Ages of Time: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A short corporate documentary film with the title Ages of Time. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm acetate film with optical sound. It chronicles the history of timekeeping and was edited by African American film editor Hortense Beveridge. "Ages of Time" was produced in 1959 by the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is narrated by renowned actor Burgess Meredith.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1959
• Created by: MPO Television Films, American, 1950 - 1970
• Edited by: Tee Beveridge, American, 1923 - 1993
• Commissioned by: Hamilton Watch Company, American, founded 1892
• Narrated by: Burgess Meredith, American, 1907 - 1997
• Owned by: Pearl Bowser, American, 1931 - 2023
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 700 ft
• Dimensions: Duration (digital file): 00:17:59
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Egypt, Africa
• Place depicted: Italy, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Mass media
• Object number: 2012.79.1.3.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public Domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.