[Home Movies of the Nishikawa Onion Farm on Liberty Island, CA / circa 1935]

Dateca. 1935

Mediumacetate

ClassificationsMoving Images

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Shizue Yokoi

Object number92.38.1

DescriptionColor and black and white home movie footage, filmed by William Toward Jarrett circa 1935. Footage includes Mr. Kurakichi Nishikawa showcasing his onion crop at Liberty Island, CA; scenes at his farmstead with family members; sheep; dredging machinery for clearing material away from a water body and a Caterpillar tractor plowing a field. Features frequent handwritten intertitles in Japanese that contextualizes each major scene recorded.

Timecode list:
(color title)
0:30 -- Japanese writing (“Liberty,” “Nishikawa(?),” “farm” -unsure of the rest) on film

(black and white)
0:37 -- Farm workers walking through field that has bags of onions grouped together; Mr. Nishikawa inspecting products and supervising workers harvesting crops
1:23 -- Mr. Nishikawa showing a bag of onions to a white man (possibly a potential buyer?)
1:53 -- Japanese text intertitle (“Nishikawa(?)” - unsure of the rest, possibly “onion”?)
2:00 -- Workers harvesting bunches of onions in a field
2:26 -- Japanese intertitle (“Liberty [Island?]” “white people” -unsure of the rest, possibly “Photo”)
2:40 -- Two boys and three girls standing with Mr. Nishikawa (their father?)
3:16 -- Mr. Nishikawa supervising workers harvesting in field
3:55 -- Mr. Nishikawa and a woman (possibly his wife?)
4:03 -- Onions moving on a machine with conveyor belt and dropping into bags on the edge of a field; “Sunkist Oranges” can be seen on the side of one of the conveyor belts
4:36 -- Japanese intertitle (something about onions?)
4:43 -- Workers loading onions bags onto truck bed
4:52 -- Mr. Nishikawa and man from 1:23 walking through the field
5:16 -- Truck carrying bags of onions stacked in its bed drives through a field full of bags of harvested onions; bags say “California Onions” and bear a logo that says “RKM”

(color)
5:45 -- Onion field after harvesting, bags being loaded up
6:05 -- B&W Japanese intertitle
6:14 -- Three men loading bags of onions onto truck in a field
6:29 -- B&W Japanese intertitle (“Mr. and Mrs. Nishikawa” -unsure of the rest, ‘watch work’ possibly?)
6:42 -- Mr. and Mrs. Nishikawa arrive at the onion field where laborers are working at a machine

(black and white)
7:31 -- Onion field
8:02 -- Japanese intertitle (“Liberty [Island]” “Nishikawa” “yellow[?]” “six”? -unsure of the rest)
8:17 -- Onion field with sacks of onions neatly arranged in rows; close up of logo on onion bag

(color)
8:55 -- Onion field with onion sacks
9:23 -- B&W Japanese intertitle
9:33 -- Man holding three onions up to the camera
9:37 -- B&W Japanese intertitle (“Liberty [Island?]” -unsure of the rest)
9:45 -- Sign that says “Liberty Island Ferry → California State Automobile Ass’n.” and car drives onto small ferry
10:02 -- B&W Japanese intertitle
10:08 -- Field with house and buildings in the background (also water tower?)
10:22 -- B&W Japanese interitle (“Nishikawa house”?)
10:32 -- Woman and two children walking in farm yard; man runs to barn
10:55 -- B&W Japanese intertitle
11:01 -- Mr. Nishikawa and son with truck that is being loaded with onion bags; onions also being put through agricultural machine
11:34 -- B&W Japanese intertitle (something about white onions?)
11:52 -- Mr. Nishikawa and workers using a conveyor machine on the field to sort and bag onions; white onions being bagged up

(black and white)
12:33 -- Japanese intertitle
13:02 -- Large flock of sheep that have been recently shorn walking, grazing, drinking from a small body of water. Shepherd can be seen in the background
14:36 -- Japanese intertitle (“dredger”)
14:44 -- Large mechanical grab dredger in an area filled with water
15:37 -- Japanese intertitle (“small dredger”)
15:48 -- A smaller grab dredger operated by one person clearing brush away from a creek
17:09 -- Japanese intertitle (something about Caterpillar brand tractor, 40 horsepower?)
17:19 -- Man operating a tractor through a rocky field; tractor has a plowing attachment
17:35 -- Film ends

16mm film at donor's father, Mr. Kurakichi Nishikawa's, onion crop at Liberty Island, CA.