THIS IS NEW JERSEY 1956 NEW JERSEY BELL EDUCATIONAL & PROMOTIONAL FILM MD52994

PeriscopeFilm
PeriscopeFilm
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Published 2020-06-23
This Technicolor color film was produced in 1956 for the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, and based on a 1953 John T. Cunningham book This is New Jersey. The film opens with a bird’s eye view of New Jersey (1:00), bordered by Philadelphia and New York City (1:12-1:28), Cape May (1:33) and High Point (1:40). Reminders of the past include a Revolutionary War cannon (4:03), Washington’s Headquarters at Morristown (4:06), Washington’s pistol (4:22), the McConkey Ferry Inn (4:40), where Washington crossed the Delaware at night (4:48-5:26) to secure his Trenton and Princeton victories (5:27). Oxford Furnace was built in 1742 in Warren County (5:46-6:00). The Mount Hope mining operation is shown (6:03-6:26). Steel cables are manufactured in Trenton since 1854 (6:44-7:17), and used on the George Washington Bridge (7:17). Steel goes into Singer sewing machines (7:24), tin cans made in Jersey City (7:31-7:46), irrigation pumps made in Harrison (7:48-8:00), the USS Hartley (DE-1029) made in Camden and launched November 24, 1956 (8:02-8:15), and merchant ships (8:17-8:29). Industrialization began in 1791 along the Passaic River (9:17-9:50). New Jersey is called “the Garden State” due to dairy farms that support 4H and the FFA (10:17-10:47). Various vegetables are picked (10:49-11:14), as are fruit trees (11:15-11:42). New Jersey has Thoroughbred horses (11:52-12:18), orchid farms in Middlesex Borough (12:22-12:43), and eggs sold at Flemington Auctions (12:47-14:11). Cumberland County uses irrigation (14:23-15:19). Seabrook Farms agents use “mobile telephones” for orders (15:21-15:24). A crop duster is shown (15:39-15:46). Rutgers tomatoes are hand-picked and processed at a cannery (15:50-16:43). The Rutgers Experimental Station has made other advances (16:45-17:45). A County Agent drives his Studebaker (17:47) to talk to a farmer. Universities include Rutgers (18:04-18:12) and Princeton with its Nassau Hall and tributes to President Woodrow Wilson (18:13-18:50). Albert Einstein’s house is in the city of Princeton (19:00), as is his place of work, The Institute for Advanced Study (19:08). Other Universities include Seton Hall (19:23), Fairleigh Dickinson (19:31), and Stevens Institute of Technology (19:44). School children run to 1950s bicycles (20:18). Thomas Edison worked at the West Orange Research Laboratories and his private study remains (20:51-21:29), as does his “Black Maria” first motion picture studio (21:29). Research centers include Esso (21:54), Johnson & Johnson (21:59), and Federal Telecommunication Laboratories (ITT) (22:02). Scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories at Murray Hill do experiments (22:10-22:45). Various medical drugs are produced (22:50-23:39), including at Bristol-Myers. Industries include glassblowing (23:51-24:13), gold jewelry (24:15), tanneries (24:24), and telephone cable production (24:35). Products for sale are transported by trains (24:58), airplanes (25:15), and trucks (25:42). For fun, there’s Atlantic City (25:58) beaches, boardwalks, and casinos; and the 1956 Miss America pageant won by Marian McKnight (26:11-26:53). The Jersey shore has the Barnegat Bay lighthouse (26:55), Cape May (27:12-27:38), Fort Delaware Confederate prison (27:44), the Avalon sand dunes (28:03), the Sea Isle City commercial fishing fleets (28:17-28:46), and freshwater fishing (29:05). New construction continues with 1950s heavy machinery (29:21-29:48). The film ends with flashbacks already seen. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com/

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We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com/
All Comments (21)
  • @Modeltnick
    I grew up in Irvington and wouldn’t trade those days for anything! My grandfather worked for Western Electric in Kearney for 38 years! What great times. We don’t know what we had until it’s gone!
  • @UploaderNine
    I love these old educational films... Thank you
  • @elva-mariehilbert5737
    Still love NJ we get a bad rap and do have high taxes but the proximity to so many scenes is what makes it great. There is more to NJ than what you see leaving Newark Airport.
