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Most Downloaded Items
Last Week more

  1. Atom and Biological Science, The
    2,033 downloads
  2. Good Table Manners
    1,666 downloads
  3. Belo Horizonte
    1,636 downloads
  4. ROR - Rocket on Rotor
    1,514 downloads
  5. Victory Gardens
    1,264 downloads
  6. Perversion for Profit (Part II)
    1,217 downloads
  7. San Francisco Earthquake footage
    1,197 downloads
  8. As Boys Grow
    1,170 downloads
  9. Perversion for Profit (Part I)
    985 downloads
  10. Styling and the Experimental Car
    636 downloads

Most Downloaded Items more

  1. Duck and Cover
    486,705 downloads
  2. Perversion for Profit (Part I)
    249,550 downloads
  3. My Japan
    228,413 downloads
  4. As Boys Grow
    207,722 downloads
  5. Are You Popular?
    195,454 downloads
  6. Experiments in the Revival of Organisms
    187,883 downloads
  7. Blonde Stag Film
    175,528 downloads
  8. Boys Beware
    172,839 downloads
  9. [Amateur film: New Orleans Carnival Week, February 22, 1941]
    167,441 downloads
  10. Classic Television Commercials (Part I)
    149,234 downloads

Staff Picks

  1. Liberty
  2. City, The (Part I)
  3. 1960 Kennedy-Nixon Debate (Part I)
  4. America for Me (Part I)
  5. Ant City
  6. Atom Bomb [Joe Bonica's Movie of the Month]
  7. Behind the Freedom Curtain
  8. Booked for Safekeeping (Part I)
  9. Boys Beware
  10. Bridging San Francisco Bay

Spotlight Item

Are You Ready for Marriage?
Two teenagers, wishing to marry early, visit their minister for advice and receive counseling, some of it quite pragmatic, the rest a little strange.

About the Internet Archive

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Rights

Rick Prelinger and The Internet Archive hereby offer these public domain films from Prelinger Archives to all for free downloading and reuse.

You are warmly encouraged to download, use and reproduce these films in whole or in part, in any medium or market throughout the world. You are also warmly encouraged to share, exchange, redistribute, transfer and copy these films, and especially encouraged to do so for free.

Any derivative works that you produce using these films are yours to perform, publish, reproduce, sell, or distribute in any way you wish without any limitations.

This statement of rights describes the rights granted to you so that you can use films from the online Prelinger collection at the Internet Archive.

Your right to use these films is granted by the Creative Commons Public Domain license. For details on this license, please click the Creative Commons license logo below.

Neither the Internet Archive nor Rick Prelinger can offer additional information regarding the rights to these films, or provide written license agreements. If you require a written license agreement or further information on the rights status of any Prelinger Collection titles, please see below.

Please be aware that:
-- the Creative Commons Public Domain license is the only license relating to films from the online Prelinger Collection;
-- the Internet Archive "Terms of Use" do not apply to the online Prelinger Collection;
-- the CC Public Domain license refers to the public domain status of the films, but not necessarily to every element that a film may contain;
-- and that other films, videos, texts and audio files hosted at the Internet Archive are not necessarily covered by the same license that governs the online Prelinger Collection. Please research these items individually if you wish to reuse any of them.

Descriptions, synopses, shotlists and other metadata provided by Prelinger Archives to this site are copyrighted jointly by Prelinger Archives and Getty Images. They may be quoted, excerpted or reproduced for educational, scholarly, nonprofit or archival purposes, but may not be reproduced for commercial purposes of any kind without permission.

If you require a written license agreement or need access to stock footage in a physical format (such as videotape or a higher-quality digital file), please visit our Stock Footage page. Neither Rick Prelinger nor the Internet Archive furnish written license agreements, nor do they comment on the rights status of a given film above and beyond this Creative Commons license.

Further information on works from Prelinger Archives can be found here. Questions should be directed to Rick Prelinger at Prelinger Archives, PO Box 590622, San Francisco, CA 94159-0622 USA.

This material is Open Knowledge

Public Domain Dedication
The works in this collection are in the Public Domain.

Contributors

Charlie Churchman
Greg Allen
JD Samson
Jeremy Blatter
John Carlson
Megan Shaw Prelinger
Rick Prelinger
Skip Elsheimer
Tim Ries

2,136 itemsWelcome to Prelinger Archives

View over 2,000 films from the Prelinger Archives!

