August 21, 2002

A 35-millimeter nitrate film shot 74 years ago in Salt Lake City was recently donated to the Utah State Historical Society by the Idaho Film Collection at Boise State University.

The short film depicts Clarence Neslen, the mayor of Salt Lake City, and J.G. McDonald, owner of a well-known chocolate factory, receiving medals and diplomas awarded by the French and Belgian governments for "the best packaged chocolate in the world." The ceremony took place in late December 1928 or early January 1929 at the Utah State Capitol building.

The Utah film was among a number of films given to Boise State in 1990 by Dr. Raymond Bungard of Boise, according to Tom Trusky, director of the Idaho Film Collection and a Boise State English professor.

"Reviewing this film, I realized it needed to be duplicated if it were to be preserved, and since it was set in Salt Lake City, the Utah Historical Society seemed a perfect adoptive parent," Trusky said.

The Utah State Historical Society will add the film to its Utah Film Collection, said Linda Thatcher, the society’s coordinator of collections management. "It’s a great addition as we will be able to see two important figures in Salt Lake City’s history," she said.

The J.G. McDonald Chocolate Company was established in 1901 in downtown Salt Lake City, according to documents provided by Thatcher. In 1912 the company began to specialize in boxed chocolates and eventually earned renown world wide, receiving over 40 gold medals and awards in international competition.

Trusky took special precautions shipping the film to Salt Lake City because it was made of nitrate, a highly flammable and explosive material. After conducting an extensive search, he finally obtained a box from the film department of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland. that met federal and state safety requirements for shipping nitrate materials.

According to Trusky, nitrate stock was commonly used to make films through the 1940s, when it was replaced by safety (acetate) film. In the early days of movie theaters, the projection booths had to be fireproofed as a precaution in case a nitrate film ignited, Trusky said.

Trusky had stored the Utah film and a number of others in his office at Boise State University. When temperatures in his office soared this summer when air conditioning was turned off on weekends as an energy conservation measure, Trusky realized the films needed to be moved as a safety measure. He moved all the nitrate films to the climate-controlled Albertsons Library and Special Collections at Boise State and made arrangements to send the "chocolate film" to Salt Lake City.

"I decided I was endangering not only the chocolates but myself," Trusky said. "I'm pleased the film has found a new home, and that we were able to safely ship it."

Tom Trusky
English
1-208-426-1999
ttrusky@boisestate.edu

Janelle Brown
communications and marketing
1-208-426-1790
jbrown2@boisestate.edu