http://youtu.be/PMejU6XRuCs

Lost and Found Films is an occasional 91探花Today series that shows off vintage footage from the 91探花Audio Visual Materials Library curated by film archivist Hannah Palin.

This three-minute bit of color footage shows the iconic orange structure of the 600-foot needle about half finished, and parts being lifted into place with a crane. Midway, the film shifts to a scene of the monorail’s T-like supports being installed along Fifth Avenue. Finally, we see a family walking along and pan upward to see the finished Monorail cruise by overhead.

The family seen is the Rayner Heacock family of Vancouver, B.C., who donated decades of their home movies to 91探花Libraries.

Lost and Found Films has in recent years presented footage about which Palin wished to learn more information 鈥� from shadowy black-and-white snippets to thoughtfully created color campus productions. Readers responded with great personal memories and historical details.

Palin’s work identifying film snippets is now largely complete, but that’s no reason to stop running cool scenes from the UW’s vast archives of vintage film. If you have memories of the early Space Needle or its construction, use the comments field below.

You can learn a lot more about the Space Needle 鈥� which gets about a million visitors a year and is 848 steps from bottom to top 鈥� at its .

Lost and Found Films is an occasional 91探花Today series in which readers help identify and explain historic bits of film from the 1930s through the 1970s unearthed by Palin from the 91探花Audio Visual Materials Library. The films range from shadowy black-and-white snippets such as this one to thoughtfully produced color productions.

This latest offering is among the most rudimentary of them all 鈥� a silent, black and white film just over two minutes in length with flickering footage of various antique items, presumably taken at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry.

We see lamps, a stove, a section of pipe, an old-time telephone, a Victrola, a typewriter, even a World War I-era Liberty Bonds poster. But what’s the machine at the 1:52 mark?

Palin wants to confirm that this was indeed footage from the museum and find out what that machine was. She’d also like to know for what purpose this footage was taken and what it was meant to document.

Know anything more about this footage? If so, have your say in the comments field below, where your words will be preserved, museumlike, for our descendants to ponder.

Lost and Found Films is an occasional 91探花Today series where readers help identify historic bits of film unearthed from the 91探花Audio Visual Materials Library provided by film archivist Hannah Palin. They range from shadowy black and white snippets to thoughtfully produced color home-movie style productions like this one.

This week’s offering, “Play Fair, Creative Dramatics, 1950,” a silent color 16 mm film about three minutes long, advertises a “Festival of Creative Plays” with a scene of children peering through holes in a picket fence at the wonders beyond.

It starts with a young boy walking along the top of a fence painted with the words “Play Fair,” then falling to the ground. We see the fence is painted with the words “Festival of Creative Plays” and “Take a peek 1 cent.” Children peer through holes in the fence, and one enterprising boy drills new holes for viewing and collects pennies from others.

Another boy comes along and beckons the rest, who all run off except the boy with the drill. He paints over his invitation to peek and stomps off, dramatically frustrated by the loss of his business.

We then see what one assumes to be the play fair itself 鈥� folks seated in the grass and a man conducting an orchestra. Several people stand and make speeches to the gathered crowd, and a girl presents a large book to a gentleman. The last moments are fun, as a young girl walks idly swinging a stick while a man speaks importantly from the dais.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film from the 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� from research projects, campus events and even original campus productions 鈥� that Palin is looking to learn more about.

Here, Palin is looking for any information on that 1950 play fair, and wonders if it was put on by the Creative Dramatics and Child Drama program at the 91探花School of Drama. Also, does anyone recognize those people giving speeches?

So this is your cue: If you know anything about these scenes, get in character and speak your lines in the comments field below.

“Barber Opera, Take #1” is in color, 16 mm, and dates back to 1952. We see a man dressed in foppish period garb with a white wig and bushy mustache and eyebrows to match. He holds forth entertainingly at center stage, flourishing a handkerchief for emphasis. Then an owlish character dressed in black with oversized spectacles swoops into the scene and the two sing an animated conversation. They finish together, bow deeply, and the lights fade to black.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Hannah Palin, film archives specialist with , is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s, from research projects, campus events, even from commercial films or original campus productions such as this opera appears to be.

