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"Cavalcade of America" television commercials on film

Creation: 1952-1957
 Collection
Accession: 2005-254

Abstract

The Cavalcade of America television show was an anthology drama which aired on NBC from 1952 to 1953 and ABC from 1953 to 1957. The show was adapted from a radio show of the same name sponsored by the DuPont Company, a chemical company, which began as a manufacturer of gunpowder in 1802.This collections consists of two reels of television commercials for various DuPont products. The commercials feature various spokesmen talking about or demonstrating the products. One commercial features DuPont Company president Crawford Greenewalt.

Dates

  • Creation: 1952-1957

Creator

Extent

2 item(s)

General Physical Description

2 reels (800) : sd., b&w ; 16 mm. TRT 00:46:00.

Historical Note

The Cavalcade of America television show was an anthology drama which aired on NBC from 1952 to 1953 and ABC from 1953 to 1957. The show was adapted from a radio show of the same name sponsored by the DuPont Company, a chemical company, which began as a manufacturer of gunpowder in 1802. The DuPont Company created the Cavalcade of America as a promotional tool. The program dramatized historical events focusing on individual stories of heroism, and occasionally presented a musical performance. The stories were presented as uplifting and emphasized human achievements, progress and technological innovations.

The television show and the radio show overlapped for six months in 1952 and then the radio show went off the air. The episodes aired every other week for the first season and weekly for the following seasons. There were 133 episodes which aired over five seasons. Wilhelm Thiele directed the most episodes, other directors include Robert Stevenson, Laslo Benedek, Jules Bricken, Alvin Ganzer, Charles Bennett and many more.

The show changed it's name to the DuPont Cavalcade Theater in 1955, and in it's final year was known as DuPont Theater. The show was replaced by The DuPont Show of the Month.

Scope and Content

This collections consists of two reels of television commercials for various DuPont products. The commercials feature various spokesmen talking about or demonstrating the products. One commercial features DuPont Company president Crawford Greenewalt.

Reel 1 contains: Agricultural chemicals; Chemical Progress Week (talk by Crawford Greenewalt); Explosives (shaped charges); Deep freeze suit (thermal wear); Encouraging science education; and Teflon. This film has been digitized [ID: FILM_2005254_FC01_01 - FILM_2005254_FC01_06].

Reel 2 contains: Nylon plant in Seaford, Delaware; Freon; High-speed motion picture film and silk screening film; Nylon plastic; DuPont products for the home; Neoprene; and Cellophane. This film has been digitized [ID: FILM_2005254_FC02_01 - FILM_2005254_FC02_07].

Existence and Location of Copies

View this collection online in the Hagley Digital Archives.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Cavalcade of America television commercials on film
Date:
2015
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400