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Home » Media » This is Progressive Rutherford County
Sight & Sound

This is Progressive Rutherford County

Discovery

Front cover of DVD case with title reading "Progressive Rutherford County" over photo of woman at work in cotton mill.
Portion of a DVD case cover.

The old film might have remained forgotten but someone ran across an account of it in a 1948 news story. When Robin Lattimore, president of the Rutherford County Historical Society, Phillip White and other members read the story, the chase was on.

Did a print of the film exist? Who might have it? They found that indeed one did exist, in the possession of a member of the Littman family, owners of the Sylvan Theater in Rutherfordton.

The 35mm film, on two big reels, was donated to the society, but there was no way to view the film locally. (Theaters no longer use film projectors, they’ve switched to digital.) Long story short, it became a major project. The society spent several thousand dollars to have the film digitized, and to recoup the expense, had DVDs made for sale. Now the Rutherford society has allowed us to put the film on YouTube (and here) for everyone to enjoy.

The film must have been commissioned by merchant groups, for there are short “commercials” for many of the stores and businesses in the larger towns. Oddly, no mention was made of any in the lower end of the county.

You will likely marvel at how things have changed since 1948. Consider this: Everything you will see in the film was made right here in America.

View the Film

 

1948 News Articles

Clipping from Asheville Citizen-Times
 

Article from Forest City Courier
  • Asheville Citizen-Times
    Oct. 17, 1948
  • Forest City Courier
    Nov. 18, 1948

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Video
  • An Evening With Ben Humphries
  • The Cliffside Films 1937-1940
    • About the Films
    • The 1937 Film
    • The 1940 Film
    • The Players (Stars of the shows)
  • This is Progressive Rutherford County
  • Henrietta-Caroleen-Avondale School Kids
  • Fading Fabrics
  • Drawing the Pond
  • Farewell to the Old Cliffside Mill
  • Rededicating the Town Clock
  • Cliffside Mills Closes Forever
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