Fire and Police Service (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #517 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This vocational guidance film from the 30s goes over careers in firefighting and police work. The first half goes over how firefighters are trained, while the second half talks about the different kinds of police work available, such as walking a beat, traffic control, criminal investigation, and crime prevention (this last being touted as something that requires “policewomen as well as men”). This is all pretty straightforward, but it does give you an interesting snapshot of how police officers and firefighters were trained back in the 30s.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.