Adam Savage Examines Long-Lost Soviet Art!

In the lofts of The Earl Hays Press, Adam and Michael Corrie of ‪@PropsToHistory‬ examine the vast collection of print ephemera gathered over the past 100 years as reference material for the designers to use to create printed props. Among thousands of stacked and rolled up prints are beautiful Soviet-era posters and artwork that would have otherwise been lost to history if not collected as part of this reference archive.
Learn more about The Earl Hays Press at www.theearlhay...
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Shot and edited by Joey Fameli
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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Thanks for watching!
#adamsavage #props

[@ANTheWhizkid]

I’d digitalize and archive literally everything. Maybe a permanent exhibition and opening the catalogue for curators / offering art prints can carry the expenses for the necessary storage.

[@Hydrart]

It would be nice to publish a several volume large book set of this collection 😮 Because it’s our birthday and we wants it.

[@writerpatrick]

That sounds fine until your supercomputer misplaces a whole century.

[@johnrivers3813]

Whatever they do with this collection really depends on what they can afford. If they're cutting back on their collection because they can't afford more storage I don't think they'll invest in a huge move like publishing an art book collection, even though I'd love that 😢

[@SamiKankaristo]

If it's only digital (and not video), storage is cheap. 1000 $ buys you more storage (with backups) than you could probably fill with images. But the labor involved in digitalization *would* get expensive, it would take a looong time.

[@cleverusername9369]

Respectfully, I believe you'll find that the word is digitize, not "digitalize."

[@ericcarabetta1161]

The old Soviet art has such a cool, unique, bold style to it.

[@Pangloss6413]

It looks cool until you spend every day of your life surrounded them on every flat, dry, vertical surface possible

[@pixiniarts]

I'd be reaching out to more museums, seeing everything disappear into private hands would be a shame. Love these Earl Hayes videos so much! Thank you!

[@brettsalter3300]

Earl Hayes needs a museum constructed for their collection, the treasures here are priceless.

[@Goalsplus]

The guy is an heralded legend!

[@kadirbeneathmomoteh854]

This series of videos about this place is SO fascinating. I wish they would just keep going forever, they'd theoretically have the material to do hundreds of videos probably

[@tested]

We're setting up another shoot, hopefully to take place in October!

[@johnabbottphotography]

@@tested Will you be bringing a sleeping bag, Adam? This is one of those places that's valuable on so many levels. Our actual history is preserved in some of those works, as found in that playbill for Uncle Tom's Cabin. I'm reminded of the 2008 Universal Music fire, where the master tapes were hit by a fire, and how it destroyed the masters of thousands of recordings. Preserving these prints to me is the same as how it would have been valuable to have digitized those masters.

[@FreejackVesa]

Many years ago my mother, who was a young designer at the time, was hired to go through the archives of an very old tea and spice importer on the east coast, John Wagner and Sons. They had been in the import business since at least 1847 but probably much longer than that. I remember sitting with her going through these dusty archives of old pictures, products, random ephemera, etc. it was really cool experience for a young kid that I'll always remember. It's amazing to see and hold history in your hands like that. And not even history in the sense of historical events, history of everyday people and businesses that are now lost to time. I think that the majority of the data on the internet is just cruft and junk - there is so much dark data moldering away in attics and forgotten that we really should be trying to save, even if it's not important in the regular sense of the word.

[@badcrumblefx]

Omg! I’m Hungarian, I’d love to see some of the Hungarian constructivist art! Please show some of it if possible! Thanks for sharing all these marvels!

[@Hadanelith1]

There are *so many art books* in there, just *waiting, BEGGING* to be made. And I want *ALL OF THEM*.

[@organicsludgeqt7037]

Exactly!!! Art obsessives are drooling.

[@shadowgattler]

It's always great to see giddy Adam is about whatever topic he's discussing. I'm sure it means a lot to these curators and creators to see such enthusiasm in their craft.

