A Few Old People Talk

A piece created by Communications for Change's Documenting Social History Project. Numerous older people speak about their lives to various younger interviewers in hopes to bridge the communication gap from generation to generation.

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00:00Copy video clip URL This tape begins with a blue screen.

00:49Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a German woman who talks about her family’s dislocation due to the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe during WWII. She explains that nearly 1300 households were gathered up and ushered towards the city of Vienna, Italy. They eventually ended up in Austria. Many of those displaced had no idea where they were moving to. Once in Austria, many of the families experienced negativity from the natives because of their coming from Nazi Germany.

04:13Copy video clip URL An older man begins to talk about a protest he had been involved in. Numerous protesters and servicemen were shot during the event. This lasts for several minutes.

08:50Copy video clip URL An older man talks about working as a jazz musician in his younger days. He first begins to talk about a show in which he played with a unknown Nat King Cole. He goes onto talk about some of the local clubs and groups of musicians he played with. He also talks about the money struggles he encountered due to his being a relatively young player on the scene. The man states that he would sometimes have to wait for six or seven hours after playing the show to get paid.

11:38Copy video clip URL Minnie Gidanski, famous actress of the Yiddish theatre and radio. Gidanski talks about how she came to become involved in Yiddish theater. She also performs an excerpt from a piece called “The Little Angel.” She was a part of the production as a child.

15:47Copy video clip URL Break in footage.

16:43Copy video clip URL Cut to footage from a pool hall in Chicago. An older man talks in voiceover about the Billiard Room, an pool hall in his neighborhood. He talks about the much needed diversity at billiard rooms and how that diversity adds to its character. He also talks about the need for numerous types of pool games at pool halls. He goes on to make a few comments on the popularity of pool playing and cites television as the best way to propel the game out into public view. As the man continues to answer the videomaker’s questions, we watch as the pool hall patrons play through a number of various games.

20:09Copy video clip URL The man explains the game of Snooker in a continuation of the voiceover as two men face off against one another. The man does a little commentating as well. This lasts for a good portion of the tape.

33:09Copy video clip URL Tape ends.