FC2Video

Vintage 1919 Pearl Queen Diamond Deluxe Chemnitzer Concertina Solo. Very intricate and beautiful abalone and mother of pearl work done on this concertina.

Vintage 1910 Silberhorn Chemnitzer Concertina Solo. A beautiful instrument that is in pristine condition.

A glorious old beer film! Made by the Pabst Brewing Company, this film was used to train their managers and distributors how to sell more beer. The animation is top-quality for the time period, and the acting is campy and delightfully awful. They first show the different types of advertising that the Pabst Company was flooding the market with, including billboards, magazine ads, and more. Most excellently, goofy shots of warehouses bursting with boxes of Pabst are thrown in as well. Fans of beer, Pabst, and history will love this vintage movie.

A riotous vintage film! The Pursuit of Profit is one of the most enjoyable capitalist propaganda movies ever made. From the creepy narrator (Twilight Zone-esque) to the obsession with free enterprise, to the absurd promotion of a unquestioning, unfulfilling love for an employee’s cold hearted corporation. Produced by corporate giants Proctor and Gamble, the film makes a powerful propaganda pitch in favor of materialistic values and selfishness – as well as fear of one’s employer. Bizarrely produced with outrageous assertions assaulting the audience, The Pursuit of Profit is a phenomenal free enterprise film.

Inside Information explores the different uses of X-rays, as well as the machines that harness them. Wonderful vintage technology in action, the film shows: police checking for bombs by X-raying packages, X-rays being used to check for defects in airplane parts in a factory, a boy getting an X-ray in a doctor’s office, and a car brake is shown in cutaway and X-ray. The car brake is shown in some detail, and is compared to a human ankle, which is also shown though X-rays. As a piece of the history of science and technology, Inside Information accomplishes everything it sets out to.

Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm is a sunny and wholesome film about farming and fun. Brother and sister George and Betty leave the city for the summer to come and stay at their Uncle Jim’s dairy farm. Joining their young cousins Andy and Jane, they work and play while learning how a dairy farm operates. Everyone on the farm is expected to help and contribute. George and Betty help feed the pigs, gather eggs, and weed the gardens. But while the film examines these charming aspects of farm work, summer isn’t just about labor. George and Betty discover there are many fun things to do around the farm. They swing on a rope in the hay loft. They play with the farm animals and snack on their Aunt’s delicious food in the afternoons. Harkening back to a simpler time with basic values and down home living, Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm is a warm and comforting vintage video.

The Information Machine is a vintage animated film produced by IBM to show off at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. The cartoon succinctly and entertainingly describes the history of information management from cavemen to the modern computer in the 1950’s. The different applications of the big computers used by the military and business are explained, all within the context of computers contributing to the positive development of human society.

This vocational guidance film explores all the aspects of accounting and bookkeeping before the age of the computer. According to the film, an accountant must have strong moral fiber, be able to work in a team, and have significant organizational skills. It goes on to describe the various types of tasks bookkeepers and accountants perform, and what tools and education each must have to complete the job. An overview of what kind of degrees accountants must hold and what kind of advancement is possible in the career field is also discussed. Other topics include FBI accountants, cost-accounting, time and motion studies, household budgeting, and tax returns.

This is a rare nature film from the silent era in filmmaking. The subject (described by text cards) is the life of the cuckoo. The habits and behavior of the cuckoo were still a mystery in the 1920s, and this documentary explores all aspects of this cute and cuddly bird in great detail. The female Cuckoo abandons her duties as a mother once her eggs are laid, choosing instead to place her eggs in the nest of the same type of bird that she herself was hatched into. While the host bird initially puts up a fight, it eventually welcomes the baby cuckoo bird as its own, feeding and taking care of it until it is capable of surviving in the wild. Overall this film is a wonderful exploration of vintage nature filmmaking as well as adorable little birds.

A somewhat shocking vintage film, Garden Wise was a promotional film made by the Monsanto Corporation (still in operation) to advertise their latest fertilizer: Krillium. This pesticide is actually worse than it sounds: it’s chiefly made from polyacrylamide, which is horribly toxic to humans and no longer allowed! In stark contrast, the film is narrated by a beautiful woman with a lovely voice as she serenely discusses her hopes and dreams of achieving the perfect garden. This documentation of nasty pesticides and 1950’s optimism makes Garden Wise a striking classic movie.