[@corrinastanley125]

I would love them to loan out some of their collection to art museum's and schools for display. They could be protected ( /insured )and stored there instead.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

I certainly hope that some artists are doing digital scans of the old Soviet architecture and statues for reference in film.

[@elcorado83]

I LOVE this series of videos-Michael is SUCH an interesting guy, its SUCH an INCREDIBLE collection, and Adam is the perfect host for the videos! MORE PLEASE!

[@zorkpl]

This is ART. I miss that kind of attention to detail in many productions today. Aside from the lack of details, many productions lack basic logic. It's beautiful, this material is beautiful... Too often I see that everything is ok, but the sterile approach to objects, etc., emanates from the screen.

[@BigWheel.]

Soviet "art" is incredibly sterilized and dehumanizing in my opinion.

[@elliotts5574]

well, you are welcome to your incorrect opinion@@BigWheel.

[@coolguyjki]

​@@BigWheel.This idea that Soviet art is somehow dehumanizing because of the Socialist system it was created under is an easily disprovable myth that indicates you don't know much about Soviet art.

[@DevinJHiggins]

I suspect there is enough material buried and waiting to be discovered at EHP that Adam and the team could easily create FIVE YEARS worth of video content helping to document it. And I'll gladly tune into each and every one of them, because what an amazing archive!

[@gregorysharp]

Adam is a bee in a field of beautiful flowers. He can’t visit them all fast enough. Loves them all. ❤

[@Naturally-Fragrant]

Loving these episodes. Great stuff.

[@tested]

Learn more about The Earl Hays Press at www.theearlhayspress.com/ Follow Props to History at: kzbin.info

[@UncleManuel]

These two guys easily could create videos about going through that stuff for the next 5 years... 😁

[@l-l]

And I’d watch every single episode

[@hisownsidekick]

@@l-lYou, me, and many others!

[@TX-biker]

What an awesome place. I enjoy finding and learning about what is found. MORE PLEASE🤠

[@johndillon8051]

I'd be blown away too seeing that stuff. And I'd give my left one for either the three rocket poster or the Soviet navy one shown toward the end. Fantastic!

[@MTVen-qe1km]

That is absolutely fascinating. Hope they digitalise it in high resolution to preserve it virtually forever

[@jeanmalo7173]

I love the one with the 3 rockets on it...the colors really pop...thanks Adam!

[@tadbutlerstoryart]

I love seeing these episodes featuring Earl Hayes Press, because I have a particular fascination with printing, both offset printung and screen printing. I myself have worked in every aspect of printing from graphic design, to prepress (camera, stripping, plate making, screen prep, and even press operating). I work as a storyboard artist and character designer for an animation studio now, but remember my days in printing fondly, and really geek out over the stuff that is being catalogued and archived. Please keep these segments coming!

[@idahoartlab-videos]

More of this PLEASE! This is SO inspiring!! We are part of The Mentorship Project with Screen Printing Magazine, learning from master printer Andy MacDougall how to make the most of our serigraph equipment for fine art serigraphs. Also, the local printer wants to donate offset printing equipment. We want to make space for it, inspired by you :) Hi Michael!

[@PropsToHistory]

Hello there :)

[@jagervonweebs610]

This is fantastic, the sheer volume means the avwrage person might be able to get a piece from this collection

[@nateb9768]

As a historian in training it is my hope that all of this material, after organizing and cataloging will be sent to a museum where it will be enjoyed by the public at large. Preserved forever and used as educational material for telling the story of different facets of soviet life etc. My only gripe with the handling of artifacts within this video is the lack of white gloves.... hopefully this gentleman has been trained in archival methodologies.

[@boy638]

I can only imagine the billboards and posters we see everywhere today and largely ignored will become highly treasured in the next few decades.