Prelinger Archives was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger in New York City. Over the next twenty years, it grew into a collection of over 60,000 "ephemeral" (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur) films. In 2002, the film collection was acquired by the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Prelinger Archives remains in existence, holding approximately 4,000 titles on videotape and a smaller collection of film materials acquired subsequent to the Library of Congress transaction. Its goal remains to collect, preserve, and facilitate access to films of historic significance that haven't been collected elsewhere. Included are films produced by and for many hundreds of important US corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions. Getty Images represents the collection for stock footage sale, and over 2,000 key titles (soon to be 2,500) are available here. As a whole, the collection currently contains over 10% of the total production of ephemeral films between 1927 and 1987, and it may be the most complete and varied collection in existence of films from these poorly preserved genres.

RIGHTS: Please read the text in the "Rights" box on the left of this page before contacting us with questions.

STOCK FOOTAGE: Information on licensing stock footage through Getty Images, our exclusive representative, is here.

The Field Guide to Sponsored Films by Rick Prelinger was published by the National Film Preservation Foundation in January 2007. It describes 452 historically or culturally significant motion pictures commissioned by businesses, charities, advocacy groups, and state or local government units between 1897 and 1980. The annotated filmography features repository information for some 350 titles as well as links to works viewable online. Also included are an introductory essay and name and subject indexes. The book is recommended for all interested in the history of advertising, industrial and sponsored films.

A free copy of the 152-page NFPF publication can be viewed and downloaded here.

Click to see a Tag Cloud of the Archive's Prelinger Collection.

Click for more information about the Prelinger Archives.

Information about Prelinger Library, an appropriation-friendly library of printed materials located in San Francisco, is here.

If you have historical home movies of San Francisco or Detroit that might work in future Lost Landscapes urban history screenings, Rick would be delighted to hear from you. He can be reached here.



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Sub-Collections

Commercials
A collection of vintage commercials within the Prelinger Library. Click to see a Tag Cloud of the Archive's Prelinger Collection. Click for more information about the Prelinger Archives....
42 items
Jam Handy Organization
Jam Handy Click to see a Tag Cloud of the Archive's Prelinger Collection. Click for more information about the Prelinger Archives. Information about Prelinger Library, an appropriation-friendly...
238 items
Prelinger Archive Home Movies
Home Movies from the Prelinger Archives For more information see the Prelinger Archives
66 items
Coronet Instructional Films
Coronet Instructional Films were shown in American schools starting in about 1941. The company was an offshoot of Coronet Magazine, a digest-sized magazine that itself was owned by Esquire, Inc....
81 items

Recently Reviewed Items (more)

Newport Cigarette Commercial #4
Average rating:4.40 out of 5 stars4.40 out of 5 stars4.40 out of 5 stars4.40 out of 5 stars4.40 out of 5 stars

Industry on Parade (Can 2a)
Average rating:4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars

Greater Victory
Average rating:3.33 out of 5 stars3.33 out of 5 stars3.33 out of 5 stars3.33 out of 5 stars

Soundie - Sweet Sue (Just You)
Average rating:3.83 out of 5 stars3.83 out of 5 stars3.83 out of 5 stars3.83 out of 5 stars

Design for Dreaming
Average rating:4.78 out of 5 stars4.78 out of 5 stars4.78 out of 5 stars4.78 out of 5 stars4.78 out of 5 stars

This Just In (more)

Cancer
Average rating:5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars
183 days ago

ROR - Rocket on Rotor
183 days ago

Reactions In Plants and Animals
Average rating:5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars
183 days ago

Queerosities - Diving Horses
Average rating:4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars4.00 out of 5 stars
183 days ago

Queerosities - The Human Spider
183 days ago


 

New PostPrelinger Archives Forum Subscribe to or unsubscribe from this forum RSS feed of most recent posts to this forum