This phenomenal classic animated propaganda film has the basic Cold War anti-communist theme, but talks about it in a unique and entertaining way. A traveling salesman called Dr. Utopia, selling bottles of "ISM" (communism), takes in four unsuspecting dopes who believe his promises about the powers of ISM to solve all their problems. They sample his wares, falling into a waking nightmare where they get a nasty taste of the lack of freedom they would face after relinquishing control over their factories and farms to the parent state. When a lone politician dares speak up, he is brainwashed and later shown with a phonograph for a head that plays “Everything is fine!” over and over. In the end, the character “John Q. Public” declaims about the way communists try to incite race hatred, class warfare, and religious intolerance, and the townspeople drive Dr. Utopia out of town, pelting him with bottles of ISM as he flees. This is must-see vintage animation with hilarious political themes.

This is an incredible vintage film that features a Harding College economics professor arguing that capitalism doesn't produce a class divided society - in fact, wealth is equitably distributed! This firmly anti-Communist video uses charts, animation, and powerful rhetoric to hammer down its points in favor of capitalism. There are many antiquated statements that simply could not be made today; for instance, profit motive is "wholesome and good...wholly compatible with God's law." This Christianizing of capitalism was a hallmark of 1950's conservative politics. This film is an enriching viewing experience as a historical document and intellectually relevant to today's economic conversations as well.

On Guard! The Story of SAGE is the amazing tale of a wacky precursor to the Star Wars nuclear defense plan. SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) was the first computer system used for American air defense during the Cold War. SAGE was built to prevent enemy bombers from coming unnoticed into US airspace. Images of children playing or sleeping punctuate the reasons for such tight security. The computer is astonishingly huge by modern standards, taking up two floors of IBM’s SAGE building, and containing 56,000 electron tubes. The computer is shown being maintained by well-dressed workers as though it were the queen in a beehive. A veritable museum of old technology, the film contains priceless images of vintage electronics. On Guard! The Story of SAGE is a fun and informative classic film that deserves to be seen.

Victory Gardens were private gardens grown during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply. This video was used by the government to promote victory gardens as a vital form of civil defense and a strong contribution to the war effort. But, fortunately, the film is less about propaganda and more about nifty vintage farming and gardening techniques. The classic homemade pesticides recommended by the film are fascinating! Victory Garden’s is a beautiful World War II video relic that’s full of folksy living and antiquated food production from nearly a century ago.

Original Nouveau Flamenco composed and played 5-finger style by me on my Brazilian guitar.

A Day in the Death of Donnie B. is a brilliant docudrama that follows a drug addict throughout his daily life interspersed with brief interviews with his family and friends. Donnie is a cool guy, a good looking black man, who has given his life over to heroin. Donnie is forced to steal to get his fixes, though his family acknowledges that he’s working hard for nothing better than to kill himself. The cinema-verite style employed, with bleak and beautiful shots of poverty and despair, is an arresting experience. The music, the African American culture, and the passionate, honest look at drug use and heroin behavior all make A Day in the Death of Donnie B. a phenomenal vintage video.

“The kids at school with no backbone smoked marijuana.” Such is the ridiculous rhetoric in this absurd vintage drug abuse film: The Terrible Truth. This color 1950’s movie dramatically dissects drug addiction in the most dated, ignorant ways imaginable. Utilizing scare tactics, creepy music, and sinister looking actors, the film insists that marijuana “addiction” will lead to heroin addiction. The Terrible Truth is the perfect example of 1950’s drug resistance and paranoia, while at the same time revealing the inaccuracies that were pedaled by the government at the time.

Crystal Cruises’ Vintage Room pairs some of the world’s best wines with specially prepared dishes. With a capacity for 12, the special dinners are served in a private dining room. Patrons, who pay on average $210 per person depending on the wines they have selected, are attended to by the ship’s head sommelier. Want to splurge even more? Keep an eye out for Crystal’s “Ultimate Vintage Room Dinner.” This past spring, the event, hosted by a celebrity chef and wine expert and costing $1,200 per person, sold out within a matter of hours.

This 1960's film explores the rich history of Texas. Taking the audience on a journey from the earliest Franciscan settlements and their famous missions into the early 1900’s, the film builds well with Texas culture as the highlight. Along the way, the video introduces the various other cultures that were brought to Texas by different immigrant groups, the history of the Texas Rangers, and the Alamo history, which was built to protect the territory. It also captures the ordinary Texans who transformed Texas into a land of ranches and oil wells, including Texas cowboys with their Texas longhorn cattle, and oil prospectors who first discovered the natural resources in Texas. Our Texas Heritage makes Texas history fun with its vintage 1960's look and focus on the major events in Texas history.