[@RobbBoswell]

What an amazing place.. i envy Michael!! ☺️🤘🏼🇺🇲

[@00yiggdrasill00]

Unfortunately time will inevitably destroy all of this eventually so I really hope they are least digitise everything and preferably make what accurate copies they can.

[@FreejackVesa]

I'm not so sure about that. Those posters will fetch a decent price to collectors. However the sheer volume of material makes it questionable if it's worth the time and effort to try and sell it all. I do agree with you that some of this stuff will probably decay away with time, but I do think that there is a market and interest for this type of stuff. I also agree that I hope they will digitize it. If I could donate to his patreon so he could spend time digitizing it all, I would.

[@BigWheel.]

I think much like nazi art, it's better to let the shit rot.

[@Dismythed]

Right up my alley. Commercial art is great. I have no desire to paint it, but if not for commercial art, I might never have been inspired to become an artist as a three year old.

[@oliviawolcott8351]

I love all these historical related videos. its so cool!

[@Relaxedplaythroughs]

This building is an important historical time capsule for many thing from film to just history with all the long forgotten reference materials. So much of it should probably be in a museum. Don't sell them they'll go into a private collection never to be seen again.

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

Why did I hear that sentence as Indiana Jones? "It belongs on a museum."

[@Merennulli]

There aren't enough museums for that. Museums are not infinite archives, they have to pick what they conserve. The rest is either conserved in private collections, or it isn't preserved at all.

[@DarthBiomech]

Don't sell them and they'll go into the _dumpster_ instead.

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

What might be the best way to preserve them is to create a digital archive that could become a digital museum. Yes, private collections might be the best place for many of these items, especially since there are duplicates. We wish that all the treasures could be held in museum collections open to the public, but there just isn't enough money and space for such things.

[@jaydonbooth4042]

The government should make a museum like the National Air and Space museum except have it be for movie history if somebody else won't pay to do it. It's always a shame when the choice is between the trash and rich private collectors. We should be able to do better than that and allow all of society to enjoy these things rather than just a single individual.

[@organicsludgeqt7037]

Another reason to love the USSR! 🛠️

[@jamesshepherd2649]

I could watch passionate people speak about there passions all day amazing :)

[@andy-in-indy]

I absolutely love some of those Soviet Space posters! "Victorious Start of the Space Squadron!" with Soyuz 6,7, and 8! A digital archive would be so wonderful for these things.

[@theHardChargerVids]

if only they could make a poster of the debris the soviets just littered all over the moon on Aug 10 2023

[@Khronogi]

​@@theHardChargerVidsdont be a jackass

[@andy-in-indy]

@@theHardChargerVids Officially, they have not been Soviets for decades, and they had their share of disastrous and lethal flights at the time of these posters.

[@vadimk3484]

@@theHardChargerVids Don't compare the imperialist dump that post-Soviet Russia has become to the USSR. Modern ex-USSR governments can't even maintain everything that the Soviet people had once built, let alone make something superior.

[@notfeedynotlazy]

Adam, I know for a fact that you (being _exactly_ my age) are NOT surprised by the existence of the pre-internet world. Which means that, dude, I apretiate the show of amazement you make to draw attention to it to kids today that are not used to the idea that there was a time where to research stuff you had to actually _move._ *Kudos for your devotion to being educational.*

[@linkstackleshop]

I could spend weeks in there as a vacation. So fabulous!

[@andrewjackson5741]

Michael is defiantly the love child of Adam and Jamie…

[@frofrozzty]

I love the Soviet futurist art-movement so much. Genuinely just so aesthetically pleasing. Why does Adam seem extra baked in this one?

[@mikegustafson6679]

I absolutely love the videos about this place!

[@z0mb13h0rd3]

I really, really, really, have a huge desire for those Soviet space posters. Those have to be the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time. I fear nobody loves me enough of those come up on auction.

