Weisler-Langer Family Film Collection, 1931–1959

The Weissler family emigrated from Galicia, Russia, and Germany and lived on the Lower East Side in Manhattan in the early part of the nineteenth century. The donor's grandparents, Alfred Weisler and Selma Hirsch, moved to The Bronx when they married in 1919. They had two children, Erna and the donor's father, Arnold.

Alfred Weisler was a professional photographer who worked at the Burnside Manor, once a thriving catering and event hall on Burnside Avenue. He often took home movies of family and friends in his University Heights neighborhood, which at the time was comparatively pastoral with small private houses, some empty lots, and quiet streets. The family lived at 1907 Loring Place, which is still an apartment building today.

In his movies, spanning from 1931 to the 1940s, Alfred recorded trips out of The Bronx as well—to the Catskills, the Circle Line to Bear Mountain, and Floyd Bennett Field, where people would gather to watch the landing and take-off of the biplanes. He leaves a rich legacy of not only movies but also photographs and ephemera that enrich our understanding of life in The Bronx at that time. In addition to the donor's grandparents, aunt, and father, the film also includes footage of all four of the donor's great-grandparents, who were living in Brooklyn at the time, as well as neighbors and friends around Loring Place.

The Langer family emigrated from Hungary, Romania and Germany and settled on the Lower East Side in the late 1800s. The donor's grandparents on this side, Morton Langer and Ruth Lewitz, were both born in New York in 1902 and 1906, respectively. They married in 1926 and lived in Brooklyn and the Bronx. They had four children: the donor's mother Frances and three uncles, Howard, Robert, and Arthur. All lived, along with a cat and a dog, in a small ground-floor, one-bedroom apartment at 705 Crotona Park North at the time of this film.

The donor's uncle Howard Langer received a gift of a movie camera for his thirteenth birthday in 1943. This recently discovered film shows the Langer family in the 1940s when they lived at Crotona Park North in the Crotona section of The Bronx. The film also includes a bond rally on Stebbins Avenue and a trip to Washington DC. The original movie was taken with a camera that leaked light. An editor hired by the donor and her family removed much of the blank frames, which is why the final version of the movie has many still shots and pauses in movement.

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