A Look at How Terrestrial Globes Were Made in 1955

British Pathé posted archival footage from 1955 that gives us a look at how a “famous North London firm of geographers” in London made terrestrial globes, spherical maps of the world, with a “technique of building up layers of paper and plaster onto a solid ball of wood.”

C/U of a strange shelving system which holds several wooden circular spheres – these are moulds for globes. A woman takes one of the moulds from a shelf and takes it over to a workbench. She fixes it to a device which holds it steady whilst still allowing it to spin. Another girl is sticking red strips onto a larger sphere. The narrator tells us that this is a famous North London firm of geographers (but he doesn’t tell us who). He recounts the history of globe making and the technique of building up layers of paper and plaster onto the solid ball of wood. C/Us of pieces of newspaper being stuck on to the wooden surface and of the second girl placing red strips onto her globe. Various shots of the girls at work. Complete globes are placed onto another rack ready to undergo the next process. (read more)

PEEP (formerly known as Cabnine Films) created a short film about artisan globemaker Peter Bellerby.