[Joshua W. Curtis, Jr.—home movies] Reel 1

Date1939 – 1940

Viewing NotesBlack and white: On a grassy field in the winter, people play with a dog and converse with each other. Car pulls out onto Main Street in Searsport with post office sign across the street (brick row of commercial buildings), car turns left. Snow on the ground: a young man plows walk with a home-made wooden plow with wheels and a "Sunkist Orange" crate. Smiles to camera. View of white church with two doors and central stained glass window. Pan of village in the snow with white clapboard house, three chimneys. [20 West Main Street, Searsport, Curtis family home.] Couple with child pulled behind on flexible flyer sled, and dog running out front: they are on snowy road. View of truck full of logs with boy riding on snow scraper behind--probably clearing pond for ice cutting. Large snowplow on village street, Searsport, Maine. Smiling couple crosses street walking to camera.View of same clapboard house. Ice harvesting with electric motor; boys with poles move ice blocks. Excellent views of floating ice and ice moving down channel to conveyor into ice house. Ice is at least 24 inches thick. Rope tow on gentle hill with people on skis. Person walks in foreground, heels not fixed on skis. Large basket ski poles. Row of men watch skiers. Sign, "Fees" with list of costs, and "Join the Camden Outing Club." Probably Camden Snow Bowl, ca. 1939. [Snow Bowl opened in 1936] Person with skates over their shoulder. Views of skiers, some jumping over small moguls. All skiers have poles, skiing in various styles. Color film: Car drives on ice and a smiling woman in green snow suit holds on to the door and stands on running board of moving car; possibly child is driving the car on the lake. People watch dog sled racing; low POV, icy trail (underexposed at end of dog sled sequence). Ice skating and crowd on ice. Could be Hosmer Pond by Camden Snow Bowl. Snowy parking lot with truck on right, then two cars parked and a woman in ankle boots and fur coat with small hat on approaches the camera, smiling. She wears glasses. [This is in Bangor, Maine.] Yellow snow plow at work in front of white clapboard house. Laundry (sheets) hang to dry on porch. House trim is green. Long pan from hillside of flood in village, probably Searsport (Andrews Garage). A man walks through water. Flooding in residential area including "Neighborhood Cash Grocery" painted on a false front with peaked roof visible behind; "Cigars" and "Tobacco" smaller below. Red Bird Poultry Farm sign, with pointing hand. Andrews' Garage Super Service Station with Gulf sign. Cars come forward through flooded street. Cashman's dairy truck drives in water by gas station, water up to middle of wheels. Brief underexposed interior with flooding in building, then more views of river running through street in town. Quick view of boat by houses. Men stand and observe flood. Sunny day: Man in boat on lake. Early spring, ice out. Good view of outboard motor, then pan of lake. Woman with trees and lake view behind, she waves to camera. Pheasant in a field, fog and barn in background. Young men and women (high school students) compete in high jump. Man, probably teacher, uses shovel on chips on the ground. Chickens in a pen, one rooster, chicken wire in foreground. Tulips. A parade through the town of Searsport, Maine. Probably July 4th. Village Cafe sign, with Bell sign over it. Gulf station. People on horses. Boy Scouts. Brass Band. Children on decorated bicycles. Many local floats have patriotic themes and American flags. Red Cross-decorated vehicle. Float with American flag says "Spirit of 76". "First National Store" float. A float titled "Farm Bureau." Fire engines. Service club floats including IOOF [Odd Fellows]. A man in dragon dance costume, with gray flannel trousers underneath the paper mache dragon. Sawyers Service gas station float {Gulf). Costumed parade entries including top hats. Family outside home play croquet: women in print dresses, man in tie. Hen and chicks. Man in black swimsuit with top and straw hat, wearing trousers, and woman in pale green swimsuit with towel. Man, without trousers, jumps from rock into lake. Young man in lake. [This is possibly Joshua W. Curtis, Jr.] "Barney Hose Co." sign on firetruck, CU. Firemen pose in front of a fire truck and operate the fire hose. A man and woman lie in grass while having a picnic. View of lake or river. Perhaps Curtis family, man and woman and perhaps J.W. Curtis, Jr. Man and woman embrace and laugh. She has a bandana on her head. Then view of man and boy. Older woman in doorway, comes out to car [could be grandmother] Dahlias, closeup. Airplane in the sky. Summer scenes: A woman [possibly Orilla Curtis, JW's mother] walks toward house, the land around is green and there are flowers. A pinwheel spins in the wind. View of sea in the background. Blue vases on streetfront side of house. White clapboard house in village with green shutters, several pans. A woman walks by camera carrying dog. Hydrangea bushes. Pan of croquet lawn and driveway. A boy [maybe 9 years old] carries a bucket of food and water to a brown cow. Woman behind screen door waves. Sweetpeas. Ocean waves on granite shore, Curtis family picnic with aluminum thermoses on rocks. Elder couple wears fedora and hat with feather. Last shot is of ocean and rocks.