Robert M. Berdahl

2015.011.023 http://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/archive/703BF3E5-C7DA-41E4-B4FD-547595272770 Color 16mm film reel containing the documentary "Great Lakes Adventure," produced by Detroit Public Schools and the Ford Motor Company. The film chronicles a trip aboard the Ford Motor Company freighter as it voyages from the River Rouge Factory Complex to Duluth, Minnesota and back with a load of iron ore. A narrator provides a voice over throughout the film. The film begins with a title sequence showing the ship's equipment and inner workings. Afterward the film introduces the job titles of the crew--the captain, first mate, second mate, third mate, helmsmen, watchman, deck hands, engineers, oilers and wipers, and galley staff. The story of the freighter's trip begins with cranes being used to unload iron ore from the FORD at the Rouge Docks. The freighter departs, using its bow thruster, into the Rouge River, where it beneath the West Jefferson Avenue–Rouge River Bridge and past the foreign cement carrier JADRO and Gartland Steamship Company freighter NICOLET. In the Detroit River, the FORD Receives mail from the U.S. Mail boat J.W. WESTCOTT II beneath the Ambassador Bridge. The camera also captures a pan along the Windsor riverfront. The film then discusses maintenance work which is performed by the ship's crew. The sailors are shown cleaning the deck, changing bulbs, and repainting hatch covers. The film then captures the procedures for the freighter to pass through the Soo Locks' MacArthur Lock, including a crew member swinging ashore to secure the mooring ties. In the next segment, meal preparation, and meal time, and a life boat drill are shown. The freighter is then shown arriving in Duluth, Minnesota, where it load at the ore docks. Afterward, the narrator describes the shifts of the crew members, and they are shown working at night or relaxing. The film ends with the freighter passing beneath the Blue Water Bridge, and arriving in Detroit at night. The film is on a metal 12" Tayloreel Corporation reel within a grey metal canister, which in turn in inside of an olive film reel shipping carton. The carton has a shipping label from One to One of Detroit, Michigan addressed to Corporate Identity at Ford Motor Company. Handwritten notes on the label add, "Ford Film" and "Dossin Museum Copy." The box is postmarked June 27, 1969. "18089" is handwritten on the side of the carton.

• published: 09 Jun 2016
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