The Phillips House Film Collection comprises 193¹ reels of 16mm film that have been transferred to 29 DVD's. All are silent and of the 193 reels, 37 are in color. Much of the color film has turned magenta with a few exceptions. The dates span from 1925 to the 1940s with a total running time of 22.75 hours. The film is divided between three collections: the Stephen Phillips (1907-1971) Film Collection; the James Duncan Phillips (1876-1954) Film Collection and the Professional Film Collection.

The Stephen Phillips (1907-1971) Film Collection
The Stephen Phillips Film Collection is made up of 50 reels transferred to DVDs #1-6. The dates span from circa 1928 to 1938. Of the 50 reels, 9 are in color, turned magenta. The running time is 4.52 hours.

The collection contains some particularly intimate scenes with family and friends. Examples include a rare glimpse into family life at 34 Chestnut Street with Stephen, his father, and mother in the library (AF27); brief, but telling footage of his father (AF19) and mother (AF23, AF34, and AF49); and family and friends vacationing at Lake Sunapee (AF28). Other footage includes Stephen, himself (AF12, AF25, AF32, AF33, AF42, and AF44).

Worthy of note is the film from Stephen's time at Saranac Lake in the 1930s when he suffered from tuberculosis (TB). In 1884, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau opened the first sanitarium and by the early 1900s, Saranac Lake became known as a popular health resort for the wealthy and a place of pioneering research and treatment of the disease. TB patients came to Saranac Lake to recover through a program of fresh air (away from the crowded, polluted, industrial city), rest and exercise. When Stephen went to Saranac Lake in the 1930's, he stayed in one of the many "cure cottages" where doctors prescribed sleeping on the porch as part of the treatment. Scenic views of the Saranac area are in AF25 and AF44-46, but AF44 includes footage of an art class, presumably at a sanitarium. Apart from the daily rest and exercise that was required of patients, it was also common for them to take classes. (In fact, Stephen met his future wife, Betty Wright, at the sanitarium; she was his math tutor.) In 1936, the Study and Craft Guild formed to offer patients classes as "recreational therapy." See related materials in the Stephen Phillips archival collection at the Phillips House, Salem, MA.

Considering Stephen's ill health, there are a remarkable quantity of recreational movies - hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, skiing, and travel. He traveled relatively frequently to New Hampshire and Maine, but also made three significant journeys that are captured in film - a trip to the Western United States in 1929 (AF5-7) and two trips to Europe in 1929-1930 and 1931-1932 (AF11-16 and AF21-23, respectively).

Two reels in the collection might interest students in domestic history: 1) brief footage of the back yard at 34 Chestnut Street (AF2) showing the utilitarian nature of the rear of the house and an unidentified woman, possibly one of the domestic staff c 1928 and 2) an unidentified kitchen (AF31) with domestic staff using an early, mechanical dishwasher between 1935-1937.

Other highlights include glimpses of undergraduate life at Harvard with football games, Harvard Class Day, and shots of Harvard Yard (AF1, AF2, and AF4), dog races at Lake Placid (AF36), ice cutting (probably) at Saranac Lake (AF26), and the Ice Carnival (probably) at Saranac Lake (AF43).

The James Duncan Phillips (1876-1954) Film Collection
The James Duncan Phillips Film Collection is made up of 125 reels transferred to DVDs #6-26. The dates span from 1925 to the early to mid-1940s. Of the 125 reels, 28 are in color, many turned magenta, but a few with very good color. The running time is 16.44 hours.

Worthy of note is the extensive footage of James Duncan and his wife Nannie's on their Africa trip from Cape Town to Cairo (AF99-128). This trip alone is made up of 30 reels and almost 4 ½ hours of footage. Some of the inter-titles are hand-illustrated (by Nannie?). Other travels include England and Wales in 1925 (AF52-54), two trips to Europe/the Mediterranean in 1927 and 1929 (AF61, AF63-69 and AF88-96)², a trip out to the western United States in 1928 (AF73), and a trip from Florida to Texas in 1931 (AF130-132). Some of the travel includes "the Sparrow Crusade," a self-described group of travelers made up of James Duncan Phillips, his wife Nannie, Ellen Laight, Helen C. Fine, and Katherine F. Wellman. Of particular note is AF61 entitled, "The Sparrow Crusade Sailing" with its hand-made inter-titles and illustrations.

For those interested in the history of ocean liner travel, leisure activities are depicted aboard the S.S. Adriatic (of the White Star fleet, later the Cunard-White Star, Limited line) in 1927 (AF61) and the S.S. Carinthia (of the Cunard line) in 1929(AF88).

Other smaller trips include the following: Lake Placid, NY in 1929 (AF79-80); scenes from the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, a military academy founded in 1868, featuring an African American military band (AF74); footage from West Point, NY in 1931 (AF129); horse and dog races at Kellogg House³ in California in 1936-1937(AF149); Huntington and Bakersfield, CA in 1937 (AF152); Nannie and Duncan's film of Yosemite, CA, spliced with Burton Holmes film (AF181), and Cape Breton, Canada in the early 1930s (AF137).

Most of the last 20 reels (AF157-178) are color and taken in Florida in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They include the Lake Placid Club (in Florida) and wildlife focusing mainly on birds.

Other highlights include footage of "Donibristle," Duncan and Nannie's home in Topsfield, MA (AF139, AF147, AF148, AF150 and AF151, to name a few). Particularly entertaining is a dramatic production of a house robbery at Donibristle (AF57). Local events include: Chestnut Street Days, Salem in 1926 and 1939 (AF59 and AF156 - but AF156 appears to be too damaged to be useful); the Topsfield Fair circa 1926-1927 (AF77-78); a parade in Salem - during Chestnut Street Days? (AF85); and a costumed re-enactment of the voyage of the Arbella with scenes of Pioneer Village in the summer of 1930 (AF98).

A few weddings and wedding parties were filmed: Elizabeth Wells' wedding in South Africa on October 18, 1930 (AF102); J. Freeman's wedding in 1932 (AF136); Harriet Adam's wedding on June 23, 1934 (AF144); "Barry's wedding" at West Point in 1935 (AF145); and "David's wedding" and "Huntington wedding" circa 1925-1926 (AF146).

The Professional Film Collection
The Professional Film Collection is made up of 18 reels transferred to DVD's #27-29. The dates span from the 1920s to the 1930s. The reels are all silent and black and white. The running time is 1.79 hours.

Most of this collection consists of travel film, news events and natural history. It appears most of these reels belonged to James Duncan Phillips. They were a medium made popular in the 1920s and 30s and as such sold to a general audience to be shown in the home.