[Becster]

I was telling DH last night that what I would really like for my birthday is to get my mom's old 16mm home movies transferred to DVD. I've had them here in the closet, in the same bag that came from her house when she passed away in 1993. I can remember watching them as a child and just loving them so much. I remember the agony of those horrid bright spotlights that greeted me on Christmas mornings as I stumbled out into the living room to look under the tree. *g*

I was so afraid they'd be too brittle to work with, but this morning I summoned up the courage to see what was in the bag. Not only are the not brittle, they're in what seems to be near excellent condition! I sat down to experiment with my negative scanner, and was able to retrieve dozens of "snaps" of the old film. While a little blurry, and not all are "clean" (dust, etc), I've spent over 5 hours looking at my childhood. There's even footage from my grandparents' 50th anniversary in 1959.

Also?

- me at almost 3
- my first 2 wheel bike
- the horrid silver Christmas tree I hated so much, LOL
- and so much more. I can't wait to play with some of the images and see if PSE 9 can help them along.


And in the very bottom of the bag was the camera, in its original box.

[Sara Arell]

That is wonderful, Becky! I'm so happy that your memories were all preserved for you so nicely! What a pleasant surprise with such a happy ending! Have fun making the memories come to life again!

[Sara Arell]

Oh, and I remember that my Mom had one of those horrid silver Christmas trees one year for Christmas too - it was THE thing to have that year and she thought it beautiful - it didn't seem very Christmasy to me at all.....LOL

[Becster]

That same reel of film also shows the small live tree they bought after I pitched a fit. *g* I was in 3rd grade! The silver tree had all green ornaments, and the color wheel that rotated to change the colors of the branches!

[Sara Arell]

Becster, on 05 August 2011 - 03:38 PM, said:

That same reel of film also shows the small live tree they bought after I pitched a fit. *g* I was in 3rd grade! The silver tree had all green ornaments, and the color wheel that rotated to change the colors of the branches!

OMG - Mama had that same color wheel, Becky - and you know, I have actually seen similiar things like that in the stores the past few years - but on a much larger scale!

Oh, now see, you're going to bring back memories for everyone - what a gift you've found to share! I love it.

[Becster]

Just had to share one image. I had to re-size it greatly, and the only editing I did was to fix the color a bit, I didn't even crop it. I wanted to show what the original scans I'm getting look like!

This is me, July 1957 (one month shy of my 3rd birthday), attempting to wink.

[Sara Arell]

Becster, on 05 August 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

Just had to share one image. I had to re-size it greatly, and the only editing I did was to fix the color a bit, I didn't even crop it. I wanted to show what the original scans I'm getting look like!

This is me, July 1957 (one month shy of my 3rd birthday), attempting to wink.

That is precious, Becky! I love it!

[Pab]

So cool for you!! My mom and dad never invested in anything but cheap cameras all my life. I must have got my love for photography from my aunt. I know Kodak offers some kind of service now where they put your old videos on DVD's. I am thinking it was affordable too when I saw the ad for it.

[Belle]

What an awesome find. Enjoy your memories.

[Becster]

I'm going to try and find someone local. The thought of shipping these reels off somewhere else gives me the heebie jeebies!

[scrappinchar]

Oh wow! What a treasure! And a fun walk for you down memory lane.

[BarbaraC1977]

Wow, that's inspiring! The pictures are great--what a treasure, especially if you decide to scrap a series of something like the wink--say, every 20th frame or so. I have a bit of old film too; wouldn't it be nice if we could get some decent shots from it, since they usually didn't also do stills if dad was busy with the movie camera. Enjoy the memories!

[MariJ]

Oh, Becky how wonderful to have those precious movies of your childhood and how clever to scan them!
I don't know if you have one near you, but I know Costco also transfers movies to DVD. I haven't done it, but I've used other services of their's and each product was of good quality.
I don't blame you for not wanting them out of your sight!

Another idea.. Although it's not professional, my cousin - way back - projected his home movies up on a piece of white poster board above his table, set his camera on books, etc until it was the correct height and "taped" his own dvd movies! He even played music at the same time. .. It's time consuming and you need to have a projector, but your movies would stay with you!
Good luck...... wonderful story and thanks so much for sharing the pics with us.

[KayMitch]

Oh wow how exciting and what a wonderful find. I know what a great 5 hrs you must have spent. They photos you've shown us are priceless as the girls said. You will have a wonderful time playing with these pics. Kay

[CRS]

What a treasure! That photo of you is adorable! You must have had a blast going through it all today!

[Becster]

Allll day long! I'm heading for bed finally, but it was so much fun!

I posted a few of them in my Facebook, here.

[scrappyjan]

How fantastic! These things bring back some wonderful memories, don't they. Bet you can't wait to get them on DVD now

[SodScrap]

How cool Becky! I can remember my grandmother's silver tree and that spinning color wheel...I never understood it!! LOL