Produced by the Dallas-based Jamieson Film Company, this industrial film gives a behind-the-scenes look into the Imperial Sugar Company. The film begins with a brief history of American sugar production, identifying the company’s origin as the Oakland Sugar Plantation. The narrator then delves into the life of an Imperial sugar granule, from sugar cane in Puerto Rico to table sugar in Texas. The film concludes with a psychedelic music video about the prevalence of sugar in all types of food and everyday items.

The city of Sugar Land now occupies the site that was once the Oakland Plantation. It was there that in 1843 Samuel May Williams installed a commercial sugar-grinding mill on his land, leading to a rapid shift from cotton to sugar cane as the area's dominant crop. In 1905, the area's sugar plantations were acquired by the Kempner family, who dubbed their company the Imperial Sugar Company. Though sugar has not been refined at the original plant since 2003, the company's headquarters remains in Sugar Land, making it the oldest extant business in Texas.

Dallas County Fort Bend County Galveston County Harris County Dallas Houston Sugar Land Galveston

TFC 16mm Sugar Land Heritage Foundation Imperial Sugar Company Sugar Land Fort Bend County Galveston Galveston County Dallas Dallas County Houston Harris County Arlington Tarrant County Austin Travis County Jamieson Film Company Sugar, Pure Cane Sugar Mr. Stanley Ketchum Ketchum, Stanley C. H. Ketchum Company map Spanish Explorers New World Louisiana Gulf of Mexico Republic of Texas Brazos Valley coastal counties plantation sugar plantation cane sugar mill sugar mill cane sugar sugar fields cane fields sugar mill crops sky reeds

sun nature India Western World 13th century Christopher Columbus Columbus, Christopher America planters immigrants Samuel May Williams Williams, Samuel May Stephen F. Austin Austin, Stephen F. war Galveston land Oakland Plantation farmers laborers slaves Williams Sugar Mill Benjamin Franklin Terry Terry, Benjamin Franklin W. J. Kyle Kyle, W. J. Colonel Edward H. Cunningham Cunningham, Edward H. E. H. Cunningham Cunningham, E. H. Cunningham Sugar Refinery Rio Grande Valley I. H. Kempner Kempner, I. H. Isaac H. Kempner Kempner, Isaac H. William T. Eldridge Eldridge, William T. W. T. Eldridge Eldridge, W. T.

Imperial Hotel New York City NYC Daniel Kempner Kempner, Daniel import raw sugar Depression Great Depression World War I WW1 economic depression imported sugar Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Inc. W. R. Cowley Sugar House W. R. Cowley Cowley, W. R. South Texas Rio Grande River Rio Grande Valley water irrigation rainfall juice samples harvest fields burnt fields stalk leaves mechanical harvester machine moving conveyor cane box transfer point truck cane truck inverter clarified and boiled sugar warehouse refinery Port of Galveston

port ships cargo ships hoppers conveyors docks warehouse box cars rail railroad train Imperial’s Laboratory laboratory lab samples sugar samples warm syrup impurities sugar crystals melters melting tanks clarification tanks liquid sugar liquor filtration process filters colorization soluble materials char house carbon house evaporators excess water vapors mechanical vapor recompression evaporators vacuum pans powdered pans crystals sugar crystals crystallization

strike of sugar sugar syrup machines centrifugal machines rotating cylinders granulators vibrating screens uniform grain size visitors packaging department employees equipment brown sugar form fill and seal machines powdered sugar automatic bundler maintenance program machinery maintenance crew construction work steam generators turbo generators truck bulk shipments stainless steel tank trucks distribution center Arlington storage tanks ultraviolet sanitized air stainless steel dissolving tank deliveries black strap molasses molasses molasses protein supplement MPS nutrition beef and dairy cattle cattle cows

carbohydrate energy fruits vegetables preservative canned goods health conditions misinformation natural food company men women buyers The Tyler Standard Screen Scale grocery store supermarket candy juice lipstick coffee tea lemonade grapefruit soft drinks soda envelopes ice cream cake cookies cheese spreads jellies preserves food bacon cured meat salad dressing ketchup medicine Vance Newell & Assoc. industrial film

1960s 1960’s