The Kresge Foundation

Detroit: Today and Tomorrow - Kresge Foundation and the S.S. Kresge Company (1957)

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• published: 08 Jul 2016
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2015.011.033 Color 16mm film containing an installment of the Detroit Tomorrow Committee's series "Detroit: Today and Tomorrow," focusing on the Kresge Foundation's projects, as well as the S.S. Kresge Company, the "world's second largest chain of variety stores." The Methodist Children's Village in Redford is the first of the Kresge Foundation's projects which are detailed in the video. It provides housing for children thanks to grants from the Kresge Foundation. The film's focus then turns to the University of Michigan's Kresge Medical Research Building. The camera rolls on the building's doctors, patients, technicians, and researchers, and the narrator provides a list of subject matters explored in the building, "arthritis, physiological acoustics, the central nervous system, surgery, cancer, intestinal diseases, serology, dermatology, hypertension, and allergy." Next is the Kresge Eye Institute. Here, in partnership with the Wayne State University College of Medicine and Detroit Receving Hospital research and surgery are performed. The film features a study of the relationship between the eyes and the brain in school children, and electroretinography. The film then details Wayne State University's Kresge Science Library, which houses the Hooker Collection of scientific books and papers. The film discusses the value of the library to students and professionals, and show's the library's stacks, card catalog, a librarian's desk, the microfilm collection. Afterward the film covers two of the studies undertaken at the Wayne State College of Medicine thanks to grants from the Kresge Foundational. The detailed projects involve the use of animal testing to investigate strokes and concussions. The film then turns toward the S.S. Kresge Company. It begins providing an brief overview of the stores' offering and its history from the first store on Woodward Avenue in 1899 to its growth as a national chain. Shots of people shopping in various departments are included. The film then focuses on the S. S. Kresge World Headquarters building at 2727 Second Avenue. Founder Sebastian S. Kresge and President F.P. Williams are shown in a meeting. The Construction Department is also highlighted, where architects and draftsmen plan the design and construction of the chain's location. This is followed by shots of various Kresge locations. The film then features the accounting department who utilize electronic business machines. The buying department is also covered. Displays of china and toys are shown to illustration the department's selection process. The film then turns to the level of the individual stores. The role of the store manager is covered. The film discusses their relationship to the buying department, the common promotion path for managers, and the availability of weekly classes for the store's sales people. Next, the Mt. Clemens Pottery Company, a pottery manufacturing plant owned by Kresge, is featured. Here craftspeople are shown using a combination of mass production and hand techniques to manufacture dinnerware for the chain. The film then covers the Kresge food counters, and the home office's experimental kitchen. In the headquarters' kitchen a company dietitian plans the meals to be sold at the stores' counters. The film ends with an overview of the store's operations. In addition to reiterating some of the themes previously discussed, it also places an emphasis on the availability of wrapping and boxing in stores, as well as the check-out counters available in self-service neighborhood stores.