I am looking for some clips to complete a portion of a brief intro to a documentary that are historic/comical in nature. I am sure they are out there but hours of searching the web has turend up nothing but a migraine. Here are the type of clips I am looking for, preferably 1930s and older:

Piano movers moving a piano (used as a metaphor for modern logistics)
Scientist at a blackboard sketching formulas (used as metaphor for complex)
Old fashioned phone operators at switchboard (as metaphor for bad communications)

These can look very aged and dated....even a bit comical....like a silent movie if need be.

There is more but these would be a good start. Any ideas? I am in a bind and the alternative is to recreate these scenarios in modern times and try to make it look aged, which I would like to avoid.

Thanks.

You've tried Getty and Corbis and all the usual stock footage houses? These images are extremely common (or at least feel extremely familiar, almost to the point of being cliche; something to think about) and should be a two-second Google search.

I think the most famous piano-moving footage was from the classic Laurel & Hardy short, which if I recall correctly may have been called "The Music Box." But even if that title is incorrect, a search for Laurel & Hardy Piano will likely turn it up. Whether you can get the rights is another story.

I can't believe the other shots don't come up instantly in a search if you use the right terms.

Try these guys....


Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/index.php)

Try this and it may help

Footage.net - The Stock Footage Search Engine (http://www.footage.net/)

vishal