From the '36 Centennial Expo to the JFK Assassination to the SMU Death Penalty, Hundreds of Short Moments and Memories

By Robert Wilonsky Sat., May 28 2011 at 10:24 AM

Below, Friend of Unfair Park PeterK was wondering in the comments what newsreel footage of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition looked like. So he set off in search of some. And what he came back with last night was an extraordinary find -- a 42-clip collection consisting not only of short glimpses at the '36 Fair Park World's Fair, but other black-and-white flashbacks including highlights from the first National Football League championship game (Cowboys vs. Packers at the Cotton Bowl in '66), Amon Carter railing against Dallas's selection as the site of the World's Fair ("You'd think Dallas invented Texas"), the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald and excerpts from a 1941 doc about Dallas ("a mighty smart and stylish place" full of "real big-city folks").

Which, as it turns out, is but a fraction of a fraction of the available-for-licensing local look-sees: A "Dallas" search turns up some 560 clips, ranging from old news reports (most about the SMU death penalty) to a recap of the Georgia-SMU Cotton Bowl game on December 31, 1966, to slow-mo and time-lapsed and aerial glimpses at local landmarks (including this 27-minute-long rotating spin from high atop Reunion Tower taken in '02) to W.A. Criswell talking to the First Baptist congregation about how in-attendance President Gerald Ford refused to grant Playboy an interview. Here's one Peter thought Schutze would enjoy: newsreel footage capturing Trinity River flooding in the 1950s.

Stayed up till just past 1 this morning going through these. Didn't make it halfway through. In other words: Just the film fest with which to fill your long Memorial Day weekend.

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LakeWWWooder

A thousand thanks!

* and some people wonder why native Dallasites have a certain opinion of Fort Worth!

G_David

Speaking of the SMU death penalty, Bill Clements died.

Oak Cliff Townie

http://www.thoughtequity.com/v...

Which Airport is this?

pak152

not a dallas fort worth airport that I know. none of the DFW major airports are nestled in the bend of a river

Rtgolden

although, if you put a calatrava designed bridge right about .......... there!

Guest

My grandmother sometimes talked about being in the audience when President Ford attended services at First Baptist (she was a member of the church and attended weekly services downtown for as long as she lived in Dallas). She absolutely adored Dr. Criswell, but she was also a HUGE Democrat. She just couldn't square it in her mind that her beloved pastor would endorse a Republican for anything other than facing a firing squad, so she always said that she could see the devil in Dr. Criswell's eyes that day. In her mind, the only way dear W.A. Criswell would say nice things about a Republican was if he was demonically possessed.

I couldn't see the devil in his eyes in that short clip, but maybe someone else can.