8mm Forum: Sears 1970 8mm Film Catalog

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Posted by Rich Malmsten (Member # 5787) on December 15, 2017, 04:19 PM:

I recently was reading through a 1970 Sears catalog of 8mm home movies they sold. It has 32 pages, 8.5"x11", filled with Castle, Disney, Columbia, Blackhawk, and other films. I found a couple interesting things in it that I thought I'd share.

First, Sears was selling everything through Blackhawk Films, because all the films were postpaid from Davenport, IA, home of one of our favorite film companies. I have some Blackhawk catalogs from the mid-70's with Castle and Disney films listed in them, so Blackhawk must have had some kind of distribution agreement to sell other companies' movies.

Second, a fair number of the films were available in magnetic sound, but only Regular 8mm. No Super-8 sound at all. What's odd is that Castle listed several of the same titles with Super-8 sound in their catalog from a year or two earlier, so they Super-8 sound versions existed, they were just not available from Sears.

Third, each entry in the catalog lists the footage, and the Reg-8 films are always 25 - 50 feet shorter than the Super-8 versions.

For example: "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein": Reg-8 = 150 feet, Super-8 = 175 feet.

Another example: "Laurel and Hardy Murder Case": Reg-8 = 350 feet, Super-8 = 400 ft.

It stumps me why the different the 8mm gauges would have different lengths. That doesn't make any sense to me. Anyone able to explain this one?

I enjoy reading through vintage catalogs and seeing what was available in different years and how much films cost. (The prices may seem low in today's dollars, but when adjusted for inflation, those prices were VERY expensive.)

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on December 15, 2017, 05:53 PM:

1965 - Super 8 Sound was introduced through Castle, some but not all subjects were made available - Going through a 1965/1966 catalog now - Super 8 was not readily available through Sears, only direct from Castle - This changed by 1972, as I was picking up S8Sound editions from there and Two-Guys (such were the days) - As to the approximate running lengths, 200' is the shape of the reel, the actual footage is just that, approximate 165' to near 190' - Seldom full - L&H Murder Case, they must have been offering a condensed 400' reel, because it is a 3-reeler - That's a puzzlement for me also - Show pictures if you can, of the Sears catalog depicting films for sale - Thanks, Shorty

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on December 16, 2017, 03:09 AM:

Of course standard 8 had more frames to the foot, so for the dame running time they would be shorter in footage than the Super 8 equivalent.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on December 16, 2017, 04:01 AM:

The height of a standard 8 frame is 3.3mm.
The height of a Super 8 frame is 4.01mm.

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