“Education without Toil”: the commissioned film at the 1928 National Co-operative Exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland

Bohlmann, J. (2018) “Education without Toil”: the commissioned film at the 1928 National Co-operative Exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland. Film History, 30(3), 146 -170. (doi: 10.2979/filmhistory.30.3.06)

Abstract

This article is the first to explore the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society’s use of film during the late 1920s. It discusses two films commissioned by the society and the event occasioning their exhibition, the National Co-operative Exhibition, that took place in Glasgow in March 1928. The analysis focuses particularly on Making Soap: SCWS Soap Manufacture (1928), a film documenting the production of a commodity that signified the challenges wrought by mass consumerism and modern capitalism. Synthesizing social and film historical methodologies, the article engages underexplored primary sources to reveal the significance of this film as part of a large industrial exhibition and in light of the wider historical context of cooperative wholesale production in Scotland.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bohlmann, Dr Julia
• Authors: Bohlmann, J.
• College/School: University Services > Learning and Teaching Services Division
• Journal Name: Film History
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• ISSN: 0892-2160
• ISSN (Online): 1553-3905