Audio was almost certainly recorded to match this film, (because making silent films of operas is just silly), but it has been lost.

Palin notes the film leader and can for this film are labeled “May 1952, KC Orig.” She asks, is this a scene from “The Barber of Seville”? And, does anyone have any idea who the two performers are?

So, if you have any more information about this 60-year-old film gem, this is your cue to add a comment below.

• Also, see Palin in an upcoming of as the UWTV magazine-style show interviews her about managing the UW’s vast and varied film archives.

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Previous 2012 Lost and Found Films.

• “.”
• “,” from 1960.
• “,” from 1958.

This time we take a look at the More Hall Annex and its nuclear reactor in a silent, black-and-white film a bit under two minutes long.

It begins with shots of the building’s exterior as people file by, and then shows a man in a white lab coat and bow tie discussing and pointing to an elaborate diagram on the wall. He is then seen as one of three scientists measuring radiation levels, working panels of controls and looking at readouts.

But who is that scientist with the side part, greased hair, dark-framed glasses and lab coat? What is this trio measuring with an instrument that looks like a hair dryer? And what are they recording in that huge ledger?

This film is one of hundreds of reels that Palin is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or campus productions.

There’s plenty of information about the nuclear reactor that operated on the 91探花campus until 1988. Palin dug up a 2006 about the dismantling of the reactor, a about its history and an by The Daily’s Will Mari.

Still, Palin says, “We’re not nuclear scientists, so we’re looking for details about who exactly is in this film clip, and exactly what they are doing.”

So, if you have expertise in this area and can help, put down that Geiger counter and write a comment below.

Previous Lost and Found Films in 2012.

鈥⒙犅� 聽“,” from 1960.
鈥⒙犅� 聽“,” from 1958.

This weeks film clip is titled “Inaugural,鈥� and probably shows part of the inaugural dinner for 91探花President Charles Odegaard, which was indeed in November of 1958.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Palin is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

In this silent film thats just under three minutes long we see Washington state dignitaries gathered for a banquet in a packed hall. A bespectacled older man steps up to the podium to speak, and Odegaard himself is seen (0:34) as well as Gov. Al Rosellini, then about a year into his first term. Toward the end, a fuzzy document is shown, which presumably is the program or menu for the evening.

So, that much she knows, but Palin still has some questions. She asks, can anyone identify where this banquet is taking place? Can anyone make out what that program says at the end? Also, are there other well-known Washington or 91探花people on the dais?

(Were not saying it looks like a really boring evening, exactly, but if youve ever sat through a ceremonial banquet with lots of speakers, you might agree that it is perhaps a blessing that this old clip is silent.)

The floor is now open. If you know about this Lost and Found Film, tap your water glass to get the tables attention 鈥� or just write your comments below.

Previous Lost and Found Films in 2012: , January 27.

This Lost and Found Film, “University Parking,鈥� from 1960, is more polished than many 鈥� its a well-edited, narrated three-minute film about campus parking challenges. It shows a new closed-circuit television camera behind the Health Sciences Building used to coordinate parking, and the voice-over notes that “with it, one parking attendant can efficiently operate two parking lots.鈥�

The film discusses why the university charges for parking. A three-part solution is suggested for reducing parking, the first of which is a “rapid transportation system鈥� 鈥� an idea that didnt take hold around here for a long time. Turns out we wanted a Kingdome more.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Palin, film archives specialist with 91探花Libraries Special Collections, is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

Palin doesnt have a lot of questions about this film, but found it an interesting view of the 1960-era 91探花with lots of great vintage cars.

“One question remains, however,鈥� she said. “At the very end, the narrator states that the results of a study about campus parking will be announced in a 鈥榣ater basketball telecast. Why would this film have been broadcast during a basketball game? Were other campus issues addressed during sporting events? Any memories of watching basketball in this era? Any memories of parking on campus in this era?鈥�

Now the basketballs in your court, so please write your comments below.

And if you liked that, here are some of our earlier Lost and Found films to peruse.

Nov. 17:

Nov. 10: Chemical engineering

Nov. 3. .

