This 1961 black and white film “The Cotton Belt – Yesterday and Today” was produced by the Indiana University Audio Visual Center. A woman stands at an ironing board and irons cotton clothing (:34). Fields of cotton are shown. A bole is spread apart up-close to show how it can stretched and then spun into threads and woven into cloth (:44-1:10). Cotton seeds are dumped into a cattle trough (1:12). A ladle scoops Snow-kreem Vegetable Shortening into a pan on a stove (1:15). A map shows where cotton is grown around the world and specifically where in the U.S., known as the cotton belt. Illustrations of slave labor are shown (1:27-2:57). A weaving machine is shown in action (2:59-3:07). A worker stands picking cotton in chest-high plants (3:12). Shown are a sharecropper’s home and him walking behind the plow pulled by mules (4:18). A farmer pours fertilizer into a wheelbarrow (4:42). A boll weevil eats on a cotton boll (4:46). Abandoned farm buildings and show missing its laces lie in ruins (5:00). A tractor pulls a plow (5:12). An aerial view is shown of the Mississippi Valley farmland. A tractor plants six rows at a time. A cultivator lifts out weeds. A plane sprays a chemical dust on the growing plants to kill boll weevils and make the leaves die off. (6:08-6:55). A mechanical picker moves through the field. The full basket is dumped into a trailer and taken to a cotton gin for processing (6:56-7:42). A train moves past a plant making vegetable oils from soybeans and cotton seeds. 1960s cars are parked in a downtown shopping area (7:45-8:10). Memphis is panned from the river and the Mid-South Cotton Growers Association building is shown, as are other buildings, including the Cotton Exchange Building (8:25-8:59). The length of fibers is measured by hand or by machines (9:01-9:20). The Memphis Cotton Parade is shown, including a float full of young girls and marching bands (9:22-10:00). A flyover of West Texas fields is shown. These fields are irrigated. An aerial shot of Lubbock is shown (10:08-10:35). An aerial view of farms in South Carolina is shown. Cotton is picked by hand and put into a shoulder sling bag (11:15-11:28). An aerial view of the Piedmont area shows terrace farming. Lye is spread on the ground (11:29-12:07). Miles of peach trees are shown (12:08-12:35). A truck full of chickens in wire baskets arrives at a plant in Georgia (12:36-12:42). Forest land is shown, following by stacks of lumber at a sawmill (12:45-13:22). Cotton is shown being spun into thread and woven into cloth. A rayon factory is shown (13:39-13:54). A sign is shown at the Wheeler Dam, built in 1933-1936 as a TVA project, and generating hydro-electric power. Thermo-electric power is also produced (14:2214:35). A view of Dallas is shown (15:05). A view of Atlanta is shown (15:17). Split-level homes built going up a hill are passed. Cattle graze in a field, a water tower and factory seen in the distance (16:06-16:38).

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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