The Brodhead, Wisconsin airport (C37), may not be in any way connected to Hollywood, California, but the whole reason I’m here at the Kelch Aviation Museum, working with airplanes and up to my elbows in grease and engine parts, is because I fell in love with old movies. Black and white glimpses of a bygone world, silk dresses and shoes with spats, and sleek Art Deco automobiles and elegant biplanes.
For many of us, our first exposure to the world of amazing flying machines was through glamorous Hollywood spectacles, a drama or comedy with a glossy (or gritty) old plane as the centerpiece. And to this day, these two very different worlds, aviation and moviemaking, have grown and changed and influenced each other since day one. I like to think of them as siblings. Let me explain with a quick flight through history:
Airplanes and aviation have been front and center in movies since the early 1900s, when both these amazing modern inventions took the world by storm. Humankind had long dreamed of flying, and after the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903, folks couldn’t get enough. At the same time, the first moving pictures – born as shaky silent images in the 1890s and growing faster than a cornfield in July – thrilled and amused audiences everywhere. What better way to showcase one thrilling invention than with the other?
In the 1910s, silent movies featuring early aircraft were popular around the world, showcasing everything from wartime dramas to madcap comic adventures. The real boom, however, came with Charles Lindbergh’s famous 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Overnight the world went gaga for airplanes. Hollywood, just beginning the massive industry change from silent films to “talkies,” jumped on the bandwagon and began making even more aviation-centered movies.
So, both aviation and Hollywood experienced their “Golden Age” heyday around the same time. Not surprisingly, many early Hollywood stars owned airplanes, and at the same time many pilots ended up somehow involved in the movie business. Maybe these people shared the same energy – a dream, almost impossible, daring and beautiful and not quite what normal folks do.
So how did I find myself tangled up with both aviation and moviemaking? My aforementioned passion for classic film led to an interest in historical preservation; a peek at the Kelch Aviation Museum collection of 1920s aviation magazines led to a volunteer job that morphed into a paid title – and seven years later, I’m still here, full circle: Part of my job is making videos about the museum’s aircraft and history.
In fact, the Kelch Aviation Museum’s popular videos have been viewed by tens of thousands of people all around the world and continue to draw in new audiences. We’ve found they’re a great way to connect with a wide age range, engage various levels of aviation experience, and bring history to life. Over the last few years, we’ve created a whole set of virtual tours and other videos, even working with PBS Wisconsin on an educational history episode that was nominated for a regional Emmy award!
Watch the PBS Wisconsin Education episode here: https://pbswisconsineducation.org/look-back-episode/airway-beacon
You can view all the Kelch Aviation Museum videos on our YouTube channel, or by visiting www.kelchmuseum.org.