Oct. 27: , 1958.

Oct. 20:

Oct. 13: (Originally thought to be the UWs Glenn Hughes.)

Oct. 6:

Sept. 29:

Aug. 18:

Aug. 4:

July 27:

July 21:

July 14:

July 6,

June 30:

At about two and a half minutes, this silent 16 mm film from 1958 shows people walking into and out of buildings we assume to be the UWs Friday Harbor Laboratories. A man sits on a tree stump reading a book. A family walks along the lane between buildings. A stationwagon pulls a small motorboat to the shore. Three people in a boat appear to be conducting an experiment.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Hannah Palin, film archives specialist with 91探花Libraries Special Collections, is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

In the case of this late 50s epic, Palin wonders if the buildings shown are residence halls for researchers 鈥� is the larger building a meeting hall, or a caretakers house or cafeteria? Did families visit the Friday Harbor Laboratories and does anyone have memories of that experience? And can anyone identify the people in the clip? What kind of experiment is being conducted?

If you can answer these questions or provide any other information about the film, please write your comment below.

Previous Lost and Found Films:

Nov. 17:

Nov. 10: Chemical engineering

Nov. 3. .

Oct. 27: , 1958.

Oct. 20:

Oct. 13: (Originally thought to be the UWs Glenn Hughes.)

Oct. 6:

Sept. 29:

Aug. 18:

Aug. 4:

July 27:

July 21:

July 14:

July 6,

June 30:

In a blurry succession of scenes, we see what appears to be a meeting in a high school gymnasium, with bunting along the stage edges as if for a political setting. The camera pans along showing a man at the podium and an audience, then the man leaving the stage to appreciative applause. The pleased audience then disperses, though many folks linger at the back and in the aisles, as if waiting for a moment with the speakers.

Then the camera pans across a line where people are receiving cake, pie and coffee, cafeteria-style. A man standing near a barrel labeled “Cracker Barrel鈥� (with a small box labeled “Soap Box鈥� nearby). People talk and eat in the gymnasium. Theres some kind of raffle. A boy struggles some with his cake and finally grabs a bite; around the room, elders also are seen eating.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Hannah Palin, film archives specialist with 91探花Libraries Special Collections, is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

Palin wonders if this footage might be related to an earlier Lost and Found Film called marked as from 1958. Is this gym the “Woodland High Gym鈥� referred to as the location for “Ye Olde Town Meeting鈥� in that (similarly faded-looking) other film? If so, she asks, why is it labeled “Mt. Adams鈥�? 聽If not, she asks simply, whats going on here?

If you can answer these questions or provide any other information about the film, please write your comment below.

Nov. 10: Chemical engineering

Nov. 3. .

Oct. 27: , 1958.

Oct. 20:

Oct. 13: (Originally thought to be the UWs Glenn Hughes.)

Oct. 6:

Sept. 29:

Aug. 18:

Aug. 4:

July 27:

July 21:

July 14:

July 6,

June 30:

In the three-minute Chemical Engineering, ca. 1940 we see men working machine and turning a faucet-like knob, students in a chemistry classroom mixing solutions in a beaker, then a hand holding a textbook (Quantitiative Chemical Analysis, by George McPhail Smith, if you must know).

We see glass ground on a wheel, wood chips being put into a piece of equipment, water poured as a large piece of equipment rotates, slurry in a trough, professors speaking with students and two professors conferring on a paper.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Hannah Palin, film archives specialist with 91探花Libraries Special Collections, is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s 鈥� some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

In the case of this footage, Palin would like to know who the professor are? Also, what is the large piece of equipment depicted 鈥� is it making a product of some kind or being used in an experiment? Also, why are they grinding what appear to be beakers?

If you can answer these questions or provide any other information about the film, please write your comment below.

Some previous Lost and Found Films:

Nov. 3. .

Oct. 27: , 1958.

Oct. 20:

Oct. 13: (Originally thought to be the UWs Glenn Hughes.)

Oct. 6:

Sept. 29:

Aug. 18:

Aug. 4:

July 27:

July 21:

July 14:

July 6,

June 30: