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Handy (Jam) OrganizationDeath to Weeds (1947)

Shows new herbicides incorporating 2-4-D.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Dow Chemical Corporation
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Herbicides; Chemical industry; Agriculture: Herbicides and pesticides

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid - - April 2, 2009
Subject: Wonderful
Rick Prelinger is a great guy for preserving this priceless history.

Very recommended.

Reviewer: doowopbob - - April 2, 2009
Subject: Now I Know!....
I Was Born In 1947 With A Penis & A Vagina....People Were Always Telling Me To Go #&%# Myself....And Guess What?....THANKS DOW!

Reviewer: pusherwoman - - March 10, 2009
Subject: my grandfather used to use it
My mother told me while we were watching a film about pesticide abuse in Japan that my grandfather, a businessman and farmer, used to use 2,4-D for his rice crops, along with other pesticides that are now long gone (and banned). He wasn't a big pesticide user; he knows how much is enough. But of course, that was during the 50s and 60s, and pesticide usage wasn't even regulated yet. Just sharing. :)

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - January 5, 2006
Subject: The Final Solution to the Weed Problem
Thats right, death to weeds! Kill em all!! Theyre EVIL!! Thats the attitude of this Dow Chemical film from the 50s. Certain plants are labeled weeds by human beings and are thus deserving of death by chemical means. And the film shows us how effectively Dow insecticides blast them off this mortal coil for good. Granted, some of the plants shown are genuinely problematic, but the strident note of this film gets to you after awhile. Like some of the fly control films made at the same time, you start to feel a sense that the bright, clean 50s world could only exist through diligent efforts to root out impurities growing underfoot, such as flies, weeds, dirt, and Communists. Organic food lovers and environmentalists will find this film upsetting. Plant-haters will delight in all the scenes of gruesome plant death and the ending declaration that all weeds, everywhere, must be eradicated by chemical means.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - April 16, 2003
Subject: Before and after..
The whole line of Dow's new weed killers are shown in 'Death To Weeds', a boring infomercial designed to wow farmers on how 'safe' the chemicals, such as d-44, were to your plant and animals. It pretty much follows this standard.. A state is shown, an overgrown field is shown, then the spraying, and the effect after it's done. Fairly numbing.

Shotlist

NEW PESTICIDES, INCORPORATING 2-4-D, ARE SHOWN. GOOD CROP-DUSTING. BEFORE-AND-AFTER SCENES OF CROPS & FIELDS. "DEATH SENTENCE" TO WEEDS AT START. TIME-LAPSE SHOT OF WEED WITHERING IN POT.


CROPS FIELDS FARMS AGRICULTURE PESTICIDES SPRAYING TRUCKS AIRPLANES CROP DUSTING BEFORE AND AFTER 2-4-D DIOXIN TOXIC CHEMICALS HEALTH AND SAFETY WORKERS FIELDS PLANTS WEEDS WEED KILLERS Danger Lurks SCENICS HUMOR PROCLAMATIONS DEATH SENTENCES POISONS VEGETABLES CANS DISPLAYS FARM MACHINERY PACKAGING CONTAINERS TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY WITHERING