Made by Westinghouse in 1938-39, “The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair” is an American film directed by Robert R. Snody produced for the company’s exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. (NOTE: our print of this film is not complete, and represents only half of the original movie. Our apologies but we thought it worth sharing nevertheless.)
“The Middleton Family” illustrates the contribution of free enterprise, technology, and Westinghouse products to the American way of life. The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair pits an anti-capitalist bohemian artist boyfriend against an all-American electrical engineer who believes in improving society by working through corporations. The Middletons experience Westinghouse’s technological marvels at the Fair and win back their daughter from her leftist boyfriend. The film features images of the Westinghouse exhibits including an early TV television studio, the famous time capsule (read more below), and a modern dish washer that competes with a manual hand dish washer —
In 2012, the film was added to the National Film Registry.
Cast:
Marjorie Lord as Babs
Jimmy Lydon as Bud
Ruth Lee as Mother
Harry Shannon as Father
Adora Andrews as Grandma
Douglas Stark as Jim Treadway
George J. Lewis as Nicholas Makaroff
Georgette Harvey as Maid
One of the first exhibits to receive attention at the Fair was the Westinghouse Time Capsule, which was not to be opened for 5,000 years (the year 6939). The time capsule was a tube containing writings by Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann, copies of Life Magazine, a Mickey Mouse watch, a Gillette safety razor, a kewpie doll, a dollar in change, a pack of Camel cigarettes, millions of pages of text on microfilm, and much more. The capsule also contained seeds of foods in common use at the time: (wheat, corn, oats, tobacco, cotton, flax, rice, soy beans, alfalfa, sugar beets, carrots and barley, all sealed in glass tubes). The time capsule is located at 40°44′34.089″N 73°50′43.842″W, at a depth of 50 feet (15 m). A small stone plaque marks the position.
Westinghouse also featured “Electro the Moto-Man”: the 7-foot (2.1 m) tall robot that talked, differentiated colors, and even “smoked” cigarettes.
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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 and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