  • @katthefantastic
    "New Jersey. It's not just a state. It's a state of mind."
  • @waybelowgrade
    New Jesey was the 1st Capital of the United States and 70 % of battles were fought on her soil. to sum it up. BEST STATE EVER
  • @mitchdakelman4470
    Many thanks for posting this fine film. I first saw it in 1963 when I was in the 5th grade and I knew John Cunningham who wrote the script, and have had correspondence with the film's director Paul Cohen who also made a similar film for NY Telephone All About New York. NJ Bell, the sponsor, premiered the film in 1957 at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, NJ, home base for NJ Bell.
  • @jpsned
    I remember going to Edison's lab in 5th grade in the late 1960s. That image of his desk has always been etched indelibly in my mind. And one of the guides had actually worked with Edison.
  • @castlejrichardson6308
    I was born in Jersey city NJ in 1964 and my grandfather used to work for Standard Oil.
  • @mrdirtydeedz2873
    Sadly NJ has changed considerably since this film was made. Only 40% of her land remains forest. Her beaches have shrunk and Atlantic City is just a casino spot now. Bell Telephone was run out of the state by Comcast Corp (formerly Garden State Cable) and the cost of living is one of the highest in the nation. The beauty is still here and rural living is quite comfortable (still some of the best fishing anywhere too!) but it's rough growing up here. The benefit of which is it created some of the toughest people in the country.
  • @kolbpilot
    Good ol' 'Merica rocked, 'til about the end of the 1970s.
  • @tylerzorn6152
    born and raised, grew up in Bricktown. Absolutely wonderful, and a great childhood. !!! I was blessed to be there, and loved EVERY MINUTE Of it !!!! the best schools, best friends, best life !!! oh how I miss those days. Bless the Garden State ALWAYS. !!!!
  • @robertcuminale1212
    I was born in Manhattan but have a connection to New Jersey too. I married a girl from Sewell NJ. I was in the Navy and she was my supervisor's wife's maid of honor. Barbara was from Mullica Hill. When I got out I commuted to work at the World Trade Center. I really hadn't wanted to go back to New York Telephone but there was a recession in 1975 when I got out. I lasted until 1979. I couldn't stand the state. Expensive and cold. Commuting was killing me and our marriage. I went for the office and asked if there was somewhere I could transfer to. I'd spent my teens in Florida and I wasn't going back there. She agreed to Charlotte, NC. I went back South but only half way. She had three friends she'd graduated from college with living there and My best friend since the 8th grade was there. He'd transferred out of Miami here we'd gone to school and started with Southern Bell. We were packing and my wife found some of my papers. She said, "There's town in Bergen County with your mother's maiden name." I said yeah, "My Great Grandfather owned a saw mill there in the 1600s. He used to be the Magistrate of Haarlem before the English came." I opened up more of the stuff for her to see. Another Great Grandfather founded Woodbury. My wife was born in Woodbury. Anyway in 1865 my Grandfather Garret moved to New York City. I should have taken the hint and never came back here. We're 42 years now. After the AT&T breakup I was laid off and started a business. We did fairly well and we've been a while. I don't think we could have done this in New Jersey. Too much red tape and expenses. Taxes are reasonable here. I pay about the same amount of real estate tax here for 2200 sq. ft. house and an oceanfront house near Camp Lejeune as I was paying for a 1600 sq. ft. house for my mother in law to live in in Gloucester County. The last few years a number of corporations have left NJ and settled here in Charlotte. Most employees came with them. We're happy to have anyone who comes but we do have one request. Leave the Democrat Party up there. You've shmutzed up your own nest don't foul ours. We don't need your high taxes and your anti-gun laws.
  • @faschwank
    That does it. I'm moving to New Jersey.
  • @Thecorgially
    Aside from the "tanning of elephant and rhino", great look back at NJ and there is no tomato than can beat a NJ tomato.
  • @black007die
    Anytime somebody wants to bash New Jersey I'm going to show them this video before they talk trash
  • @rickysig
    Great video of a simpler time. Despite all the factories that provided plenty of jobs, the state was still 84% forest and farmland according to the narrator. Now look at it. High unemployment, farms and forests paved over, yet crumbling infrastructure, and political mismanagement for years now. Darn shame.