Story · a collection by the numbers · captured 1 November 2026 (UTC)
A film library, by the numbers
The Prelinger Archives: 10,468 items, nearly all of them films, summarised in two requests; then one film, Duck and Cover, opened: its files, its readers' stars and every line of its soundtrack as a machine heard it.
Duck and Cover, 1951: the item's thumbnailget_page_image · DuckandC1951
items
10,468
downloads, at least
211.1 M
stored
119.3 TB
the run
The question
captured 1 November 2026 (UTC) · scripts/site/capture.py
asked
Give me the Prelinger Archives by the numbers: what's in it, what people watch, and one film I can actually watch and read along with.
The assistant checked which mode the server was in, summarised the whole collection with the analysis tool, listed its most-downloaded films and their daily views, then opened one film: its record, its files, its subtitles and its reviews. Each section below names the tools that made it; all 10 calls, in order, with what each returned, are in the receipts at the end.
The server ran in read mode, with no archive.org keys: everything here is public. One summary call made 2 requests to the Archive and read 10,000 rows.
10,468
items in the collection
10,461
of them are films (mediatype movies)
211,061,028
downloads, at least, of the 10,000 most-downloaded items
1,644
downloads of the median item among them
Items by year, in three-year spans
The Archive's own counts over the collection: 4,822 items with a year. The busiest span is 1948–1950.
Show as a table
From
To
Items
1903
1905
2
1906
1908
20
1909
1911
8
1912
1914
50
1915
1917
67
1918
1920
100
1921
1923
40
1924
1926
67
1927
1929
165
1930
1932
186
1933
1935
129
1936
1938
291
1939
1941
504
1942
1944
236
1945
1947
331
1948
1950
585
1951
1953
435
1954
1956
438
1957
1959
356
1960
1962
313
1963
1965
185
1966
1968
108
1969
1971
107
1972
1974
32
1975
1977
23
1978
1980
16
1981
1983
4
1984
1986
1
1987
1989
2
1990
1992
1
1993
1995
0
1996
1998
0
1999
2001
1
2002
2004
2
2005
2007
0
2008
2010
0
2011
2013
3
2014
2016
4
2017
2019
3
2020
2022
2
2023
2025
5
Downloads by decade
Worked out from the 10,000 most-downloaded of 10,468 items, the 4,958 of them with a year; a lower bound, since the rest aren't counted.
Show as a table
Decade
Items
Downloads
1900s
23
621,252
1910s
141
810,990
1920s
354
2,797,068
1930s
727
39,037,235
1940s
1,197
51,141,307
1950s
1,560
67,410,479
1960s
638
8,831,763
1970s
138
1,641,014
1980s
11
34,087
1990s
1
21,417
2000s
3
263,270
2010s
10
71,196
2020s
155
903,295
Top subjects
Items per subject value, as catalogued (approximate).
Show as a table
Subject
Items
home movies
929
prelinger
859
1960s
573
1950s
561
Leisure and recreation
494
1940s
397
Tourism
368
Families
361
Children
272
1970s
238
need keyword
225
1930s
223
Top creators
Items per creator, by the Archive's lower-case sort keys (approximate).
All-time downloads. Accent: the two whose views are counted below.
Show as a table
Identifier
Title
Date
Downloads
AboutBan1935
About Bananas
1935-01-01
27,202,138
Doctorin1946
Doctor in Industry (Part I)
1946-01-01
13,504,241
HealthYo1953
Health: Your Posture
1953-01-01
10,637,265
FromtheG1954
From the Ground Up
1954-10-23
10,535,911
Sleepfor1950
Sleep for Health
1950-01-01
5,945,388
JoanAvoi1947
Joan Avoids a Cold
1947-01-01
5,746,244
EatforHe1954
Eat for Health
1954-01-01
5,427,760
prelingerhomemovies
Prelinger Archives Home Movies
5,400,247
breath_takers_2
Breath-Takers, 2
4,840,651
babies_and_breadwinners_2
Babies and Breadwinners (Part II)
3,590,165
210,421,082
views of The whole collection all time; 673,019 in the 30 days below
948,570
views of Duck and Cover all time; 4,349 in the 30 days below
27,202,138
views of About Bananas all time; 1,641 in the 30 days below
13,504,241
views of Doctor in Industry (Part I) all time; 823 in the 30 days below
Views by people, day by day
21 August 2026 to 19 September 2026: the 30 days the Views API had reported when it was asked. The collection and Duck and Cover are charted, each on its own scale; the table has all four. Robots are counted apart and left out.
