# American Maker

Relates how Americans build, from youth throughout life, by using their ingenuity not only in technological advancement but in everyday efforts by everyone. (From contemporary synopsis). One of a series of six films (one unfinished) produced by Detroit's Jam Handy Organization for Chevrolet, AMERICAN MAKER was shown in theaters, on television and to community groups, schools and organizations to whom it was loaned for free. Though it is a prominent example of "institutional advertising," promoting a corporation in general rather than its specific products, it specifically shows Chevrolet automobiles being manufactured and on the road. The film pays tribute to American craftspeople and industrial workers, but could also easily be read as a tribute to mass production and its designers. Full of scenes showing idealized white workers and suburban families enjoying the benefits of American mass production, the film is a noteworthy document of post-World War II and pre-Vietnam War corporate optimism. Jam Handy Production Number M-4441, completed 1960-03-04. See Maria Popova, The Marginalian, 2011-02-07, online at https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/02/07/american-maker/. Accessed 2023-06-06.

- Kind: Film
- Year: 1960
- By: Jam Handy Organization
- Genres: Science, Children's, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/200723_American_Maker)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/200723_American_Maker?play=1)