Hello everyone! Last summer, I was vacationing in Flagstaff and as I normally do on trips, I went to some antique stores and found something interesting. I asked the fellow at the booth if he had any 16mm film, and he pulled out three cans of 35mm film! I looked at all three and because of money constraints I only got one, a boxing match. The store was called Flagstaff Antiques. I bought it for the novelty and collector’s value, and sat on it until now. I am wondering what I should do about this. I believe it is nitrate, as it is silent, and if I’m not mistaken, nitrate was used for BW until the 40s, far after the silent era had ended. I also believe it is from either 1917 or 1915. 1915 because of the side it reads, “Du Pont-Pathe 15.” But I think it is most likely 1917 because of this pamphlet:
https://www.kodak.com/uploadedfiles/motion/Guide_to_Identifying_Year_of_Manufacture.pdf
It has info on markings on the side of film stock indicating the year, and the markings for 1917 match up with the ones on the film. It does not have a strange or vinegary smell. It is rather clean considering its age. There are some tears and lots of sprocket hole damage. Here are some images of the reel and the film taken with a DSLR:
Capture of a frame of the film:
Torn sprocket holes:
An example of a tear:
