Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

116 Visual Education A RARELY ARTISTIC POSTER To impress the beauties of Chicago upon the average citizen is the purpose of the new poster series that forms one of the important divisions of the "visual advertising" program of Chicago's Elevated Lines. far as to instruct our foremen not to keep a laborer who was neither able to read and write English nor willing to attend the classes. This order had a very salutary effect on attendance. Later, however, as the work progressed and the men learned more of the language, this compulsion feature was abandoned. "The Roberts System of English for Foreigners was the basis of our work in English, and during the course of the work we screened several times 'The Making of an American' — a film which visualizes the work of English classes conducted at the Ford plant, the graduation exercises of the citizenship class, and types of the many different nationalities employed in the Ford works. I have found this film exceedingly useful as an interest-getter in starting 'Learn-English' campaigns in factories. It gives the men a definite idea of what you are going to do, arouses enthusiasm, and stimulates ambi tion to qualify for American citizenship." Screen Lessons in Health and Sanitation A man may not be able to read English, but he can always read pictures, and for that reason the North Shore Line made liberal use of movies and slides throughout the Americanization work. "Flealth and sanitation films were particularly popular," said Mr. Goodsell. "I recall one film — 'Milk as Food' — which did a very fine service for us in driving home the importance of milk in the diet to our men, many of whom were working in little isolated groups along the right of way, doing their own cooking, and often buying their food materials on a very extravagant and inefficient basis. There was another movie, emphasizing the importance of a pure water supply, which taught the men that when they sought a drink of water at some strange farm it was a good practice to look the place over and see whether the drainage was into the well or away from it. We could get over such a lesson with the screen, where we could never have done it with these foreigners in any other way." A film on Yellowstone Park, explained Mr. Goodsell, was preceded by a short, simply worded blackboard talk explaining how our earth was formed and how it happens that hot springs are possible today. "In this way," he continued, "the men were enabled to grasp the idea of our earth's molten interior and were prepared for the strange sight of seeing the ground spurt forth gushing fountains of steaming water. At different times there were films and slides on Columbus, Lincoln, Washington and other national heroes ; on the capital city of America; on safety devices of various kinds; on the menace of flies and mosquitoes ; on the fundamentals of personal hygiene and home sanitation, and like subjects. At one time we showed a picture entitled 'Dry Your Food Supply,' which suggested to many of the section men who had little vege table patches of their own a way to take care of their surplus garden products by drying." The "Hobos" and Their Movie Committee i Another side of the movie work affected the large construction gangs, composed mainly of hobos — politely termed "floating labor" — the type of men who go to work during the summer and "stay put" only until they can no longer endure the unaccustomed grind of a regular routine, when they move on again, bound for Chicago and the bright lights that will absorb their meager earnings. These men asked for camp movies, and accordingly arrangements were made to give one show every week. They were permitted to appoint their own movie committee, which selected the pictures for each program. "On one occasion," reminisced the Educational Director, "this committee ordered 'The Little Boy That Once Was He.' It told the by the ELEVATED LINES THE PICTURE CARRIES THE MESSAGE It is good psychology, declares the advertising manager of the road, to let the picture tell the whole story and "not clutter up the message with reading matter."