This film, made by Encyclopedia Britannica, educates older school children about the American Civil War’s most important events, with special focus on the social, economic, and geographical elements of each battle. Civil War weapons and Civil War flags clash in this great educational video. Striking visuals include Civil War reenactments, animated drawings, and color photography. Because this is a vintage film, it's also interesting to see how the Civil War sites were much less developed in the 1950's. The major battles of the Civil War is a large topic and this film provides an excellent overview (not simply a list of Civil War battles), making a great classroom movie.

New Horizons is a magnificent vintage video that demonstrates how railroads in the 1940s were revolutionizing the American South. Emphasizing how the railroads lead the way in modernization, the film explores all the ways in which the South was experiencing an economic, industrial, and agricultural renaissance while still being the South “whose roots are embedded deep in the honored tradition of the old.” Interestingly, the problem of race and segregation is touched upon in a most progressive fashion for the time: the film mentions how workers both white and black labored together in the spirit of diversity and modernization of Southern culture. Overall, New Horizons is a fascinating cultural experience.

This rare footage captures the events of a very special Memorial Day in 1920 for the citizens of Cornwall, a small town in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in New York. Pierre Lecomtedu Nouy, a French Captain, travels to Cornwall from France in order to present the city with a captured German cannon from World War I. This was a special honor, and it was in thanks for the role America played in ridding France of the German threat during the war. Surrounded by Civil War veterans, WWI veterans, and the town’s various bands and schoolchildren, the famous French philosopher Pierre Lecomte du Nouy accompanies the cannon in a parade through town ending in the place where a monument and the cannon still stand to this day. This precious silent footage is a priceless piece of vintage patriotism.

Our Home Town: Levittown, Pennsylvania, a film produced by Ford Motor Company, features Levittown, a middle class community built by William Levitt & Sons, as a nice little suburb. Promoting its earthmoving equipment division, this film shows how Ford's machines helped in the construction of Levittown, including many shots of homes and other buildings in various stages of construction. It's also an example of planned communities, suburban sprawl, and urban decay.

Vintage Black Wing Lair's event with the guild Omega, on Server Sargeras.

Produced by the oldest Jewish Service Organization in the world, An American Girl is a thought provoking and touching film that aims to expose 1950's antisemitism and racial discrimination in small town America. Cultural tensions were still swirling around Jewish people in America after the Holocaust, and this film aims to expose prejudice stereotypes and the roots of anti semitism. An adolescent small town girl decides to try an experiment to find out how prevalent anti-Semitism is in her small town. She pretends to be Jewish herself and keeps a diary outlining the attacks and prejudice that she suffers during her experiment. Later, she reads the diary out loud at a PTA meeting to bring the issue out in the open. An emotionally poignant film that dramatically documents the history of anti semitism, An American Girl is a stirring commentary that reveals the often hidden, subversive nature of racism in America.

This 50's cleanliness and hygiene film aims to promote good hygiene by highlighting the threat of germs and disease. The film, geared toward elementary and middle school students, gives instructions on hand washing, bathing, showering, brushing teeth, hair care, skin care, healthy diet, drinking enough water, and caring for clothes.

This Encyclopedia Britannica vintage etiquette video discusses proper skin care. This film follows three adorable 1940's kids as they learn to take care of their precious bodies. Skin, often taken for granted, is one of the most essential parts of the human body - what with layers of physical, chemical and mechanical defense. The little tykes, Fred, Billy, and Virginia, are treated to a wholesome lesson on personal cleanliness. This educational video provides timeless advice for anyone's health and well being.

This detailed technical film explains through animation, diagrams, and footage of recording equipment how sound is recorded for motion picture films. There are many interesting scenes of how this engaging process works, including shots of the narrator of the film shown actually recording the soundtrack in real time. As the film will explain in more detail, photographic light valves imprint the film to make variable density soundtracks. The film includes shots of vintage projectors and footage of the actual sound variations that allows an audience to “see” a soundtrack. Grand footage of old microphones and music recording equipment highlight this intriguing classic educational video.

This Jam Handy production was made to sell Chevrolets (now vintage Chevrolets), but it is a promotional video that is ostensibly an educational video. In order to teach us about the inner workings of the superbly designed Chevy engine and explain how an engine works, the production team combined clever animation with real footage of different parts of the engine to produce an entertaining and humorous film about what happens to gasoline when it is pumped into a car. A great example of black and white cartoons, one animated drop of gasoline acts as the “tour guide” through the gas line, fuel pump, manifold, and into the cylinder where he is blown up in order to power the car. At this point, he grows little angel’s wings and flies off, secure in the knowledge that he’s lived the best life possible for a drop of gas, which is fueling a Chevy, of course. There's some nice footage of old Chevy cars which along with the amusing black and white cartoon characters make this a fun promotional video.

