The world today is far removed from the things we consume. Machines and technology have allowed most humans to separate themselves from the work that makes the modern day conveniences we mindlessly use and consume on a daily basis. Our brains, used to droll desk jobs couldn’t fathom the kind of labor needed today, or a hundred years ago to produce something as complex as the car.
Luckily, plenty of films reveal the fascinating behind-the-scenes labor that went into making a car when wheel spokes were still made of wood for some vehicles. One such film is “Making the Automobile, the 1929 Film: Steel, Rubber, Glass, & Gas,” scanned and shared via YouTube’s 16mmFilmScan channel. The sepia-toned reel brings viewers along for the ride of vehicle production from the forests of the rubber trees drained for its rubbery elixir of life to the smog-ridden oil fields draining Mother Earth of its black river of life.
Fellow gear heads and connoisseurs of online media, the state of streaming is admittedly overwhelming and underwhelming. While there’s never not anything to watch online, the algorithms can only push so much good or interesting content our way. Sometimes a suggestion via word of mouth, or in this case, an article, can help guide us to watch something we would have never found on our own. Join me weekly for “What’s Streaming” as I introduce a new video worth adding to your watch later lists.
Full assembly required
Outside of the playful piano tune accompanying the film, there’s a magnetic fascination in watching components for steel melted down and turned into rods that are “beaten” into crankshafts. Rubber at the time was formed into large molds, then smoked for 10 days (at least in this film) before it was mixed and rolled out into wide sheets where another human hand-formed it into a tire. Please be sure to clock the large group of men standing below the bodies of the cars being lowered from the ceiling to ensure they are safely land on the engine-clad chassis.
What might be the most enchanting about this video though is the reminder of all the different componentry and materials it takes to make an automobile. In 1929, it was already a fairly involved process. When you trace the origins of products, it’s incredible seeing where each and every little bit comes from, and with today’s global economy, that net has spread even wider (though folks in Washington are trying to “fix” that).
If the title wasn’t as intriguing as you might have hoped, this short film isn’t bad for car-spotting either. The titles for each Steel, Rubber, Glass, and Gas heading include a drawing of a car that looked to be pulled from the pages of Tad Burness’ “American Car Spotter’s Guide 1920-1939.” I actually referenced my own copy to confirm that the first car, as indicated in the video’s description as well, does appear to be a 1929 Packard.Â
Find something worth watching? Let us know in the comments or send me a note at Lalita dot Chemello at Gmail.
