1958 Salt Mining, Production & Evaporation Film

White Wonder is an entertaining promotional video made by the Morton salt company in the 1950s. The film takes the audience on a tour of the extraction, processing, and uses of salt in all its many different forms. It captures how salt mines are detonated using dynamite, then the salt is cut into huge blocks and pulverized. Ocean salt mining is accomplished through water the desalination process which is also shown. Shots of salt water evaporation pools, drying kilns, and technicians testing the unfinished brine make for a revealing look at salt production & processing. All this just to make Morton pulverized salt! The next sequence continues the process, showing adding iodine to salt (to prevent goiters and other iodine related deficiencies), canning and labeling of salt containers (cool shots of vintage Morton salt and pepper shakers), and a display of many different kinds of salt in packages. The film claims there are 14,000 different uses for salt, and shows footage of many, including livestock at salt licks, women using salt to clean many household items, food products, lipstick, telephones, paint, and fire extinguishers. It even includes footage of missiles and claims that national defense is dependent on salt. Throughout, the bagged and labeled salt bears the Morton Logo, which also appears throughout the end credits. White Wonder is not only a valuable look at salt production, but also a marvelous stroll through all sorts of 1950s culture.