Knights on the Highway is a vintage driving safety film produced by the always entertaining Jam Handy Organization. This video teaches the importance of safety while operating a vehicle at night by using the principles taken by the most practiced of all night drivers, cross country truckers. They impart their knowledge from years of driving onto everyday citizens to help them improve safety on the road. Night driving safety, seen through the lens of the 1930's, has never been more interesting.

Drugs in Our Culture is a clear, honest, and detailed depiction of drug use in the 1960s. The film is fairly even handed, especially for its time, and uses expert analysis to frame the (then) current picture of substance abuse and where it was expected to head. Drug abuse in school was a new and alarming problem that was facing America at this time. Marijuana is discussed in depth, but other more socially accepted drugs like alcohol and tobacco are taken to task as well. The film even examines possible societal influences for drug use, such as the increasing prevalence of prescription drugs and other chemical aids. The film also attacks the ever growing (and now dominant) pharmaceutical industry. Taking an even more progressive turn, drug addicts are treated as ill and in need of treatment - not prison. Overall, Drugs in Our Culture is a prescient and well informed movie that provides honest information.

Following a boy from his introduction to drug usage to his state of drug dependency, Narcotics: Pit of Despair frighteningly depicts his addiction and encourages abstinence from all drugs. According to the film, marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to harder drugs: chiefly heroin. Drug dependency destroys lives. Abuse leads to medical problems and run-ins with the police. The main character, Hank, learns this first hand, and is sentenced to rehab. After his release, Hank visits an old friend who uses drugs, only to learn that there is no end to his addiction. This film is a fascinating examination of the way drug use was viewed in the 1960s.

DON'T MISS THIS EVENT - FRIDAY AUGUST 15TH 2008 AT "O" LOUNGE - 330 LINCOLN ROAD. HOSTED BY: WWW.MEGTALENT.COM, BIANCA MARQUES, AND THE VINTAGE GROUP.

Friday Events at "O" Lounge - Join us Every Friday at "O" Lounge 330 Lincoln Road. Hosted by: www.megtalent.com, Bianca Marques, and the Vintage Group.

Word of the day

Exclusively Yours is an intriguing relic from 1950's American business. When Texaco developed a new additive for their high octane gasoline, called Petrox, they commissioned this film in order to serve as training videos for their salesmen on its benefits, painting it as the best gas additive on the market. It remains now as a fascinating review of what new product launches were like in the 1950s. The film appeared at the 1954 annual meeting of salesmen, and it shows all the new advertising surrounding the launch of this product. Very good footage of a cutaway engine, as well as animation, illustrates how the new gas additive affects a car engine. Old Texaco print ads and vintage billboards douse the film with an enjoyably retro feel. Exclusively Yours is a great look at gas station history in America.

Back flying solo but still in Bordeaux, Gary Vaynerchuk tastes 1988 Cos d’Estournel, Margaux, and Latour.

Gary Vaynerchuk visits Chateau La Tour Martillac in Graves to taste 4 wines with owner Tristan Kressman, including Tristan’s first vintage: 1986.

Tough Friends is a 1930s promotional film that answers the question, "how is steel made from iron ore?" with many good shots of steel mills of the era. Jam Handy Productions made this film for the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1938 in order to explain how Chevy’s were safer and more durable because of the new, stronger steel materials from which they were constructed. Shot like a stirring documentary, the film illuminates the history of the steel industry in America, as well as the history of steel. Steel mill workers are seen mixing alloys to create better hard steel. Tough Friends is a vintage Chevy ad that's also a wonderful historical document.

http://www.distinctionsforlife.tv/ This is the first behind the scenes vlog entry for Distinctions for Life, where Ron talks about how DFL is created. Also talks about fear, uncertainty and doubt when starting something like this. Announces our first contest to give away some vintage Tony Robbins books.

Gary Vaynerchuk’s recent Bordeaux excursion brings him to Chateau Clinet in Pomerol, where he and the owner Ronan compare the historic 2005 to the unheralded 2006 vintage with some surprising results.

Driven to Kill, narrated by Lowell Thomas, tells the story of Hal, an upstanding U.S. citizen who changes into a dangerous madman when he gets behind the wheel. With Thomas’ classic dry delivery as a backdrop, the film captures Hal as a real red-blooded American: he hunts and isn't afraid to let his kids play with knives in the kitchen! He’s a different man when he’s driving, though, and his road rage (or aggressive driving) causes him to get in an accident that kills the other driver. Throughout this educational video are beautiful shots of classic cars and vintage automobiles. The ruining of Hal's life in this scare tactics video serves as a stern message about the dangers of reckless driving. Bad drivers at their best, Driven to Kill is an amusing glance at the history of road rage in America, with some important lessons car safety features and safe driving.

