“The Story of Rubber” (c.1930s) is a silent, blackandwhite informational film about the United States Rubber Company ( now Uniroyal ) and the latex rubber production process beginning with the clearing and planting of latex trees, production and export, as well as the lives of the plantation workers referred to as “coolies.” Charles Goodyear’s invention of vulcanization in 1839 significantly widened the market for rubber goods. The market continued to expand over the course of the 19th and 20th century with the popularization of the bicycle and the arrival of the automobile. As the rubber market expanded, the production economy shifted from Brazil to Southeast Asia, where the plantation model flourished and rubber was traded as a global commodity.

Map Southeast Asia: India, Siam, French Indochina, Philippines, Java; Closeup Sumatra Island (0:08). Men use machetes in jungle clearing away large and small trees (0:42 1:17). Planting: Rows of plant beds; Workers lay dry grass across bed to protect seeds from sun (1:47). Bud grafting process: Young man crouching among young trees applied paraffinsoaked bandage (2:46). Man uses sharp tool to girdle young trees and chop off their leafy tops (3:58). Trees now growing taller, stock of old trees sawed off and exposed surface covered with hot paraffin wax (4:41). Same field with four years of growth (5:24). Man comes with special stand to measure tree for tapping size, mark tree trunk for tapping spot, mark deepened until latex vessels in trunk’s core are reached (5:33). Young man referred to as a “coolie” carries baskets on hips, begins process of tapping trees: scrapes tree bark in a diagonal direction, revealing white sap “latex”; Closeup of white sap dripping into small cup; Returns later in day to collect drippings (6:44). Group of coolies carrying collection tins emerge from the forest and make their way to estate collecting station (8:51). Man pounds mallet on hollow log calling coolies for lunch break (9:31). Outdoor canteen: Male, female workers, children lineup with bowls in hand (9:47). Coolie brings tin to weighing station before emptying latex into storage tank; Aerial view of vat filled with white latex substance (9:56). Latex transferred to tank car below before traveling by company’s narrow gauge railway to factory; Shot of narrow gauge steam locomotive trailed by storage cisterns (10:36). Central factory grounds Sumatra plantations of United States Rubber Company (11:21). Camera pans factory grounds and “Sprayed Rubber” plants (12:04). Train tank cars weighed before pipes drain latex, transfer it to storage tanks (12:34). Animated diagram of Hopkinson Spray Process (13:3415:24). Tray of sprayed rubber pulled out from spraying chamber (15:26). Factory workers load rubber onto cart to be moved to baling room for compressing; Rubber loaded into hydraulic presses manually by factory workers and pressed into bale (16:08). Factory workers role completed rubber bales out of factory to awaiting box cars, load bales onto box cars for shipping to Belawan Port (17:12). United States Rubber Company warehouse at Belawan Docks; Cranes load rubber bales onto ship headed for New York (17:42). Company imports latex into America with product shipped from Port Swettenham, British Malaya man in white suit oversees dockworkers; Ferry boats with “United States Rubber Plantations” written on side float in harbor; View of bow of ship with “Silvereim London” written below (17:59). Before and after: Temporary quarters (tin roof, grass hut) for coolies as new plantation is being built and more permanent structures resembling gated community/ compound (18:44). Local holiday celebrations “Makan Besar”: coolies sit on ground at long communal tarp, share food (19:22). Mothers bathe children at outdoor communal bath (19:39). Paid entertainers visit plantation workers: Malay dancers; Man in white outfit poses with rifle and tiger, elephant (19:52). Wild monkeys in Kisaran (20:20). Company hospital: Two 1930sera ambulances parked in front, workers from all provinces arrive at hospital on small train for health inspection; Workers line up for quick inspections, blood drawn, castor oil supplement; Children squat on ground waiting for check up (20:38). Berastagi Mountain Resort: Camera pans lush forest, mountainous landscape, film ends (22:50).

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com