This career guidance film “People Who Work in Offices” seeks to educate elementary school students about the various jobs that exist in an office. It was produced by Coronet Films (also known as Coronet Instructional Media Inc.) which was a leading producer and distributor of many American documentary shorts shown in public schools from 1934 – 1997. The educational collaborator for this film was Frank J. Estvan, who was a Professor of Education at Wayne State University.
The film opens with children walking into a school building (0:33). Male school principal and female secretary (0:52). Mother and son walk up to a medical receptionist (1:07). Worker in a cubicle at a grocery store (1:14). Bank tellers work behind a desk and serve customers (1:24). Female factory workers (1:36). Office in a motel (2:03). Chicago skyline (2:11). Oil wells (2:35). Oil refinery (2:39). Storage tanks for gasoline (2:44). Gas station (2:50). Office building (2:56). Male office worker (3:01). Office executives talk to each other (3:13). Female receptionist greets a male office worker (3:24). Female receptionist operates the telephone switchboard (3:32). Female secretary takes notes in shorthand (3:37). The secretary transcribes dictation (3:44). The secretary writes on an electric typewriter and answers the phone (3:57). The secretary gathers research for her boss (4:22). Female secretary in a green dress hands out papers to other female typists (4:32). The female typists type on typewriters (4:56). Note written in dictation (5:07). A recording machine (5:10). Female typists use a copy machine (5:24). Copy machine makes paper copies (5:31). Female secretary/filing clerk stores documents in a filing cabinet (5:40). Male employee reads a paper (6:14). Male shipping clerk oversees delivery of a package (6:16). Bookkeeper (6:29). Single Entry Ledger (SEL) notebooks (6:50). Bookkeeper uses a calculator (7:04). Bookkeepers use complicated machines to keep track of company sales and services (7:20). Bookkeepers load paper into machines (7:41). Male office messenger picks up messages and delivers them to other offices and the mailroom (8:01). Machines are used to help mail clerks with their job (8:48). Male office messenger passes out checks (9:16). Check showing how much the worker earned (9:28). Newspaper title reading, “House, Senate Ok Anti-Busing Bills” concerning school desegregation (9:44). Factory workers work while office workers work in an office (9:49). Female receptionists (9:56). Man works in a grocery store’s office (10:04). Female receptionists (10:10).
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