Eine der beliebtesten Sammlungen im Internet Archive ist das Prelinger-Archiv, eine Sammlung von über 8.600 «flüchtigen» Filmen aus dem 20. Jahrhunderts – Werbe-, Bildungs-, Industrie- und Amateurvideos (via Newsletter archive.org):
«One of our most popular collections is the Prelinger Archives, a repository of over 8,600 «ephemeral» films from the 20th century—advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur videos. Many of these works were produced only at specific times for very specific purposes, and some only exist today by chance or accident. First started by Rick Prelinger in 1983, this massive collection has grown into an invaluable resource for filmmakers, historians, and (of course) curious Internet Archive patrons–here are a few fun finds!
Ever wanted to see what London looked like in 1918? Or tour Stockholm just before WWII? Or visit pre-earthquake San Francisco? The Prelinger Archives are full of travelogues, amateur films, and shots of everyday life in faraway times and places. This reel of a road trip through the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, and Las Vegas is a perfect place to start.
Industrial films are targeted towards an “industry” or business audience, and they’ve been a feature of American commerce for decades. The Prelinger archive contains hundreds of examples, including a stop-motion celebration of aluminum production, an exploration of the promise of computing from 1968, and a thorough explanation of how maps were kept up-to-date in a pre-Internet era. (As a bonus, check out this parody of the genre created by industrial filmmakers satirizing their own industry!)
When schoolchildren of yesteryear wondered what made fire burn or how ducklings hatched, educational videos provided an explanation–but these films are frequently replaced and rarely preserved, which is one reason that the Prelinger Archives are so crucial. Among the oldest educational films in the collection is “A Trip to the Moon”, a work from the 1920s that explored the then-theoretical science of space travel and speculated (with surprising accuracy) what such a journey might be like.»