[Ernest G. Stillman--home movies] Reel 007

Datecirca 1930

Can DescriptionsCan notes as follows; reel numbers are donor-assigned. Reel 7: 1947 fire starts. Bar Harbor Fire, MDI.

Viewing Notesb&w Intertitle: "Fishing for the sacred cod in Maine" Intertitle: "Baiting traul" Some deterioration in title and footage that follows CU man's torso, hands, line being baited into barrel. Intertitle: "Setting traul" [long line fishing] From another boat, view of man in hat, stands in open boat, puts line overboard using fid (stick) He wears gloves. In left hand he holds small ships wheel for steering. Intertitle: "Hauling traul" [sic] Boat numbered B295 on starboard bow. Windy, small triangular sail for stability. View from another boat, man throws skates back in water. He hauls up many skates. Intertitle: "Lobsters are occasionally hooked" from a distance hard to tell it's a lobster. Footage from another outing with different man in open boat pulling up line. He is very suntanned, wears a hat, same boat as in Reel (6)? Nice view of boat. Intertitle:"The large ones are gaffed" Man looks at camera, pulls up two fish, the second one with gaff (stick with hook on the end). He pulls in many fish. From a distance he removes skate by bashing it against side of boat. He keeps pulling in fish. Many baskets in the stern of his boat. This is lovely footage. Cut, then a little closer, he leans over and gets something like a large stingray, lets it go. He is smoking a pipe, keeps hauling up fish. Reflection in water. He unhooks the fish easily with a wrist movement. Barrel float at the end of the line. The containers on his deck are baskets. He walks to the stern, has his line in a coil. Moves basket. (02:49 to 07:12 sequence) Intertitle: "Unloading cod, haddock, and hake" View from above of open boat with canvas over the hold full of fish. Man uses a gaff to fill barrel, which is hauled up along pilings to dock. This is another outing as this man is not wearing plaid shirt and it's a different boat with newer paint job. View from water shows boat is very low in water. View from above, man spearing fish with two-handled gaff to load barrel. Then the film is run backwards for effect of fish being reloaded into boat. Intertitle: "Sorting and weighing the catch" Backlit shot from inside fish house, unloading barrel, two people pitching catch into crates. Slow motion fish flying through air. View of fish on floor, man stoops to put fish in basket. Intertitle: "Gutting fish on the keelers" Blurry views of fish being heaved into large crate, large barrel of water, fish being heaved out of barrel by two men. (this is washing fish after gutting them?) Men in gloves with knives cutting fish. Because it is dark the clarity is not great. See mostly arms reaching into fish, pile of fish. Man lifts fish with gaff into cart. Intertitle: "Scare gulls" Dead birds hung from lines, moving gently in wind. Intertitle: "Salted fish drying on the flakes" Long wooden tables with open salted fish drying in the sun. House in background. Laundry in wind. Several men in overalls tend to drying fish, turning them. Man wears gloves. Dirt at top of frame. Man turns to look and smile at camera. Intertitle: "Dried cod fish" Stacks of dry fish tied with rope. Brief shot. Intertitle: "Loading dried cod fish" Schooner at dock, man above dropping cod down to man below in overalls. Stacking fish like wood. Excellent views. The fish is shoulder height on the right. CU man picking up cod from ground by cart, throwing it. His coverups are torn at the leg. Intertitle: "Eating the finished product" Woman at table mashes codfish balls with her fork. Intertitle: "Cod liver oil in the making" Wooden barrels of cod livers, a slurry. Greasy-looking barrel exterior. CU inside barrel. Long line of barrels. Man with scoop pours dark fluid down an informal trough of bent metal.

Creator

• Ernest G. Stillman

• Ernest G. Stillman