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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website This fascinating, and rarely seen promotional film “A Heritage of Service“ was made by National Selected Morticians (now Selected Independent Funeral Homes) to showcase the responsibilities of a funeral director and the mortuary industry. The film dates to 1950. National Selected Morticians (NSM) began in 1916, when a group of forward-thinking funeral professionals met to discuss a shared vision of mutual cooperation and the future of funeral service. Membership in the group was extended by invitation only. Today the group remains committed to the careful selection of member homes that are committed to high standards of character, professional ability and reputation. This film was written by Schuyler Bradt, shot by William Deeke, edited by Isaac Kleinerman, and supervised by Clay Adams. Opening: National Selected Morticians presents “A Heritage of Service“, produced by RKO Pathe, Inc. (:07-:33). A car parked outside of a suburban home. A husband and wife in separate beds, the man, a funeral director, is on the phone. Two men and an ambulance rush to a building, the woman who is having a baby, is stretchered out of the ambulance and into the hospital building. Shoes walk across a floor. A hand puts out a cigarette. A man puts out another cigarette, he is nervous in a waiting room. A nurse tells the man he had a baby girl. A man takes out a pen and jokes, “Have a cigar“. Two men outside. Close on a wristwatch. The funeral director, his wife, and their nephew, chat in the kitchen. The funeral director talks about losing his son in the war and how he started (:34-3:44). Sign: George Bartlett, Cabinetmaker. The man, George makes a chair. Two men come in and shake his hand. The sign changes to: Bartlett - Fine Furniture, Undertaker. A new sign: George Bartlett - Funeral Director. George walks outside. George and fellow committee men speak. Men clap for him. He is given a pocket watch engraved with: To George Bartlett, for sharing his heritage of service (3:45-5:35). The current funeral director holds the pocket watch. Steel is being made, train on a track, a chemist at work, lumber in a yard. The funeral director talks with his nephew. The funeral director enters his car and drives off, he gets to work and removes his coat, sits at a desk, looks at paperwork. A draft of one of the funeral director's statements. The statement is broken down and shown. A graph showing charges made, no profit, versus the calls he made money on. A chemist at work. A woman looks in a microscope. Boys and girls sit in class. The funeral director talks with his The funeral director talks with some children in a club he formed: a teenage jalopy club. They work on the car (5:36-10:09). The funeral director sits with members of the school board, smokes a cigar with other men, including a priest. The funeral director continues to talk with his nephew, hands his nephew a letter. The letter is shown and read. A woman named Alice Jordan comes in with relatives to meet with the funeral director. They sit and discuss options for her deceased husband. He hands her a bill with the price (10:10-13: 33). The funeral director leads Alice and her family out of his office. The funeral director gives an obituary notice to a newspaper, he then contacts out of town relatives by Western Union. He fills out legal forms, then makes arrangements with a mortician in another city. A telephone operator connects a call. A mortuary worker takes the call and sets up an appointment (13:34-16: 00). The funeral director purchases railroad tickets, gets flowers, writes a note. The funeral director talks with his nephew about his occupation and what it entails. Close on the pocket watch engraved with: To George Bartlett, for sharing his heritage of service. Setting sun. Tree near an outside home's light (16:01-17:39). No end credits. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
