If you tuned into WKAR-TV in the 1950s, you might have caught programs explaining how to pack a healthy lunch or giving you advice on how to talk on the telephone politely.
Other shows leaned on the expertise of Michigan State University professors for topics like art and music and gave young people a chance to ask about potential careers.
Many of these programs are now available to watch again as part of a Michigan State University Libraries digitization project of a selection of early WKAR-TV films that aired in the mid-20th century.
MSU Media Preservation Librarian Sarah Mainville says her team received a $1 million federal grant to do the archival work.
"I had been talking with our AV archivist Matthew Wilcox over the last few years about these WKAR kinescope films and how he was really interested in getting them digitized. Before this, I had thought, well, great, but we just didn't have time," she explained.
"But this felt like the perfect time to do those, and then we started thinking about impact and all the different people we could connect with. And it just fell into place."
Before videotape, kinescope films would allow stations to preserve and share programs. The film itself is a recording of a monitor showing the action in a studio rather than filming in the studio itself.
"They were used to distribute programming to other stations which relieved, I think, some of the stress of having to create all your own programming. So, you would see some of these programs being distributed throughout Michigan or the region," she said.
She says a recent program that was being processed has already made an impact on their student workers.
"Our students were doing transcripts for them, and it was the Michigan congressional hearings around like McCarthy, you know, like communism and things in the community. And it was very specific about like the Lansing area because of the Capitol," she said.
"I think for them, it was a moment where they were experiencing something that had been read about in textbooks, historical lessons, but they were seeing it actually play out on a local level."
Mainville says her team expects to update the digital archive regularly with new programs as they're digitized.
Interview Highlights
On kinescope films
Kinescope films are 16 mm films that were recorded in the station. But rather than recording the action that's happening in the studio, it is pointed at a monitor that is showing the action in the studio, and you're recording it from the monitor. So, the resolution is usually not as good, but they were used to distribute programming to other stations which relieved, I think, some of the stress of having to create all your own programming. So, you would see some of these programs being distributed throughout Michigan or the region.
On the types of programs in this collection
A lot of them are MSU professors who are sharing their expertise with the community. So, you have a lot of programs around art and music and science, agriculture. We have people from rural communities and urban communities coming together and sharing what they do. We also see programming that's teaching people how to use new technology that's coming into the home. So air conditioning, home refrigeration, these types of things which we take for granted today at, you know, early 1950s were revolutionary.
On an interesting or surprising program
One that sticks out most recently is because our students were doing transcripts for them, and it was the Michigan congressional hearings around like McCarthy, you know, like communism and things in the community. And it was very specific about like the Lansing area because of the Capitol. And so, it was just, I think for them, it was a moment where they were experiencing something that had been read about in textbooks, historical lessons, but they were seeing it actually play out on a local level. And they were blown away by it.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: If you tuned into WKAR-TV in the early 1950s, you may have caught this program:
Ken Richards: There's been a great deal of discussion recently of the importance of elections, the importance, particularly .of this coming election. So today, we have asked to come here and be on our panel, three gentlemen from Michigan State College.
Saliby: That was from a program called "Why Vote?" with host Ken Richards. It's available to watch again as part of a Michigan State University Libraries' digitization project of a selection of early WKAR-TV films that aired in the mid-20th century. I talked to MSU Media Preservation Librarian Sarah Mainville about this archival work, and I started by asking her how this project began.
Sarah Mainville: Back in, I think, it was 2023 we were approached by someone within MSU who works with the federal government to see if we had a preservation project that might need funding. And the Interim Dean at the time, Terri Miller, approached me and asked, "Do you have any kind of media things that could potentially fit this?"
And I had been talking with our AV archivist Matthew Wilcox over the last few years about these WKAR kinescope films and how he was really interested in getting them digitized. Before this, I had thought, well, great, but we just didn't have time. But this felt like the perfect time to do those, and then we started thinking about impact and all the different people we could connect with. And it just fell into place.
Saliby: What is the breadth of these films that you're looking at, and what are kinescope films?
Mainville: So, kinescope films are 16 mm films that were recorded in the station. But rather than recording the action that's happening in the studio, it is pointed at a monitor that is showing the action in the studio, and you're recording it from the monitor. So, the resolution is usually not as good, but they were used to distribute programming to other stations which relieved, I think, some of the stress of having to create all your own programming.
So, you would see some of these programs being distributed throughout Michigan or the region. In terms of what these things are, a lot of them are MSU professors who are sharing their expertise with the community. So, you have a lot of programs around art and music and science, agriculture. We have people from rural communities and urban communities coming together and sharing what they do.
Archival Voiceover: Up ahead is Country Crossroads, where town and country folks meet each week.
Mainville: We also see programming that's teaching people how to use new technology that's coming into the home. So air conditioning, home refrigeration, these types of things which we take for granted today at, you know, early 1950s were revolutionary. And so, you have people who are like, this is how you freeze your meat. This is how you safely prepare a lunch. And so, we see a lot of those kind of educational pieces.
Saliby: We don't have too much time to get into the depth of it, but what is the process of digitizing these films?
Mainville: So, initially you have to pick which films, that seems like the easiest, but also the hardest, because you're not really sure what's on them. And then we have to inventory them, make sure that it has a unique identifier, so that we're not accidentally once it's digital, kind of confusing, which is which. We have to clean them. We have to ensure that they are okay to scan because sometimes the condition is such that if you were to try and digitize it, you might be damaging it forever. And so, we check to make sure that they're okay.
And then we have one of our team members who uses this new film scanner that we purchased to create the digital files, right? We have a preservation file, which is the highest resolution one we can have, and then we create two more files that are for different uses. So, if we have a documentary filmmaker or someone who wants to have, like a screening, maybe broadcast, we have this intermediary file, and then we have what we call the access file, which is what people would see if they go to the library's digital repository. And so, those are created.
We create any kind of information around them. We write descriptions on each of the episodes, so that people can easily find what they're looking for if they're like, "I want to know about chickens," they'll be able to find it. And so, we do all of those things, in addition to creating transcripts and captions for these.
Saliby: You've talked about some of these programs that you've digitized, is there one that kind of sticks out as the most interesting or surprising?
Mainville: So, the one that sticks out most recently is because our students were doing transcripts for them, and it was the Michigan congressional hearings around like McCarthy, you know, like communism and things in the community. And it was very specific about like the Lansing area because of the Capitol.
And so, it was just, I think for them, it was a moment where they were experiencing something that had been read about in textbooks, historical lessons, but they were seeing it actually play out on a local level. And they were blown away by it. And I really enjoyed just witnessing that. And so, I think there are a lot of those examples, but that is the freshest one.
Saliby: There's a selection already available at the website. Is that going to be updated continuously as more programs are digitized?
Mainville: I don't want to say every month, but the hope is that every month we are sending more to the repository, and as time permits, they'll be updated. So yes, there will be plenty more to come. So, check back.
Saliby: That was MSU Media Preservation Librarian Sarah Mainville. You can find the WKAR Early Television Films Collection at the MSU Libraries' website.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
