16mm Kodak Home Movie 1931 CHINA, Sun Yat Sen, Chin Wang Tao, Peking, SRI LANKA

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DESCRIPTION: Outstanding footage of China and Sri Lanka. This is a full 7” reel of Kodak film. This is from a set of reels labelled 1-5, this is Reel 3. The 5 reels are Home Movies from a World Cruise that began in October of 1931 from San Francisco. This would be from either late 1931 or early 1932. Date code on the film is a O+ which dates it to 1931. This is outstanding footage of streets and people of China and Sri Lanka. It starts with about 160 feet of film featuring Sri Lanka with a motor car journey from Colombo to Kandy with stops at some very interesting places. The remaining portion of the 400 feet of film is in China with exceptional streets scenes and the Chinese people who navigate them. Great scenes from Tientsin (today Tientjin) Railroad Station with what looks like military at the station. Order of the photos taken are from top left to bottom left then top right to bottom right. The following are most of the titles: SRI LANKA Colombo to Kandy by Motor, Native Scenes and Activities En Route Native Boat at Hotel Lavina, Colombo CHINA Memorial Auditorium to Sun Yat Sen, Canton, China Harbor at Chin Wang Tao - Railway Station Scenes, En Route to Pekin (Peking) A Funeral Procession in Hartaman Street, Pekin Passengers in Sedan Chairs from Railroad Station to Great Wall, Pekin Forbidden City Note Street Sprinkling System Early Morning View from Wagon Lit Hotel Old Buddha’s 3,000,000 Yen Marble Boat -- No Marble Buddha in Llama Temple and my Guests, Two Idaho Buddha priests. Remarkable footage from a time when there were very few people with movie cameras. By the looks of the people staring at the cameraman, I would say they have not seen many of these before. I've tried to find other Chinese footage from this time period and can tell you they are very scarce. I believe you will not find one like this for a long long time. CONDITION OF THIS REEL Near the end there are three areas where the original splices must have let loose. I simply put a small piece of tape to temporarily attach. Also the film is on the reel in reverse. (probably from viewing with out rewinding) Both of these issues can be easily remedied. There are some slightly over or under exposed scenes, but the majority is as you see in the photos. The film is NOT wavy. Could not photograph every scene due to the limitation of 12 photos on ebay. Included in this auction are the FILM REEL, TWO PIECE CAN and RETAINING RING. Many companies can easily copy this to digital video for a reasonable price. This is a Farm Fresh find that has never been converted to digital. That is up to you. I believe this should be in an archive and preserved for future generations to view. So many amazing street scenes of life in China and Sri Lanka in the 1930’s. I start all my auctions at $5.00 and let the market determine value. Good Luck and feel free to ask any questions. CONDITION: As I have never sold 16mm before I will describe condition as best I can. 1. Others selling 16mm talk about vinegar smell. There is NO vinegar smell on any of these films. 2. Some have slight wavy areas to them 3. Some may have small scratches. 4. If a film has a broken area I will note that in the description. 5. If you see dust particles on the image, most of it is on the device I take the photos with, not the film. 6. I will guarantee these have not been reproduced by me or anyone else. As the American Pickers say, “These are farm fresh”. Sitting for years in a house in Wisconsin where they were finally discovered. 7. There may be scenes over or under exposed. 8. Just assume when bidding they are not perfect and you may be very pleased when they arrive. These are sold ‘as is’ due to the ease of making digital video copies. TO BE SOLD AT A LATER AUCTION: I recently acquired over 25 reels of 16mm. Obviously these people had some bucks to travel where they did. Most of the 4” reels have their original boxes (with the exception of three) There are 5 - 7” reels labeled 1 thru 5. All these reels have their cans and metal retaining rings. The ... read more

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