Friday, February 5, 2010

Vintage Film Shows Rag Papermaking in 1926

Quite a while ago, I came across a reel of really old film in a mill basement at Crane. Being the curious type, I wanted desperately to find out what might be shown. And I figured that whatever was on the film was worth preserving. I took it to the photo shop where I had done business (film) for many years and they were kind enough to transfer the film to VHS - oh yeah - cutting edge - that's me.

Little did I know that the advance of technology would be so fast-paced. Last week, I came across the VHS in a box in the archives and figured I needed to get current again. I was able to dust off our old VCR and, after many false starts, bit the bullet and got a machine to convert the tape to 1s and 0s.

So, to make a short story long, I hope you enjoy this film. It's about 10 minutes long. It's a little rough, but heck, it's old. It really is a fascinating look at how rag paper was made in the day at Crane's Bay State Mill. Much has changed in the intervening years, but those of us who know the company well will recognize some machinery that's still being used. In a while, I'll post the rest of the film, which shows paper being made into stationery.

Enjoy, fellow paper-lovers

3 comments:

Gretchen Schermerhorn said...

Wow, thanks for passing this along Peter! It is interesting how much is still applicable in today's hand papermaking.

Kathryn Clark said...

Thank you sooo much for sending this out for all to see. It was great to see the bird screen/knotter, breaker beater, plating, calendering, and all the rag preparation.

Jill Littlewood said...

What an incredible find. It is so easy to forget - if one ever knew - all the steps in making something we take for granted.
There were jobs I could imagine and those I never want to have, like sitting by the machine with a paddle to move a sheet a fraction of an inch over. Yikes!