Back when I was a senior in high school (1983-84) my dad showed our family some home movies from the early 1960’s. Some were of his time in the army, the others were of his family and on the farm. I distinctly remembered seeing a clip of my great-grandfather Frank Pawelski (see: https://muckville.com/2014/01/11/a-tour-for-princeton-students-and-a-little-bit-of-family-history-about-my-great-grandparents-frank-julia-pawelski/ ). I also remembered seeing a clip of Gore Vidal at my Aunt’s house (she had a fundraiser for him when he ran for Congress in NYS) and a very short clip of Bobby Kennedy.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. My mom had some family home movies (which includes a scene of her as a baby being held by her parents) that were on 8mm which I converted to dvd. My dad also had some of his home movies. I converted them also to dvd and I uploaded them to YouTube. I uploaded both shorter and longer versions of those videos to YouTube and the links for them are at the bottom (note: there are some copyright issues in connection with the music according to YouTube so in some countries you may not see it or you may not hear the music).

When I converted all of my dad’s home movies I could not find the 8mm movies of my great grandfather, Bobby Kennedy or Gore Vidal or some of his army scenes. When I asked him about it he said that maybe they were his sister’s movies. So I called my Aunt Claire and asked her about them. She said they were hers and would look for them. Finally after 3 years she, along with my cousin Jackie, were able to find them. I had them all converted to dvd and uploaded them recently to YouTube. Again, some copyright issues arose so some videos may not be available in some countries and the audio is muted in some. It’s a shame because the music fit quite well with the video action.

Here are all of the videos … along with what I wrote on YouTube to describe them … enjoy!

The following is a series of home movies shot by my Aunt Claire and Uncle John Popiel. They date back to the late 50’s/early 60’s. They include scenes on the Pawelski family farm, the Orange County Onion Harvest Festival, the 1964 World’s Fair and Gore Vidal at my Uncle and aunt’s house when he ran for Congress. There is a short clip of Bobby Kennedy from the late 1960’s landing at a local airport in Orange County. There are also some movies my dad made when he was in the army in Europe.

Both of my dad’s grandfathers are seen in some of these home movies. There is also a home movie of my mom and dad’s wedding.

This is a video converted from 8 mm film. It’s of the historic flood in the black dirt region of Orange County, NY in 1955. It shows some farming images from the 1950’s as well. The film was taken by and of Vince Kosuga’s farm. It also features their wedding and my mom when she was a baby.

Okay, this a bunch of films my dad Richard made back in the early 1960’s converted first to videotape then dvd. Part are from his experiences in the army (he was stationed in Europe). This is some great stuff, starting with what looks like classic phallic shots of the Eiffel Tower, shots of nuns walking by, then him playing the role of “ugly American” by warming his hands over the eternal flame next to the Arc de Triomphe, followed by shots of what my brother and I termed “rough looking women” in their bathing suits (my apologies in advance, “Herr Helga”) near some German lake, then shots of a tropical theme party at my Aunt Clara and Uncle John’s house. This is some great stuff you can’t make up. Enjoy!

This is a video converted from 8 mm film. It’s of the historic flood in the black dirt region of Orange County, NY in 1955. It shows some farming images from the 1950’s as well. The film was taken by and of Vince Kosuga’s farm.

Okay, this a bunch of films my dad Richard made back in the early 1960’s converted first to videotape then dvd. Part are from his experiences in the army (he was stationed in Europe). This is some great stuff, starting with what looks like classic phallic shots of the Eiffel Tower, shots of nuns walking by, then him playing the role of “ugly American” by warming his hands over the eternal flame next to the Arc de Triomphe, followed by shots of what my brother and I termed “rough looking women” in their bathing suits (my apologies in advance, “Herr Helga”) near some German lake, then shots of a tropical theme party at my Aunt Clara and Uncle John’s house. This is some great stuff you can’t make up. Enjoy!