The whole collection
210,421,082 views all time · 673,019 in these 30 days
Duck and Cover
948,570 views all time · 4,349 in these 30 days
Show the four as a table
Day
The whole collection
Duck and Cover
About Bananas
Doctor in Industry (Part I)
2026-08-21
4,109
27
8
2
2026-08-22
7,080
66
13
5
2026-08-23
7,245
89
28
4
2026-08-24
7,743
73
20
2
2026-08-25
8,579
77
16
7
2026-08-26
8,255
81
12
6
2026-08-27
9,187
87
18
3
2026-08-28
8,775
70
11
2
2026-08-29
8,108
57
10
15
2026-08-30
8,368
67
14
10
2026-08-31
10,461
89
14
5
2026-09-01
9,218
74
15
6
2026-09-02
9,745
81
15
5
2026-09-03
10,909
101
25
3
2026-09-04
10,397
65
16
2
2026-09-05
8,183
80
20
13
2026-09-06
8,206
61
20
7
2026-09-07
9,799
79
36
7
2026-09-08
10,605
90
24
8
2026-09-09
11,530
75
25
7
2026-09-10
10,865
88
20
5
2026-09-11
10,559
78
25
6
2026-09-12
8,671
58
11
8
2026-09-13
9,827
75
40
23
2026-09-14
10,215
91
37
6
2026-09-15
10,449
94
22
6
2026-09-16
10,890
85
26
14
2026-09-17
10,904
115
32
8
2026-09-18
9,360
114
21
13
2026-09-19
9,435
93
24
9
About Bananas leads the collection with 27,202,138 views all time, yet had 1,641 in these 30 days, fewer than Duck and Cover's 4,349. Most of its views, then, came before these 30 days; the results don't say when.
22 of its 45 files are in video or thumbnail formats, 335.2 MB in all; 19 of them are thumbnails of a few kilobytes, together 111.1 KB.
Show as a table
File
Format
Source
Bytes
DuckandC1951.mpeg
MPEG2
original
256,413,203
DuckandC1951.ogv
Ogg Video
derivative
39,412,437
DuckandC1951_512kb.mp4
512Kb MPEG4
derivative
39,240,901
It has 2 subtitle files, SubRip (speech recognition) and WebVTT (speech recognition): made by machine, not typed by a person. Read as timed text, the cues run from 00:00:32 to 00:08:46. The film is in the public domain, so here is all of it, mistakes included.
You sure are a member of what Bert the turtle just good friends because every one of us must remember to do the same thing that's what this film is all about
and cover this is an official civil defense film produced in cooperation with the Federal Civil Defense administration and in consultation with the Safety Commission of the National Education Association produced by Archer Productions Incorporated
meet all these nice people play a ride. I really can't blame you. You see Byrd is a very very careful fella and has danger. This is the way he keeps from being hurt sometimes it even saves his life.
That's why these children are practicing to duck and cover just as you do in your school. We all know the atomic bomb is very dangerous. Since it may be used against us we must get ready for it just as we are ready for many other dangers that are around us all the time fire is a danger.
It can burn whole buildings. If someone is careless. But we are ready for fire. We have a fine fire department to put out the fire. And you have fire drills in your school. So you know what to do. I don't feel it can be dangerous to sometimes cause bad accidents. We already.
We have safety rules that car drivers and people who are walking must obey. Now we must be ready for a new danger. The atomic bomb. First you have to know what happens when an atomic bomb explodes. You will know when it comes. We hope it never comes. But when I get ready.
It looks something like this there is a bright flash brighter than the sun brighter than anything you've ever seen. If you are not ready and did not know what to do. It could hurt you in different ways it could knock it down hard or throw you against a tree or a wall. It is such a big explosion.
It can smash in buildings and knock signboards over and break windows all over town but if you duck and cover like bird you will be much safer if you know how bad sunburn can feel the atomic bomb flash could burn you worse than a terrible sunburn.
Especially when you are not covered. Now you and I don't have shells to crawl into like birds the turtles all we have to cover up in our own way first duck and then cover and very tightly you cover the back of your neck.
