They elicit a flood of AV memories. Long before Chris Whittle, school movies provided edutainment for the masses and a breather from teachers' tired blather. Or perhaps you recall sexually segregated health classes that taught adolescents how to think about and what to do with their bodies. Today these films may release a flood of memories, but Prelinger refuses to suffer nostalgists gladly. They're hilarious to watch.
People laugh their heads off.
They're very kitschy and satisfying. You need a context. Prelinger provided context aplenty during the 1994 American Museum of the Moving Image programs that inspired Our Secret Century , a series of a 12 CD-ROMs that Voyager will release over the next several months. In addition to the 75 films, the discs will contain Prelinger's blue-screen introductions as well as collateral advertisements, articles, and illustrations. Prelinger even interviewed Tad Tadlock, the perky brunette who starred in such ephemeral hits as 1956's Design for Dreaming .