Film context by Philip Butcher East Anglian Film Archive
Loughton Fair and West Essex Gazette is part of a film made in 1952 called Essex Newspaper. This film was made for the Essex Education Committee, which promoted a number of local films that were used in Essex schools to show children their County. Once made, copies were available from the headquarters in Chelmsford for teachers to show in the classroom. Most schools at that time had 16mm film projectors, so the film was easily shown on a large screen in a darkened room. Today the television set is used with a video tape of recorded programme.
Essex has a rich history of independent newspapers and journalism and in the 1950s most towns had their own newspaper, usually locally produced and printed. This 1952 film clearly shows traditional printing methods and the huge printing presses used to produce newspapers. “Hot off the press” meant just that, as printing was a time consuming and messy process, requiring skills that were often handed down from father to son. In the 1950s printers were often well-paid workers, but were expected to work long and often unsociable hours to meet the tight deadlines of newspaper production.
This short film begins with some scenes from the annual Loughton fair, in West Essex, and then proceeds to explain how the West Essex Gazette covered the event, finishing with paper boys delivering the papers!
Today, of course, newspapers are usually owned and produced by large companies, and computer technology is used throughout the process, from news gathering to final production. It was very different in 1952!
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