[@GreyDevil]

Every video of this place is just absolutely thrilling. Would love for a big portion of this to displayed at a museum, and have replicas for sale at the gift shop :D

[@dinozorman]

i love that. "started as a hobby, became a passion, and now its my goal" (aka obsession lol)

[@PropsToHistory]

Fair assessment

[@Omnis2]

2:30 I love how Adam hears "with John Wayne" and then reflexively pulls his hand away from the piece LOL.

[@czar_aznable5018]

That white poster of the man jumping rhat's inbetween Adam and Michael at the start is gorgeous. I really want it for some reason.

[@killer_rabbit42]

I love how giddy with delight Adam is. I know I would be too. I love old archive stuff like that.

[@joshuadelgado1286]

I would give anything to go through the collection just for the astatic appeal. The art work is beautiful

[@patrickdiehl6813]

I could spend months in that place and never be bored 👍

[@Toobeegort]

It looks as if it would take 100 people a 100 years to go through all of this, document it all and digitalize it all to save it for posterity, what an enormous job. They should get in touch with museums for conservation of art and the display of certain sub sections of the collection.

[@johnleith3161]

How did you get Adam out of there? Did you have to wait until he went to the bathroom and quickly lock the door so he couldn't get back in?

[@dinozorman]

im imagining his wife had to go down there and psychically drag him out lol

[@Augustjaz]

In School We would thumb through stacks of old magazines. Tear out, cut out images of "Water" "Birds" "Trees" so on and whatever. Our professor called them "Image Morgue". Someone broke into my car and stole my Image Morgue. I can imagine they were shocked and confused when the opened it. I am sure they thought I was some kind of weirdo.

[@CaptainMarvelsSon]

There is a language book used by Daniel Jackson in at least one episode of Stargate SG-1 -- a prop that I never hear anyone mention -- that I would love to see. Now I wonder if these guys created it,

[@AweHitero]

damn.. it takes me back to my childhood pretty much =) impressive collection =)

[@Sacrer]

You should definitely digitize and sell them to museums. This is not only the history of filmmaking, but also the history of the world.

[@l-l]

god I’d love a video series about this collection.

[@johnrivers3813]

I would have a field day in that place! I love looking at authentic vintage posters

[@ThatVideoGuyTom]

I'd love a museum of this

[@glockparaastra]

Fascinating!

[@griffincypert2900]

I wish this collection would be digitized and made available. Even if it were for purchase

[@Vocnor]

When is the auction? I’d love to have any one of those posters. Like they said, the graphic design is just so great

[@fartzinwind]

I hope even if something can't be restored, that it's at least being high res scanned.

[@GaryGraham66]

They say the hindsight is 20 20, but Earl Hayes was way way better than that, his foresight was a shade better than JWST at seeing what may be needed in the future. That is a true genius at work.

[@TJKarlson]

I don't even care about this stuff yet still find it fascinating, so I can't even imagine how people who are truly passionate about this sort of thing must feel at seeing a place like this.

[@yobgodababua1862]

The historical significance of everything here is astronomical. Please please document and scan everything before finding good homes for the originals.

[@doohuh]

Wow I really hope this collection can be digitized for public viewing and reference.

[@nicolevanderpool1252]

I do so love geeking out and wondering what treasures are hiding just around the corner. If we’re shown such artistic prizes this time what can we expect next time? 😊

[@erikdeluxe]

I request a 2 hour show and tell , thank you very much :D

[@RyanMercer]

I sure hope they're digitizing all of that stuff.

[@nathkrupa3463]

Great video sir

[@EGDD-42]

The only thing that I've come across thats vaguely similar is the John Johnson Collection of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. They have a collection is a mass of British local marketing materials from shop bags to posters

[@LFfire1597]

More more more please!!!

[@finkdawg5]

Awesome! Get rid of those fluorescent bulbs, they will destroy those prints.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Hopefully they replace them with LED lights that don't emit UV.

