Worth Mathewson
Active member
Good news that there might be more Buckingham movies available! If this is done, it will prove interesting to see if they are the old FIELD & STREAM movies. Some of those were historical classics. Van Campen Heilner was the person who started these in the early 1920s. He was the one who filmed many. These movies were made on a somewhat regular basis up until the early 1950s. They were made available for rent to sportsman clubs.
About twenty five years ago I found that FIELD & STREAM still had a box full of these old movies. I forget now how I found this out. At any rate, I told George Reiger. At the time he was with FIELD & STREAM. On a trip to the New York office, he found the movies, and tried to get FIELD & STREAM to do something with them. Apparently they were from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sadly, none from the early days, such as one Heilner filmed on battery shooting in the late 1920s. George found that there was a total lack of interest in doing anything with them. He did manage to get several, which featured Ted Trueblood, sent to the Trueblood family. I have no idea what became of the rest. For a couple of years I wrote letters asking about them, most which were never answered.
But better news is that there is available (I think) three 1920-1930 era Buckingham movies on a DVD. It shows a goose hunt, duck hunt, and quail hunt. They amount to a historical treasure! This DVD was made in 2004 by Wayne Capooth. As many might know, he was the author of The Golden Age of Waterfowling. I can't find Wayne's address in the mess I call my office, but he has done some articles for Delta Waterfowl's magazine, so my guess is that editor Paul Wait has his address. For those interested, I would suggest getting in touch with Paul. I can assure you that it will be worth the effort if you follow up on this. Best, Worth Mathewson
About twenty five years ago I found that FIELD & STREAM still had a box full of these old movies. I forget now how I found this out. At any rate, I told George Reiger. At the time he was with FIELD & STREAM. On a trip to the New York office, he found the movies, and tried to get FIELD & STREAM to do something with them. Apparently they were from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sadly, none from the early days, such as one Heilner filmed on battery shooting in the late 1920s. George found that there was a total lack of interest in doing anything with them. He did manage to get several, which featured Ted Trueblood, sent to the Trueblood family. I have no idea what became of the rest. For a couple of years I wrote letters asking about them, most which were never answered.
But better news is that there is available (I think) three 1920-1930 era Buckingham movies on a DVD. It shows a goose hunt, duck hunt, and quail hunt. They amount to a historical treasure! This DVD was made in 2004 by Wayne Capooth. As many might know, he was the author of The Golden Age of Waterfowling. I can't find Wayne's address in the mess I call my office, but he has done some articles for Delta Waterfowl's magazine, so my guess is that editor Paul Wait has his address. For those interested, I would suggest getting in touch with Paul. I can assure you that it will be worth the effort if you follow up on this. Best, Worth Mathewson
