This 1930s recruitment film titled “Get a Member” was produced by the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf, Springfield Division 67. The NFSD was an organization of deaf people in the United States and Canada modeled on ethnic fraternal orders that were popular at the beginning of the twentieth century. Famously, the NFSD provided burial benefits and insurance to the deaf. When the NFSD was first established, other insurance companies saw the deaf as an uninsurable risk, so the organization offered burial benefits, life insurance, and sickness / accident coverage. Initially, membership was restricted to deaf men. Auxiliary divisions were established for the women and children, but they were eventually welcomed as full members of the Society
The film seeks to recruit new members for the society while showing off how NFSD works. The film features two deaf men that converse over a lengthy period of time in sign language until one man finally pays his membership fees and joins. According to a knowledgeable individual, the sign language used in the film is a bit antiquated. Here, Mike is an insurance salesman for the “deaf club”. His friend Abe is the man in the black suit. Abe isn’t a part of the club. The skinny Abe buys insurance from Mike for $5.00, then finds out it’s actually $5.00 for joining the club. The good news is that burial insurance comes free with club membership.
0:08 National Fraternal Society of the Deaf, Springfield Division 67, 0:14 “Get a Member”, 0:24 two men in funky suits standing around and enjoying the sun with a sign, 1:27 only one man standing with a sign and speaking in sign language, 2:26 other man in the suit returns and begins speaking in sign language, 3:33 man sits on the floor and continues to speak, 4:40 the other man in the suit returns with his sign and picks something up off the floor, 5:14 the two men continue their skit and begin interacting, 7:45 one man holds up the sign and begins explaining things to the other man, 8:00 list of membership benefits, 8:10 two men continue looking at the papers, 9:01 man in black suit pulls out a dollar bill and hands it to the other man, 9:37 the two walk away arm in arm, 9:50 recruiter speaks in sign language to the camera, 10:57 “Now Join, The End”
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