OLD 1930 movies and other archival treasures

Seventy-six years ago movies, as we know them today, have existed.  I know this because my North Dakota relative recorded in his 1930 diaries what he watched: Gold Diggers, Marriage Playground and The Love Parade.  Thanks to IMDB website I read that Gold Diggers was produced in 1929 and was the second full length color and sound feature film ever produced.  Unfortunately, this gem was shelved into oblivion except for some Australian who had another reel of it stored in his archives.  Apparently it was redone again in 1933 but with more Great Depression references.  Marriage Playground was also produced in 1929 and is about marriage, divorce, step children and mixed up families.  Finally, the Love Parade is about the intrigue of a queen in the mythical kingdom of Sylvania and it is a musical comedy. 

Romance and love seem to be the common theme in all three of these movies.  What interests me is that a 64 year old Norwegian bachelor farmer went to see these movies in the year 1930 not only to be entertained but perhaps to confirm his suspicions about love and marriage not working out.

 

I feel like finding my relative’s notes about the movies he watched helps to understand this time period in the 1930s.  Thanks to the archives for storing his diaries for me to discover 50 years later, it is amazing to peer into a window of a different era.  Another archival find of an entirely different nature happened in 1987.  AMichigan couple bought four books at an estate sale.  They were excited to find that the books contained  two collections of letters and sermons by the preacher and hymnwriter John Newton (1725-1807) who wrote the much sung hymn “Amazing Grace.”  Apparently Newtons heirs had brought these books to the US in the 1840s. That means over 200 years ago, what a find!!! 

I’m wondering what kind of archival evidence of bygone communist era do my students have access to in their grandparents storage.  What photos do their families have that can reveal a time that has passed?  My students had better start asking NOW before it is too late!!!

II Chronicles 34:14-21