The Clearview Farm, the current site of the Clearview Mall, is one of many places documented in "Butler 1940: The Lions Club Films."

Fifty years ago, police officers walked a beat in Butler, using telephones on poles to communicate with headquarters.

The special poles were removed from city streets in the early 1990s, but the officers still can be seen lining up for inspection on footage now available to the public.

Titled "Butler 1940: The Lions Club Films," the three-hour DVD was transferred this month from 16mm film that was shot in the 1940s to document bustling city life.The footage includes comings and goings at churches, shops and schools, and scenic footage of nearby game lands."There are literally hundreds of people on Main Street," said Tom Graham of Frames and Pixels in Butler, which transferred the footage.Dressed in suits and hats for ordinary shopping, many of the people are recognizable to those who have watched the footage so far.Tom Oesterling of Winfield Township, one of three longtime residents who narrated the DVD, picked out his parents among the crowds. And Mary Phillips of the Maridon Museum, another narrator, saw herself in the footage.Former county commissioner Joan Chew also narrated the DVD.Set up in the Cornerstone Commons, formerly the Odd Fellows building on Main Street, the trio narrated the DVD by watching it together, talking informally about images they saw.Although each had previewed the footage before the narration, nothing was scripted in advance.

"We just went in there and started," said Oesterling, who also serves as the Lions Club historian."We just 'oohed' and 'awed' and commented.""This is a great time capsule for the city," said Lions Club member John Hertzog of Center Township, on the committee that spearheade"We've heard this over and over again: that people saw friends and relatives that they knew," he said of many who have previewed the footage.Hertzog said the Lions transferred the footage to video about 10 years ago, but the end product was cumbersome to use since multiple video tapes were needed.Graham said the DVD version is more portable and easier to navigate, since it contains a menu describing the sections, which can be traversed with little effort.Although no documentation exists on who shot the footage or why, Oesterling thinks Cameron Martin, a Lions member in the 1940s, did the camera work, having been largely involved in presenting the film as a program to other civic groups.Graham said such city documentary films were common in the 1940s, when professional film crews would shoot the footage and sometimes charge businesses to be featured.Groups would then show the films in their communities, charging admission to raise funds, Graham said.

Hertzog said the DVD sales will raise money for the club’s current philanthropic efforts, which in the past year have included helping to fund construction of the Community Health Clinic of Butler County in Bonniebrook Industrial Park.The DVDs are available for $25 plus shipping and tax through the Web site butler1940.com. Copies also are available at Frames and Pixels, 131 W. North St., or by calling 724- 290-1592.

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Mary Phillips of the Maridon Museum is one of many who have recognized themselves in the 1940s footage. Phillips is one of three long-time residents who helped narrate the footage.

People dressed in hats and suits shop along Main Street in Butler in the 1940s. "Butler 1940: The Lions Club Films" is a three-hour DVD that was transferred this month from 16mm film by Frames and Pixels in Butler. The footage was shot in the 1940s and documents bustling city life. The Lions Club is selling the film for $25, with proceeds going toward the club's charitable efforts.

City police officers line up for inspection. The police force, like many aspects of Butler, has changed since the 1940s. Fifty years ago, officers walked a beat, using telephones on poles to communicate with headquarters. The special poles were eventually removed from city streets in the early 1990s. No one knows who shot the footage or why, but Tom Oesterling, one of the film's narrators, thinks Cameron Martin, a Lions Club member in the 1940s, did the camera work.