If your face duck and cover underneath the table or desk or anything else close by and that the school they are talking about the atomic bomb to Betty is asking a teacher. How can we tell when the atomic bomb they explode and our teacher is explaining
that there are two kinds of attack with a warning and without any warning. I think that most of the time we will be warned before the bomb explodes. So there will be time for us to get into our homes schools or some other safe place our civil defense workers know a man in uniform will do
everything they can to warn us before enemy planes can bring a bomb near you. Maybe in your school yard playing when the signal calm. Signal means to stop whatever you are doing
and get to the nearest safe place fact always remember an atomic bomb can come at any time no matter where you are maybe you might be playing at home when the warning comes your to get in the house fast
to fix a safe place for you to go if you're not close to home when you hear the warning go to the nearest safe cover know where you are to go or ask an older person to help you know the places marked with A.S.I. and There are safe places to go
when you hear the alarm if there is a warning you will hear it before the bomb explodes. But sometimes and this is very very important. Sometimes the bomb might explode without any warning.
Then the first thing we would know about it would be the flash and that means duck and cover fast wherever you are. There's no time to look around or wait like Bert when there is a flash duck and cover and do it fast. Here are some older boys showing what to do with the flash comes
when you are not in the classroom. This is what to do if you should be in a corridor. Duck and cover tight against the wall this way. Remember to keep your face in the back of your neck covered tightly try to find away from windows or doors with glass in them and if the glass breaks
and flies through the air. It won't cut you. You might be eating your lunch when the place comes duck and cover under the table then if the explosion makes anything in the room fall down. It can fall on you. Getting ready means we will all have to be able to take care of ourselves a bomb
might explode when there are no grownups near Poland that you know this and they are always ready to take care of themselves. Here they are. On their way to school on a beautiful spring day but no matter where they go or what they do they always try to remember what to do if the atom bomb explodes
right then it's a bomb can cover. Paul and Patty know what to do. Paul covered the back of his head so that he wouldn't be burned and Patty covered herself with the coat she was carrying they knew how to duck and cover they acted right away when the flash came.
If they had been at this doorway when the bomb flashed Paul and Pat A would have ducked and covered this way like this girl heavy doorways are a good place to duck and cover. She will be safer too. Here's Tony going to his Cub Scout meeting.
Tony knows the bomb can explode any time of the year day or night he is ready for it can cover at a bride only that flash means act fast. Tony knows that it helps to get to any kind of cover. This wall was close by. So that's where he ducked and covered.
Tony knew what to do. Notice how he keeps from moving or from getting up and running. He stays down until you're sure the danger is over the man helping Tony is a civil defense worker his job is to help protect us from there is danger of the atomic
bomb. We must obey the civil defense worker. We must know how to duck and cover in the school bus or in any other bus or streetcar. Don't wait duck away from the windows fast.
The glass may break and flying through the air and cut you Sundays holidays they Cajun time. We must be ready. Every day all the time to do the right thing. If the atomic bomb explodes.
This family knows what to do just like your own family should they know that even a thin cloth helps protect them even a newspaper can save you from a. Bad burn but the most important thing of all is to duck and cover yourself especially when your clothes do not cover you no matter where we live in the city of the
country. We must be ready. All the time for the atomic bomb that can cover. That's the first thing to do duck and cover the next important thing to do after that is to stay covered until the danger is over.
Yes we must all get ready now. So we know how to save ourselves at the atomic bomb ever explodes near us. If you do not know just what to do ask your teacher when this film is over discuss what you could do in different places. If a bomb explodes older people will help us as they always do but
that might not be any grownups around when the bomb explodes. Then you're on your own. Remember what you do not tell me right out loud when you talk.
The film's description names Bert the Turtle. The machine wrote “Bert” 2 times, “Byrd” 1 and “bird” 1: we take the last two as the same name, misheard.
receipts
Every call, in order
captured 1 November 2026 (UTC) · scripts/site/capture.py
All 10 calls of the run, in the order they were made, with what each returned. Open one to see when it was taken and which sections it made; press Play to watch them arrive.
01account_info()mode read, archive.org keys: none
taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in What's in it
02search_summary(query="collection:prelinger", limit=12)10,468 items; counts by subject, creator and year, and download figures from the 10,000 most-downloaded of 10,468 items
taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in What's in it
04item_views(identifiers=["prelinger", "DuckandC1951", "AboutBan1935", "Doctorin1946"], days=30)all time, 30 and 7 days, and 30 days day by day, for four identifiers
Duck and Cover (1951) carries a public-domain licence field, so its machine transcript is shown in full. No review text was kept, only the count and the average. Counts, downloads and views change daily; these are from 1 November 2026 (UTC), and the daily views from the Views API's last 30 reported days.