Movie Night XV: "Golden Harvest" and "Out Of the Spirit of '49"

Tonight's movie is courtesy of the California Packing Corporation, filmed to celebrate 50 years of Del Monte. The film is actually a mix of 1960's documentary and a collection of promotional films from 1900 through the 1930's. It's a combination of a celebration of California and of the canneries; if you're looking for the cannery shots, you'll have to fast-forward past the missions and "rolling hills" shots, but there's some neat shots of Plant #7 (Emeryville), the correct way to prepare pears and apricots, the action on the asparagus canning line, and a great shot of a farmer checking his orchard next to his Model A. Bonus points for anyone who can name which plants are visible from 4:50 on... though be warned the shots make it very obvious how CalPak had a single architectural style.

There's also some shots from (I suspect) that Del Monte-sponsored silent film about the boy who wants to be a cannery superintendent. The melodrama isn't that exciting, but the huge paddle fans cooling the women and the boxes of fruit sure highlight what must have been a messy job! And where else will you see a close-up of removing the pit from a peach?

And the San Francisco fans will appreciate shots of the Alaska Packers Association pier in San Francisco pre-1916.

"Fifty-year old companies are a lot like fifty year old people - they like to reminisce."

(Full video here if the video above is cut off.)

And after you've watched that, check out Del Monte's 1940's dried fruit processing video. There's some neat shots of prune, apricot, and raisin processing along with some cannery shots. Check out the apricot drying yard action shots around the 7:00 mark, and tell me if you can identify the Del Monte plant at the 9:00 mark!

(Full video here)

[Both videos courtesy of archive.org / Prelinger Library's collection of commercial ephemera.]