[@drskelebone]

Surely rolls aren't the best storage, right? Can you place them between acid free pages of a Very Large Book? I guess maybe I'm thinking of those poster displays from the 80s/90s where you'd flip posters back and forth before choosing what you wanted by number below.

[@generalfishcake]

All of it is so interesting!

[@BaconbuttywithCheese]

It's like the warehouse at the end of Raiders except all the crates are open.

[@zachmoyer1849]

crazy how much work is so much easier to do now

[@f1matt]

Incredible

[@AleksandrMotsjonov]

Technically I am from USSR (now Estonia). And am culturally Russian (though now in Australia). So I am very excited about this episode

[@cmdrflake]

Wow! Just wow 😎👀💯👍🏻

[@marcoaurelio4903]

I love to bid on some of those soviet art (and maybe some from my country).

[@km6hja391]

Adam, what kind of watch are you wearing.

[@MrMobius2011]

If they are running out of storage, I'll store some 🤣

[@GT40Nut]

Absolutely amazing and important to save. I agree with ANTheWizkid digitalize and catalog everything. Allow access so movie, stage productions and historians can see and use the material in the way it was intended. Smithsonian quality stuff.

[@cleverusername9369]

I love how Adam casually wears his Indiana Jones cosplay shirt as though Indy fans wouldn't notice

[@jimjames335]

Only a few seconds in. That red dude on the thumbnail and in the background at the start of the interview is pressing a kettlebell. Or the position and posture is inspired by that event.

[@TheJamesrw10]

Love Soviet art

[@TheHorzabora]

This place is a world treasure. They can clearly make a vast contribution towards our understanding of C20th culture. I also *adore* Soviet art and Soviet-era futurism. Their vision for a communist future was quite amazing. Utter lies, but amazing.

[@ezraclark7904]

How do I get that poster in the thumbnail, it is amazing

[@Craig-wp3pz]

The soviet 'interpretation' of that fine Brazilian artist 'Embraer' included a very thorough disassembly, even if the 'reconstruction' left a little to be desired, it did however, greatly icrease the pieces impact,both visually and physically, but many will believe that the pieces in questioned, may devalue other works by Embraer, 🖼 🎨 , the harsh somewhat Brutalist Soviet interpretation will cause discussions for years....😮😅😊

[@Redfvvg]

What?

[@CPFitzgerald]

"this is backed on linen" my heart sank that it wasn't a Lenin on linen, but it was still a beautiful piece

[@PropsToHistory]

There is a Lenin, on linen... it's 4ft tall. So it's a 4 foot Lenin on Linen

[@gl15col]

I believe he should start properly storing stuff in this area; all that ephemera left in big sloppy piles to rot. I'm making myself sad...Maybe the Smithsonian would be willing to buy some of it to display.

[@dinozorman]

they would need a whole new building to display a fraction of what is in there.

[@Madre_Natura]

love Soviet Art

[@stigmautomata]

they're so pretty

[@blackvulture7999]

Добра, што ёсць арганізацыі, якія пачалі разумець каштоўнасць гэтых артэфактаў раней, чым яны поўнасцю зніклі. Шкада толькі, што гэта не адбылося на постсавецкай прасторы ў той самы час. Асабіста я фанат савецкай графікі і мастацтва. Асабліва 60-80-х гадоў.

[@dalebelseth3058]

Mind blown

[@SignalDitch]

"This is linen backed" I think you'll find it's actually Stalin backed

[@BigWheel.]

My Romanian great grandmother would probably be screaming to have it all burned.

[@spartan117ak]

acting like rich collectors don't often just buy this stuff on auction for it to rot in poor storage conditions. At least this isn't old film stock.

[@fartzinwind]

I love the diversity of weird shit this channel explores.

[@harvestblades]

While I detest Communism & the USSR there is so much I love about the people & region, whether it is Soviet era mil surplus, weaponry, & the Constructionist & propaganda art. It just gives you such a feel for the toughness & pride of the people. Adam, thankbyou for this video.