Abraham Katz--home movies. Reels 56-69

Date1930 – 1959

AbstractBlack and white and color amateur footage of the Katz family around Cambridge, MA, construction of the EMF store, family vacations around New England including Benson's Wild Animal Farm, collecting aluminum for the war effort during WWII, parade, farming, fishing, cars, and people visiting a graveyard. Reel 65 contains views from a visit to a Jewish agricultural community in Colchester, CT, where Abraham Katz grew up.

Viewing NotesReel 56: b&w Winchester Conservatories building, women emerge from front door carrying flowers. Cemetery, gravestone of Josephine T. Cohen, age 23 years. Reel 57: b&w Children in coats, pan across to women. They are on a rooftop. Some deterioration."New York" on roof in distance. Reel 58: b&w, workers, man walking on sidewalk from above. Men on construction site, pouring concrete. Whittemore concrete truck. Slow motion man walking by parked cars on street. EMF building next to Metropolitan Ice Co., gas pumps. Neighborhood sidewalk. b&w Children in swimsuits inside some kind of swimming float enclosure with webbed bottom (in river?) Motorboat, chairs on pier nearby. Boy jumps in and falls. Men, one with shovel, one in swimsuit. Man in swim trunks with a very small fish. Man in motorboat pulls to start it. Man stands and paddles boat on lake or in river. Women in garden chairs. Man sits in open trunk with picnic. Another man in T shirt walks along road. Women in convertible eat picnic, hand offers sun glasses. Family in yard, man with cigarette. Canvas hammock. Boys with ball. Overexposed view of beach with rocks in front. Continued poor exposure various beach views. Man in motorboat, also poor exposure. People in rectangular tethered floats, motor boat approaches, "Spray Tosser," at speed. Better exposure women at motor boat (brief). Then blurry and unstable lakeside scenes. Boy steers motor boat. Views of Spray Tosser on lake, poor contrast. Woman in swimsuit struggles with oars. Dog jumps into water, then in row boat. Good exposure of construction of EMF Electric Supply building. Workers take smoke break, hammer. Woman on sidewalk and talking to camera. Man leaves EMF with radio. Pile of construction materials for concrete forms. Concrete crew. Good details. Whittemore Concrete. Reel 59: b&w Building with cares parked next to it. "Hy Power Viewing Machine" then two couples in rear of motorboat. Nice, speedy shot. More motor boat and lake footage. Winnepesaukee crowds. Nice atmospherics. Winnepesaukee Gardens and more tourist shots. Views of lake. Landscape on lake cruise, clouds, not so interesting. "Mt Washington" flag. Pan of landscape, arrival at Centre Harbor dock. Blurry clouds. View of Wolfeboro dock, arriving. Jittery footage of cruise. Pan of boat, Mt Washington paddle wheeler. People seated on boat, light struck. Woman with camera. Paddle wheeler from a distance. Inside wheel house (nice). Quick shots along the lake. Getting off the boat. Views of shore including Plymouth Rock on a very windy day. Picnic. People recline outdoors. Young man with camera. Car waiting for drawbridge. Agfa 1935 b&w three people walk on rocky shore. Man with still camera. Pan of shoreline, hair in lower left. Man picks up fish on shore. Someone with fishing rod, swinging a small fish around. People on vacation outside hotel, nice footage. Could be Martha's Vineyard? Pan up church in village, looks more European, road around a central fountain. Reel 60: b&w. Benson Wild Animal Farm. Boy does somersaults. Picnic table with family. View of picnic grounds, not much contrast. Funhouse mirror. Concrete lions. Monkey in suspended airplane. Crowd, children on ponies. Benson's Wild Animal Farm. Riding on an elephant through Animal Farm. Monkeys in cage. Boys in concrete wading pool in back yard. Poor exposure. Boys splash each other with buckets. Boy in chair. Woman wearing a snood on her head walks toddler. Gives child a bottle. Reel 61: b&w, on vacation, stone wall, climbing in field, film of children run backwards, then forward to camera. May be at Ellisville. Poor exposure, blurry and underexposed. Better exposure with bicycles, mother on ground. Slow motion of children running across lawn to camera. Everyone plops down on picnic blanket and looks at camera. Tricycle with two children. Boy swimming in ocean, other children in