Vintage Highways & Roads 2 DVD Set

 

Collector DVD and Case, Brand New
  • Trustworthy publisher and manufacturer
  • Makes a great, intelligent gift
Why Buy from Us?
  • In a nutshell, we find these films useful and valuable for many people and purposes. We hope the people who find value in them will feel they stumbled across a breath of fresh air into the past. So, whether you need a unique gift for a family member or a visual aid for your classroom, we will be here to offer you a relevant collection of footage that you have never seen.

Your Permit To Drive

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1951

This beautifully filmed short, Your Permit to Drive, was produced by General Motors Corporation in the 1950s. One of the better driving videos from the fifties, this movie is a succinct and crisp discussion of the pleasure, the privilege, and the responsibility of driving. The narrator is a talking drivers license. He claims that the automobile has allowed for the modern American standard of living. Scenes illustrating this include a parade of different cars, trucks, and buses on the road, as well as a shot of a shiny new convertible being loaded up with groceries. Then the talking license reminds the audience that signing a drivers permit equals signing a pledge to drive safely and respect others rights on the road. The film shows scenes of policemen asking drivers for their identification, and even car accident video clips. The talking license laments that too many young drivers dont take the responsibility of driving seriously, often leading to tragedy. The narrator then compares sportsmanship and the rules of fair play in sports to the rules of driving. Since it would be un-American to cheat in a football game, it is also un-American to disregard the rules of safe driving. Providing tips for safe driving, safe driving habits, and safe highway driving provide some good educational value to the film. Unfortunately many still believe driving is a right - not a privilege - but Your Permit to Drive aims to correct this. Many scenes of daily life from the time are shown, including shots of drive-ins, diners, factories, hospitals, cities like Detroit, and of course, many shots of cars of the 1950s. A relic from the history of General Motors about learning to drive a car safely is both a fun look at the culture of the 1950s and a perfectly relevant lesson on driving safe today.

Freedom of the American Road

Length: 27 Minutes | Produced:1955

Henry Ford II introduces, Freedom of the American Road, a brilliant documentary exploring Ford Motor Companys campaign to lobby citizens to demand more government spending for road. Using traffic jams, commerce and safety concerns as evidence to support their argument for increased funds for road and highway construction. The film analyses real life examples of both big city and rural road improvements in North Carolina, Boston, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

Highway Hearing

Length: 29 Minutes | Produced:1956

Highway Hearing uses a town meeting format with citizens and highway engineers discussing the development of a new bypass going around town. This film brings up issues of economics, takings clauses, land use and generally how highways affect local communities.

America On Wheels

Length: 7 Minutes | Produced:1950s

America On Wheels is the story of an American Revolution - - the coming of the automobile. Fun and interesting, this short film displays many of the first cars ever made. The film also discusses how reliability of engines and tires has improved over time.

Key To Our Horizons

Length: 11 Minutes | Produced:1952

A vintage Chevrolet propaganda piece, Key To Our Horizons, is a commentary on American life from a time when one out of seven jobs was in the automobile industry and Americans owned 50 million cars. The film discusses in depth the importance of the automobile for the average American worker and citizen.

To New Horizons

Length: 23 Minutes | Produced:1940

This is a General Motors film made for the 1940 Worlds Fair that promotes roads as one of Americas new horizons on the path to success.

Give Yourself The Green Light

Length: 22 Minutes | Produced:1954

We all know the frustrations of stop and go traffic and of overcrowded parking lots. General Motors plays off of these annoyances in Give Yourself The Green Light. Made to promote the creation of more freeways and highways to curb traffic congestions, this film is propaganda at its finest.

Big Delivery Wagon

Length: 12 Minutes | Produced:1951

Most of us love ketchup. The Big Delivery Wagon, an ode to Americas greatest condiment maker Heinz, glorifies all 57 varieties of Heinz food products. The film explores the factories as well as the transportation needs of the company to spread their delicious items across the land.

The American Road

Length: 37 Minutes | Produced:1953

The automobile has been an integral part of the American way of life for over a century. The American Road, documents the birth of the automobile and the growing dependence upon vehicles and roads. Produced by Ford Motor Company this film is an ode to one of the most important inventions in human history and contains excellent information about the revolutionary Ford Model T.

Builders Of The Broad Highway

Length: 21 Minutes | Produced:1960s

Builders Of The Broad Highway explores road building from the ground up and inside out. The film documents the steps to road building and highway construction including from surveying to grading to blasting to pouring pavement.

Conquering Roads

Length: 9 Minutes | Produced:1937

Highway and road development has evolved over the last century as Americans have become more and more dependent on automobiles. Conquering Roads, is a wonderful snapshot of roads from the late thirties with a focus on new and emerging civil engineering techniques such as interstate highways, traffic circles, divided highways, tunnel bridges and cloverleafs. Produces by General Motors Company, the film is a great piece of corporate propaganda.

Building A Highway

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1937

Simplistic and elegant, Building A Highway, documents early highway construction techniques and the heavy equipment necessary to build roads. Bulldozers, road scrappers, pavers, rollers and other early earth moving equipment are on full display. The film also discusses the engineering and construction skills needed to build these extraordinary roads.

Open Road

Length: 30 Minutes | Produced:1930s

Open Road, focuses on how steel is utilized in highway construction. Discussing everything from engineering highway bridges to earth moving equipment to the end users the films gives a comprehensive look at early road construction. The film also shows how heavy machinery allows man to shape the earth to lay new roads instead of building roads around the contours of the land.