Snowbound - Allis-Chalmers promotional film

[Jon]

An extraordinary blizzard hit the American West in the winter of 1948-49. The government mobilized the military to help, and American industry worked hand-in-hand with servicepeople to dig out the snowbound people and their farms and livestock.

Front and center for American industry was Allis-Chalmers, a now-defunct but still dearly-loved manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment. Allis-Chalmers produced this classic promotional film about their role in helping recover from the disaster, called "Operation Snowbound".

In the photo below, Nebraska governor Val Peterson (center) gets the technical details on the disaster. While this is clearly a planned photo-op, there is so much here that would be taboo today. From the plaid pants, to the cigarette, to the git-er-done stance of the politician.



Some of the drifts were 25 feet high or more.