water. At dock, children play in yard. Through branches at women on dock. Children in driveway running around. Older man in suspenders. Children in winter clothes. Reel 62: b&w formal dinner party with candles on table. Holiday meal. Grapefruit decoratively cut at places. Fine exposure. Gold edged glasses. People spoon food to their mouths. Women in sitting room laugh together and gesticulate. People sit on sofa -- out of focus. Woman shows her ring. She has on a corsage. Perhaps this is an engagement or wedding party. They kiss. Patriarch in middle, joking with group. Couple kisses on sofa. She has a dress with distinctive rosettes on chest. Man with cigar. View of older people on sofa, kissing couple in lower right. Woman with rosette dress. Dinner table, several views, not all in focus. Light in upper right corner. Blurry views of two men with hats on, people on sofa. Many more portraits in some people act silly. Reel 63: b&w Cambridge City Hall on Mass. ave., "Give Aluminum for Defense" display and collection. EMF truck backs up against traffic. Trolley passes. Blurry view of people tossing aluminum. "All Aluminum Body Given by Technology Garage" sign on car. Better exposure of EMF truck in foreground of aluminum collection activity. City Hall clock tower. "EMF Electric Supply Co. Cambridge Cameras" sign on pickup truck. Another view of aluminum collection. Truck in front of city hall is piled with pots. Various views. Men in boater hats on street, one smokes a cigar. View of traffic passing. Reel 64 b&w blurry views of people descending stairs, men with top hats, very formal stair descent and unfortunately very out of focus. Bride descends. Bridge and groom, wedding party. Wrigley's Spearmint and other signs at night. Al Jolson The Singing Kid, Newsreels. Schaefer Beer at its Best. The Great Ziegfeld. Spud the refreshing cigarette. Views on ferry, woman holding onto her hat. Woman with captain. Dine and Dance sign on building on street. Long ferry with draw bridge. Welcome to Washington. Hood of car. Man next to broom display on sidewalk. Woman loses her hat, very nice. S. Carolina US 701 road sign. View from car, crossing bridge. St. Augustine Oldest Cit in the US welcome sign. Pan of beach. Cars on beach. People on beach. Fire trucks leave firehouse. Train comes down tracks. View from car. The Oleanders Hotel and Gardens. Roadside burning. Midway Colony sign with smoke. Hotel Lido, four people Hotel Clinton sign. SS New Northland Miami to Nassau sign. View of New Northland, Quebec, ship transom, then we are on board. CU boat fittings, passing vessels. Mr and Mrs Katz shoot each other on board. Reel 65: b&w, woman and boy, 1931 Mass license plate on car. Two women, one in beret. At the beach, there is a wreck just off shore. Colchester, CT, Jewish agricultural community: Kid brushes his teeth outdoors and spits. Digging potatoes. Very large sunflower. Pan of landscape (underexposed). Harry's Place, Agranovitch, Colchester Bus Station (and rest room) other stores. Horse and cart. Gas station. Churches. View of Synagogue. Man on front steps. Men standing by car. Road, unpaved. Few cars. Boy with cat. Men shake hands by farm. Small girl on horse, boy holds reins while seated in cart. Family, old man with beard. Liverant Used Furniture and Antiques Truck. Pile of tires, pan of farmyard. Man unfolds table. [See Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in Twentieth-century New England, Greenfield, for Nathan Liverant.] Calf and cow. Two men talk by farmhouse. Women in backyard rocker. CU woman. Man with turkey. Family group in garden. Agfa 1935. Girls run in field, other family members. Old men in bathing suits. Girl on man's shoulders. Girl with mother. Summery pictures. Bald man with girl on shoulders.Little boy running, pulls toy boat, ties self up in string. Fast motion. Small boy sits on back of bald man lying down. Family on ground in shade. More children pile on bald man. Woman with boy points at things. More poses. Street view, tilt up synagogue and close up of facade. People come up stairs to synagogue. Couple poses, man in hat, girl kisses him. Another couple, she as hat. People greet each other. Inside synagogue, underexposed. Couple walks slowly. Door of synagogue, people leaving. Pan of people outdoors, a different group, not as affluent. All women have hairnets on. Wedding