Road Runners is a 1952 film which promotes organized drag-racing as a way for troubled youths to blow off steam and use as a creative outlet instead of getting in trouble with the law. When Mel, a hot rod racer with dangerous driving habits, discovers the Santa Ana drag strip and its accompanying timing association, he is hooked on safe drag racing and becomes a model young man who gets trophies instead of traffic tickets. This film includes many good shots of vintage hotrods, classic cars, street rods, homemade seatbelts, and dangerous driving. While it's funny that the film paints drag racing as a safe alternative to aggressive driving and reckless driving, in this way the film also works as a time capsule for 1950's America. Old school hot rods make this a fun film for gearheads and anyone interested in the history of drag racing.

Featuring footage and history from the hot rod era, Ingenuity In Action explains how to prepare for and enter a drag race or car show. The film focuses on the history of hot rods and hot rodding, as well as the dedicated gearheads who travel cross country for American hot rod events, car shows, and drag racing. Made popular during the 1950’s, American hot rods have become an important part of automobile history. Established hot rod personalities, like racecar driver Chuck Jones, appear in the film. The film also describes how as it became more popular, hot rodding became almost a cult: followers consider classic cars their idols. Vintage street rods and custom hot rods are everywhere in this film, which is a must for car enthusiasts and anyone interested in the drag racing history. Ingenuity In Action is a great mix of 1950's automobile history and white hot classic drag strip racing!

Stop Driving Us Crazy! is a strange animated film, sponsored by the General Board of Temperence of the Methodist Church, that equates reckless driving with sin in a rather unique storyline. The Christian video introduces Rusty, an alien from Mars (who looks somewhat like a cross between an insect and a car) who comes down to spy on Earthlings. The little Martian is shocked to find how disrespectfully drivers treat each other on the road (and the viewer is treated to great 1940's vintage and classic cars). After showing many driving errors, the film gives safe driving tips and techniques. The animation is quintessentially 1950’s and the soundtrack to this funny and dated film, which seems to be a jazz combo of some sort, only adds to its quirkiness. Of all the car and driving educational videos, Stop Driving Us Crazy! is one of the strangest. But the lessons on vehicle safety are fun and the 1950's cartoon characters are precious. Lessons on safe driving have never been more entertaining.

visit www.pakistancricketzone.com for more on the world of Pakistan Cricket

The original Challenger helped birth the American Muscle Car culture. But we asked a classic car expert to lineup the New Challenger with a vintage Mustang, Cuda and GTO & help us decide if the new car lives up to its heritage. Challenger week continues exclusively on Streetfire.net

This 1950’s film chronicles how four high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area molded safe teen drivers by participating in the Mobil (now Exxonmobil) Economy Run, a race whose objective was to drive around the city within a designated period of time while avoiding penalties like speeding or violating traffic laws. The driver would be accompanied by a professional racecar driver, who would give the teens advice on how to drive safely and save gas. Scenes of the kids dancing in a malt shop and driving around San Francisco in vintage hot rods, street rods, and rat rods is included, but the real gem in this film is the great footage of San Francisco itself, including the Golden Gate Bridge. California teen drivers education sure was fun in the 1950s, and On the Run provides the experience of San Francisco history as well as drag strip racing history and old school hot rods.

This 1951 film, sponsored by the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration, attempts to convince citizens to stay in their cities and fight in the event of a nuclear attack and nuclear war in America. Framed by a conversation between a newspaper editor and his colleague, the film claims that by fleeing threatened cities, citizens would be traitors contributing to decreased productivity and low morale. Instead the film insists citizens stay in their cities to help fight fires, clean up debris, and aid their neighbors. The film claims that people should not fear radiation and nuclear fallout as it clears up in a day or two. This downplaying of the dreadful effects of radiation is a recurring theme in American Cold War propaganda. Many different scenes showing war-torn European cities and mass evacuations, and even footage of New York’s Holland Tunnel and Penn Station, punctuate this amazing civil defense film that's rank with propaganda techniques.

On the shores of Lake Como rests the beautiful Villa d’Este resort, the site of the annual Concorso d’Eleganza. Each year, this high-end fashion show for vintage and concept cars draws participants and viewers from across the globe.