broke2builtBroke to Built · Archive Prints
The films that taught America how to behave
Dating instructions delivered like chemistry. Table manners as moral instruction. A turtle explaining the atomic bomb. These films are in the public domain now — they belong to everyone, including you. Here are short clips from our publishing work.
Watch the archive shorts or start with the clips on YouTube →
Shorts from the archive
Public clips from our channel. The duration is listed for each one; these are excerpts, not complete films.
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Duck and Cover
Bert the Turtle teaches schoolchildren to survive an atomic bomb by hiding under their desks. The most famous civil-defense film ever made.
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Dating advice from 1951
A short look at the dating advice handed down in mid-century educational films.
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A Date With Your Family
Dinner as a stage play: "the women of this family" freshen up before serving, and pleasant conversation is mandatory.
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What to Do on a Date
A short excerpt from a 1950 film about the surprisingly formal business of planning a date.
Watch the short →
"Public domain" means it's yours
When a work's copyright ends, it enters the public domain: anyone may copy it, screen it, remix it, sell it, or build on it — no permission, no license, no fee. That's not piracy; it's the deal copyright always promised. These films held up their end. Every January, another year's worth of films, books and music joins them.
FREE
The public-domain register
Every US work that has entered the public domain, searchable, with what you're allowed to do with each. Free to browse and free to download.
Open the register →TIP JAR
Keep the projector running
Every restoration is free and stays free. If one of these films gave you something — a laugh, a memory, your dad's civil-defense advice — a dollar keeps the reels turning.
Tip a dollar on Ko-fi →The register is ours and free; the tip jar is ours too. The films are free on YouTube and always will be.