"Blasting Caps" (1956) - Cautionary Documentary Short Made by the Institute of Makers of Explosives

[DonRocks]

When I was a pre-teen, I got a new, bright orange, Schwinn Chopper: 

which, despite dating me, remains the coolest bicycle I've ever had. Like a good boy, I went up to the Glenmont Police Station and registered the bike (I had it set in my mind that you were absolutely required to do this), and noticed on the precinct bulletin board a warning sign about Blasting Caps, something which I'd never heard of before and knew nothing about.

Sure enough, the next day, I noticed some "Blasting Caps" in our driveway, and scared the crap of my mom, who called 911. The police arrived, and 10-year-old me explained to them what I had found in the driveway (a wire that had fallen from our car, no doubt).

Anyway, I just stumbled upon this 1956 documentary short film produced by the "Institute of Makers of Explosives" about "Blasting Caps." It's a somewhat interesting 50s-America educational short, warning people about Blasting Caps, and no doubt inspiring other well-meaning pre-teens to call 911 and report fallen car parts in their driveways to the police.

"Blasting Cap Danger" by the Institute of Makes of Explosives on archive.org

As an aside, the film implies that there were *no* female commercial airline pilots in the United States in 1956 (this is implied in the first five minutes). People think we're such an advanced species; we're nothing but a bunch of primitives (I won't even mention that this was just two years after the Brown v. Board of Education case).