Trees to Tribunes
Trees to Tribunes is a short film from 1937 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
Trees to Tribune, an advertising film produced by the Chicago Tribune newspaper in 1937, shows how newspapers were produced during the 1930's. We see the complete process beginning in the forest with the felling of trees, the transport of logs to the sawmill, chipping and pulping of the wood, processing of the pulp to form paper, and all the behind the scenes work required to print on the newspaper.
| Trees to Tribunes | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Wilding Picture Productions, Inc. Chicago |
Production companies | Wilding Picture Productions, Inc. Chicago |
| Distributed by | Wilding Picture Productions, Inc. Chicago |
Release date | 1937 |
Running time | 19:17 |
| Language | English |
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Contents
Some of the activities involved in pulpwood logging, making newsprint, and printing a large metropolitan newspaper.
A map indicates the location of Chicago Tribune timberlands in the Canadian province of Quebec. Supplies are brought by boat from Quebec to Shelter Bay, where they are transferred to trucks, sleds, and wagons and carried to various logging camps in the vicinity.
There are several views of a logging camp. Trees are cut, trimmed, and sawed into 4-foot lengths. Some logs are sledded to rivers and lakes; others are transported on ice slides. Logs are stacked in piles on the ice, awaiting warmer spring weather. When the ice melts in the spring, great log drives are started downstream. Occasional jams are freed by dynamiting. Near river docks the logs are fed into revolving drums which remove the bark. They are then loaded for shipping to the pulp mills.
The sequence dealing with the manufacture of newsprint begins with views of the Tribune pulp mild The logs are cleaned in washing drums and defective wood is removed. Some of the logs are sent through chippers and made into chemical sulphite pulp; the majority are ground for mechanical pulp. Mechanical and sulphite pulps are mixed before they are run through a series of rolls and converted into newsprint. The finished paper is loaded into Tribune ships, transported to Chicago by way of the Great Lakes, and stored in the Tribune warehouse.
The concluding sequence deals with the work of producing a large metropolitan newspaper. There are several views of the editorial rooms in the Tribune Tower. An engraving is made of a cartoonist's drawing. Linotype operators are shown at work at their machines. Pages of type and engravings are assembled, matrices are molded, and the stereotype plates are cast and locked onto rotary presses. Paper from the warehouse is fed to the presses as the work of printing the paper begins. Papers are cut, folded, and conveyed to the shipping and mailing rooms. Several views indicate the operations involved in distributing the newspapers to street newsstands and to the homes of subscribers.
Appraisal
Reported very good for (1) tracing the steps in pulpwood logging and the production of newsprint and (2) briefly sketching the mechanical work involved in producing a newspaper. Found useful in developing an appreciation of the complex organization of the newspaper industry.
Teachers reported that various processes were covered from beginning to end in logical sequence, but some felt that the mechanical operations could have been given more detailed treatment. Students were interested in learning that some newspapers log their own lumber and make their own paper. The frequent interjection of Chicago Tribune advertising was objectionable to a few teachers. A one-reel version of this film is also available.
Photography and sound are good.