After years of stagnated war, Vermonters were ready to celebrate the return of Rutland County’s men and women in uniform. The Vermont State Fair has been held in the same location every September/October since 1846; nearly 73 years before the film was shot, and exactly 171 years before the date of this blog post.
I purchased this original reel of 1919 footage on the internet from a local Vermont dealer. The footage was saved midcentury by a famous film preservation specialist, film historian and local Northeast historian named Karl Malkames, who apparently found the footage in disrepair and did his best to conserve the remaining material.
Although the footage was expensive, I was able to find a company to digitize the fragile footage and provide digital files of the film. The content is spectacular, and MAY represent the first confirmed footage of a plane flying in Vermont………..
The men and women in the film can be clearly seen wearing the WWI Rutland County Service Medal; a commonly sold item on the internet, it’s uncertain how the actual medal was distributed following the war.
WWI medal for wartime service from Rutland County, Vermont
WWI medal for wartime service from Rutland County, Vermont
And for those of you who don’t know Rutland…. here’s an aerial view of the Agricultural Fairgrounds where this footage was taken in October of 1919.
Portraits of War 
I think this is simply fantastic. Thanks for going to the trouble of running Portraits of War. If you don’t mind my asking, how much did you pay for the film?
The film was a $150.00 and the digitization was another $75. Thanks for the compliment!
hello
We corresponded a while ago about this film and I told you about VAMP (The Vermont Archive Movie Project ( see VTIFF.ORG/VAMP ). Then there was silence. I’m still interested if you’d be willing to donate the print you have to VAMP. We’ll be launching an online searchable database soon and would love to include a reference to it. If you still have the film materials we should ensure they’re kept in optimum conditions. And if you would be willing for us to clone the digital file you made, we’d be glad to reimburse you the $75 you paid for this work. Please email me: orly@vtiff.org. Many thanks, Orly Yadin, Executive Director, VTIFF
Hi Brennan, would love to even purchase a couple of clear pictures of them with the medal for my articles… do you think it is possible? Thanks