workmen remove excess wood. The head is sanded, checked, scored, and varnished (9:45-12:07). Secretaries work in the Spalding registration card filing system. Spalding Club Masters are shown for exact reproduction (12:08-12:56). Custom luxury golf clubs are welded and carved by hand (12:57-13:42).
WOODEN TENNIS RACKETS AND TENNIS BALLS: Different woods are selected, stained, wrapped with metal, and pressure-shaped into a racket (13:43-14:42). An automated CNC cuts the shape. A workman sands them. Automated systems drill holes into the rackets; grooving for strings is done by hand (14:43-15:32). The rackets are weighed, measured, and strung (15:33-16:20). Rubber is processed by spinning drums into an extrusion machine, cut into slugs, and hydraulically pressed into half-ball shells. Shown in different colors are different types of balls (16:21-18:27). Tennis shells are dipped in rubber cement and run through an infrared drying oven. A pressure chamber vulcanizes tennis balls in bulk (18:28-19:18). A machine removes fleshing, and dumps balls into washing chambers (19:18-19:56). Intricate conveyers ferry the balls into an automated bounce test that flings balls over a curtain. Those that fail will become children’s high bounce balls (19:57-21:05). Women cover the balls with cement-coated covers. Finished tennis balls are pressure packed (21:06-21:42).
GOLF BALLS: Rubber cores and a secret shell are vulcanized and dimpled in a hydraulic press (21:43-22:23). A Federal automated testing system sorts them. A female worker manually weighs and checks them (22:24-23:13). Automated sprayers apply three coats of paint to the golf balls (23:14-23:31). Golf balls are packed and packaged models shown (23:32-23:50).
BASEBALLS AND SOFTBALLS: Rubber cores are wrapped with 370 yards of yarn by female workers, covers are hand stitched, and finished balls stamped with Reach (American League) and Spalding (National League) (23:51-24:50). Kapok is pressure-molded and steamed into a softball core and wrapped in thread (24:51-26:20). Vintage softball boxes are stacked using stop-motion photography (26:21-26:36).
RUBBER COVERED BALLS: A craftsman stitches a football (26:37-26:46). Foam cores are stitched. Leather panels are cemented to a basketball, which are painted by an automated sprayer (26:47-27:25).
TESTING: Automatic testing includes basketballs squeezed, tennis balls compressed, golf balls hit, and baseballs and softballs pounded. A technician pulls apart a golf club (27:26-28:05). An automated machine rapidly hits tennis balls and tests rackets (28:06-28:42). A 1940’s commercial truck’s side says “Spalding sets the pace in sports” (29:04-29:09).
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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
