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1940s AFRICAN AMERICAN 16mm HOME MOVIES: SUMMER FAMILY COOKOUT, KIDS AT PLAY

>430 views•May 15, 2021

Shot by an unknown, amateur filmmaker, this reel of early 1940s color and black and white home movies depict an unidentified African American family at an outdoor cookout, girls at a social gathering, and other wholesome summer scenes of backyard fun in the life of a black family (TRT: 13:16).

Women at a cookout, seated in wooden chairs. One drinks from a bottle, another works on sewing. A young woman in glasses passes them, smiling (0:08). A man in a blue shirt crouches over a fire, barbecuing a rack of ribs, while a middle-aged couple watches approvingly (0:15). A family gathering. Men wear ties and suspenders. Women wear summer dresses. A group seated at a picnic table plays a game. One man puts money on the table. A woman in pink looks away from the action (0:25). Women wearing glasses sit with a man displaying symptoms of vitiligo (0:50). A group of men smoke and chat alongside a house. An elderly woman notices she is being filmed and turns toward the camera, smiling. Young women in colorful skirts (1:08). A young girl in denim overalls flips herself upside-down on a red swing set. A girl in pink joins her in swinging. A woman with grey hair passes through the frame. 1930s automobiles can be glimpsed in the background. Men sit on the green lawn (1:30). A pair of children pose for the camera. The barbecuing continues. A man in a hat and glasses strides toward the camera and places a pipe in his mouth. Kids play with a croquet set of mallets and balls (2:11). Teenagers swing in a hammock. A man cuts meat for serving, a cornfield behind him. A table is prepared for buffet-style serving (2:51). A toddler is placed on a swing. A family enjoys their meal, eating from plates in their laps, drinking from cups and bottles (3:15). Young men and women in conversation. A girl drinking Coca-Cola. End of color footage (3:41). Black and white footage begins. A girl with braided hair on a swing (3:53). Nuns in religious habit speak to young girls on the porch of a home. Girls play on the sidewalk of a residential street. A business across the street advertises Coca-Cola. A group gathers. A boy sits in a folding chair (4:02). A young boy wearing suspenders stands upright on a swing. A group of girls pose for the camera (4:38). Girls gather around a board game (5:13). A smiling woman holds a baby. Another woman in glasses wipes perspiration. An elderly woman on a porch (5:23). A man in a floppy hat smoking a pipe uses a bucket of water to water windowsill planters (5:50). Kids playing leapfrog. Girls pick flowers and dig in a garden with a shovel (6:14). The man in the hat playfully chases them with a manual lawn mower. The eldest girl tries mowing the lawn, and the youngest tries to pitch in (7:14). The two younger girls climb a tree (8:06). Playing on a swing set. A bouquet of flowers is opened (8:31). A man in glasses sorts through the flowers with the girls, smiling as a reel of film runs out (9:13). A young boy and girl, both wearing sun hats. The boy gives the little girl a kiss on the cheek. Elders turn and smile for the camera (10:12). A man in a lounge chair and another with a medium format camera. A husband and wife pose for a portrait (10:47). A game of tennis with racquets on a tennis court (11:26). A young woman in a bathing suit walks towards the camera, then turns toward two trucks (11:53). A group of girls swimming in bathing caps near a lakefront dock. A rowboat passes in the distance. On the shore, lodge-style cabins and a lifeguard’s tower (12:01).