Looking for a video- One Hoe for Kalabo

[dalmatiangirl61]

Friend asked me about this video a few weeks ago, he remembers seeing it as a child, yet cannot find it anywhere.

Google shows lots of hits for the title, and let me know that the film was produced in in 1959 by the National Machine Tool Builders Association, but I'm not finding the film itself. Does anyone know where, or even if this film is available, in any format?

[dalmatiangirl61]

I've never seen this film, but here is the basic synopsis as related to me from a man who saw it in the 60's/70's.

It starts out in the mythical? town/country of Kalabo with natives diving in the river pulling up red colored clay/stones, these are loaded into furnace shaped like a skull/head, the "eyes" of the furnace are used to look into the furnace, and large bellows are pumped by hand till the charge is ready to pour. When they tap the mouth of the head shaped furnace the molten iron pours out and is fashioned into a hoe. From there the film goes into the modern steel mills of America and how we mass produce hoes, plows etc.

[dalmatiangirl61]

Still looking for this film.

[David Hughes]

Believe I have "heard" this mentioned on the blacksmith forum anvilfire.com. The discussion at the time was how they constructed a forge out of, basically, dirt, and how they were able to create a product. This kind of forging dates back to the oldest days. Try posting there or searching the records

[I like oldstuff]

I know I've seen this vid and the enormous amount of work to accomplish the end glob result. I searched the web for an hour for it to no avail. Sorry Dal.

[Thaumaturge]

Hey Dal, I'd give a try at archive.org. They have quite a few industrial training / propaganda films.
Doc

[mcostello]

I have seen it also, just don't know where. Could search old African iron furnace or similar.

[CharlieA-UK]

Hello Dalmation Girl

Kalabo's a real place in Barotseland, Zambia. In what was Northern Rhodesia at the time the film was made.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalabo

I remember being shown the film as a kid. It stood out among the 8mm 'home movie' clips my parents had taken 15 years earlier when my father was in the British colonial service.

He (Murray Armor) was the District Commissioner for the Kalabo district in the late 50's.

A few people have been interested in the film over the years. I remember Dad telling the story of how a note was sent to all the District Commissioner's offices asking if they knew of anyone in their district who still smelted iron. An American film director Reid H Ray wanted to make a documentary showing how the earliest ireon was made. Dad asked around and found a few old boys who still knew how it was done.

http://placeography.org/index.php/Re...nesota_(Razed)

All sorts of complications arose but you get the idea - in due course the Reid H Ray flew out Kalabo with whatever crew was necessary and they made a short film.

Around forty years later an American academic, Professor Eugenia Herbert, got to know by parents as part of her research and became a great family friend in the process. I think the film is mentioned in two of her books.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Iron-Gender...dp/0253208335/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Za...dp/031229431X/

I'm up at Mum's for Christmas and have just had a look for the original 8mm film but I think it's been lost. However I have come across a VHS tape copy. Unfortunately handwritten says "vertical hold problem" so I'm not sure what thr quality is like.

If I can get the VHS transferred to a modern format I'll upload a copy to YouTube for you.

It may take ma a coule of weeks.


Charlie Armor

[JoeCB]

Thank you Charlie, I very interesting story, in deed. I, and many others I'm sure would love to see the video.

Best Regards,

Merry Christmas

Joe B

[dalmatiangirl61]

Thank you Charlie, hope the transfer works!

[I like oldstuff]

Maybe something like this one making a hoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuCnZClWwpQ

[Pete Spaco]

Yup, Ilikeoldstuff. That's the one I'd have pointed someone to.

We also have a group who does that sort of thing from time to time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493AsqZ4P54

Just to be clear, we are going for WROUGHT iron, not CAST iron. So the liquid you see pouring out of the furnace is the slag, not the end product.

Pete Stanaitis
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[CharlieA-UK]

Hi Dalmation Girl

VHS transfer has been done and the resulting clip uploaded to YouTube.

https://youtu.be/uu5YD7KG3GE

Hope it's of interest.


Charlie

[dalmatiangirl61]

Thank you Charlie! Not as vivid as friend described it, or maybe my imagination embellished his description? Sending an email to friend letting him him know it is now available, thanks so much!