1,571 itemsWelcome to Ephemeral Films

Ephemeral films are non-fiction films usually made for educational, industrial, or promotional purposes. The two classic ephemeral film collections found on the Archive are the Prelinger Archives and AV Geeks.

In addition to these classic collections, you may view guidance films from the post-World War II British government, drive-in movie intermission ads, and videos documenting the history of San Francisco from 1906 to the early 21st Century. Many of these films are available for free download.

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Sub-Collections

	A/V Geeks The A/V Geeks Film Archive is an ephemeral film collection curated by Skip Elsheimer. What started as a hobby more than ten years is now a lifetime commitment. His collection has grown to over 24,000...	1,112 items
	British Government Public Information Films This small collection of public information films from the British government produced during the years 1945 to 1952 is quite entertaining. Topics include public health, travel, traffic, education,...	22 items
	Drive-In Movie Ads Super short advertisements used during intermission at drive-in movie theaters during the 1950's and early 1960's to get people to consume junk food from the concession stand, may be viewed here. ...	158 items
	Ephemeral VHS Made for VHS! Uploaded by the users, these video tapes are selected for general interest and apparently not having made it to DVD, therefore are orphan vhs, or ephemeral vhs, or the native vhs...	244 items
	Shaping San Francisco Highlights of the people's history of San Francisco are featured in these short video clips: footage from just after the 1906 Quake, views of the 1917 Ironworkers Strike, Mayor Rossi's speech during...	142 items