party coming out of house (dark). Slow pan of family members at wedding time. Tall man in black tie. Reel 66: b&w parade. Firetruck, float, very floppy. Clown with barrel, clown dancing with doll, marching band casual. Trombones, military brass band. Long floppy bug float, someone holding its nose. Man walking on his hands, wearing a top hat. Massachusetts State House. Float with "Watch for Circle Pictures...parade fans in Friday's Daily Record" (See yourself). Felix the cat float. Clown with two small dogs. Children on ponies. Goats. Follow the big parade Jordan Marsh. Igloo float. Crowd, tightly packed together, all men with hats on. Boston Public Garden, very busy, children with balloons. Boston State House, tilt down, more views of same. Blurry Cambridge road intersection, a parade arrives. Not as good an exposure as Boston parade earlier on reel. US Malt Company in background (this is just opposite EMF offices). Slow motion horses pulling cannon. In foreground, "Good Eater Bars, Candy for Children" sign on truck. [George Close Company, founded 1873; moved around Cambridge, 1911 built large factory art 243 Broadway and Windsor. Make penny candy and baseball cards.] View of Harvard, cars parked, pan along street. Central Trust Company, Harvard Square. Charles Lunch. Yale banners (preparation for Harvard Yale Game, probably). Pedestrians walk in square. Underexposed views of people in street and Harvard buildings. No trees along Charles River. Camera tilted on bridge. Poor exposures continue of game day. At Harvard Stadium, exposure improves briefly. Standing on top of car, view of people walking. Reel 67: b&w Fishing, man in bare feet stands on rocks and casts line out. Flare around his white clothes against dark bank. He walks carefully to shore. More walking on rocks. He takes off cap. Underexposed man and woman in hayfield. She turns hay. Large field, she is on ground. Well exposed by not well focused footage of horses, loading hay on large cart. Man examines some wiring and conduit outside, flare around his white shirt. Post with four sailboats going around. Gloucester fisherman sculpture. Woman approaches statue. Good exposure of Mass Ave building construction, preparing for facade. EMF Electric 430 sign (on Mass. Ave., Cambridge). I- beam preparing to be raised. Hydrant on the sidewalk. Reel 68: b&w Memorial Drive, along the Charles River. Side of a car that has been hit, man pointing out damage to driver's door. Also points out fender damage. Electric transformer in landscape. Couple walks by pole. Man points at something. There is trash on the ground. They climb hillside. Sign on transfer, Danger, High Voltage. Power poles march off into distance. Camera continues to tilt up. Pan of landscape and couple walks down. Sandy hillside opposite. Ross silo next to barn. Store front, long-held shot. Man waves as he walks in. Woman points at forested hillside. Cemetery with trees. Coolidge gravestone. Woman points out two gravestones. Man with overcoat and hat, points rifle. "This farm for sale" sign on tree. Man with pistol. River, light snow on ground. Pan of countryside. Back at farm front steps, two men with rifles. Water. View of farm house with cart in front. Road through woods. AK on tree (Abraham Katz). Looking through woods. Man in barn coat may be seller or agent. Stream. Bridge. No Trespassing sign, McDermott. Cows. Reel 69: Agfa 1936. Child in wool outfit and harness. Crew of people apply clapboards. Woman walks in woods. Man climbs on stump and gestures. Woman walks back down along path stopping to pick flowers. She wears jodhpurs. Drinks from stream. Opens faucet close to ground and water comes out, drinks. Man washes hands and drinks from faucet. Man on ladder climbs up to roof. View of woman, field, pond, hillside. They bought this property? Stream, tilt up. Landscape views. Woman in stream balances on rock. Man runs down hill, climbs on rocks. Drinks from stream. Woman takes off shoes and puts feet in water. Slow motion she runs across field to camera. View of valley, stream, buildings. Stream. Woman climbs over fence. Woman on horse, farmer in suspenders has line. Horse drinks from stream. Farmer with calf, woman pats it. Then man pats it. Man with creel in stream fishing. [This may be Plymouth, Vermont. Ed Katz says his parents bought a property in Vermont near the Coolidge place.]