Subject Poster Replies Date
John Galvarro passes away Spuzz 0 July 28, 2010 11:42:40pm
prelinger mashup posted LynFaber 1 July 12, 2010 02:52:38am
   Re: prelinger mashup posted Sean Scott 1 July 12, 2010 06:05:48am
     Re: prelinger mashup posted LynFaber 1 July 12, 2010 07:04:44am
       Re: prelinger mashup posted Sean Scott 2 July 12, 2010 10:08:12am
         Re: prelinger mashup posted Detective John Carter of Mars 1 July 12, 2010 10:48:10am
           Re: prelinger mashup posted LynFaber 1 July 12, 2010 04:11:59pm
             Re: prelinger mashup posted Detective John Carter of Mars 0 July 12, 2010 07:34:44pm
         Re: prelinger mashup posted LynFaber 1 July 12, 2010 04:34:53pm
           Re: prelinger mashup posted Sean Scott 0 July 12, 2010 04:50:33pm
What does this mean please? saallen 0 May 13, 2010 12:19:36pm
I'm curious: How much is in here? Sama-El 0 May 03, 2010 03:39:04pm
For the millionth time The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 April 21, 2010 02:09:21pm
FCP editing? donald bachinski 1 April 21, 2010 12:38:10pm
   Re: FCP editing? Rick Prelinger 0 April 22, 2010 05:10:08am
Hmm The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 April 14, 2010 09:30:13am
NEW FILMS!!! Spuzz 4 March 11, 2010 12:07:53am
   Re: NEW FILMS!!! The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 March 11, 2010 01:31:45am
   Re: NEW FILMS!!! Scribble 0 March 11, 2010 10:46:43am
   Re: NEW FILMS!!! FP   0 March 11, 2010 03:53:51pm
   Re: NEW FILMS!!! Scribble 1 March 12, 2010 09:58:19am
     Re: NEW FILMS!!! Rick Prelinger 0 March 12, 2010 04:48:03pm
Original music videos mashed up with Prelinger clips LynFaber 0 February 28, 2010 12:11:33pm
looking for abstract surreal animation or old computer art, soundwaves etc noelxmas 2 February 08, 2010 06:22:00pm
   Re: looking for abstract surreal animation or old computer art, soundwaves etc Steve Nordby 0 February 08, 2010 08:10:46pm
   Re: looking for abstract surreal animation or old computer art, soundwaves etc FP   0 February 08, 2010 10:07:47pm
best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? radiotelevision 1 February 07, 2010 12:09:58pm
   Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? FP   2 February 07, 2010 01:39:42pm
     Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? radiotelevision 1 February 08, 2010 07:56:41am
       Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? FP   1 February 08, 2010 08:55:19am
         Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? radiotelevision 1 February 08, 2010 09:14:31am
           Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? FP   1 February 08, 2010 01:38:08pm
             Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? radiotelevision 0 February 08, 2010 01:50:26pm
     Re: best audio (NOT visual) quality for download? Steve Nordby 0 February 08, 2010 07:10:15pm
Looking for film I watched ages ago on IA The_Emperor_Of_Television 1 January 06, 2010 10:08:51pm
   Re: Looking for film I watched ages ago on IA Spuzz 1 January 07, 2010 12:21:33pm
     Re: Looking for film I watched ages ago on IA The_Emperor_Of_Television 0 January 07, 2010 08:28:27pm
Nothing new? FP 0 December 12, 2009 01:15:57pm
"Archive Farms" making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. Video-Cellar 2 November 28, 2009 01:52:55am
   Re: 'Archive Farms' making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. yofitofu 1 November 28, 2009 02:19:09am
     Re: 'Archive Farms' making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. Video-Cellar 1 November 28, 2009 03:01:48am
       Re: 'Archive Farms' making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. yofitofu 0 November 28, 2009 03:30:45am
   Re: 'Archive Farms' making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. pmontgomery 1 November 28, 2009 03:15:17pm
     Re: 'Archive Farms' making false copyright claims on Prelinger Collection films used on Youtube. Video-Cellar 1 November 28, 2009 06:13:47pm
       Looks like you're the copyright police here. migre 0 December 04, 2009 01:46:26pm
That person was wrong. CaseySerin 1 November 02, 2009 01:44:14pm
   Re: That person was wrong. Scribble 0 November 03, 2009 08:19:20am
how to add to "mahsups" collection? LynFaber 0 October 15, 2009 08:58:27pm
Reasons behind weekly download ranks Scribble 0 October 10, 2009 12:39:59pm
The River (1937) download rdahl70 0 September 23, 2009 12:50:37pm
Anything new on the way? FP 0 August 28, 2009 05:01:00pm
Prelinger Archive article on Wikipedia Duduman 0 August 19, 2009 08:42:22am
Prelinger Archives Logo Duduman 1 July 24, 2009 04:54:45am
   Re: Prelinger Archives Logo Rick Prelinger 1 July 24, 2009 07:38:16am
     Re: Prelinger Archives Logo Duduman 1 August 18, 2009 12:57:42pm
       Re: Prelinger Archives Logo Rick Prelinger 0 August 18, 2009 01:21:32pm
Hi-Res MP4 for Concentration Camp footage GrandMan 0 July 21, 2009 03:46:44pm
West of the divide android90 1 July 07, 2009 04:06:55am
   Re: West of the divide Duduman 0 July 24, 2009 04:10:01am
New Films 23_skidoo 1 June 19, 2009 07:15:57pm
   Re: New Films Visual16 1 June 22, 2009 03:56:12am
     Re: New Films FP 0 June 22, 2009 09:07:38pm
Remington Rand commercials Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid 0 June 14, 2009 02:06:35am

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