Almost Lost Images and Audio

Digitized from 16mm footage shot by war photographers at Tarawa, here are scenes from that battle in the South Pacific in World War II.

Digitized from the original 16mm silent film, here are US Army Air Corps pilots on liberty in London, England, probably in 1944.

Digitized from silent 8mm "home movie" film, here's a look at an airshow at Kirtland AFB, in Albuquerque, sometime around 1950.

Before TV, there were movie theaters that played newsreels with scenes of the news of the day....here's one in the public domain from the World War I era.

Scenes from US convoys to Europe, bringing men, supplies and machinery to the battlefields of World War I

Scenes of the Italian Army in World War I, from the public domain files of the National Archives...made by the US Army Signal Corps.

Scenes digitized from 8mm silent "home movies" of a rattlesnake hunt in Texas, sometime in the 60s or 70s.

Digitized and reversed from the original 16mm negative movie film, here are scenes of Bob Hope and his USO troupe arriving in Europe and doing a small USO show, probably in 1946 or 47......that's quite a car they've got to tour him around in.

Taken from wartime newsreels now in the public domain, here are scenes of American Army Air Corps aircraft in action over North Africa in 1942.

From Russian propaganda films shot during WWII, here are scenes of Russian pilots manning their planes and conducting missions against Nazi Germany.

Scenes of testing of early "cruise missiles" named the "Flying Bat" in the immediate post-WWII period by American military scientists and flight engineers. Some really remarkable footage.

Shown in flight tests, here is the first American "flying wing" aircraft, a design that has been developed into the current B2 stealth bomber.

From a newsreel shot and released in 1953 and now in the public domain....American POWs released by the North Koreans upon the armistice.

Scenes from the aftermath of an aircraft crash on what is now Kirtland Air Force Base, in 1958, digitized from silent 16mm film.

From public domain archives.....here are early military tanks in movement and action in World War I.

From "home movies" shot on silent 8mm film in the 1950s, here are scenes of Hawaii, back before mass tourism changed EVERYTHING. Enjoy.

Digitized from silent 16mm film, here is a competition between teams paddling outrigger canoes, from New Caledonia, sometime around 1955.

Digitized from 16mm silent film taken around 1955....a spear throwing competition in New Caledonia.

A snake and a mongoose on display for the tourists in India, sometime around 1955, from silent 16mm film, digitized.

A parade and a ceremony of some sort, digitized from silent 16mm film....shot in New Caledonia sometime around 1955.

Digitized from silent 16mm film, here are some scenes of India, and some fascinating stuff it is, from around 1950.

Digitized from 16mm silent film, these scenes were probably taken in New Caledonia around 1950. Some pretty impressive athletes there....

Digitized from silent 8mm home movie film, here is Cheyenne Frontier Days, the old style.

Digitized from 16mm silent film, these are scenes from post-WWII Hiroshima Japan, about ten years after the atomic destruction visited upon the city at the end of the War. Apparently, these were taken by American visitors on a charity mission.

Some moderately early comic animation.....the famous "Mutt and Jeff" in a cartoon, digitized from 16mm film made for the home viewing market, now in the public domain.