Winter Comes to Michigan – 1930’s Style

“Michigan in Pictures” carried the story today of this old video reel of how the Michigan Department of Transportation handled the winter season and the clearing of roads back in the 1930s. But there is some history of skiing and ski-jumping in Michigan here too that adds to its interest.

Here’s the introduction to the video as posted on YouTube, followed by the video itself. Enjoy this wintery “blast from the past!” Pun intended. 🙂

This 1930s-era newsreel was recently discovered by sisters Nancy and Barbara Sleeper of Newberry [in the Upper Peninsula], whose grandfather, Sanborn Sleeper, was the superintendent of the Luce County Road Commission from 1928 until sometime around World War II. The Sleepers donated the film to MDOT for public display. Enjoy this glimpse of the era when Murray Van Wagoner, a future Michigan governor, ran the department from 1933-1940.