The 1930s were rough for people and even harder than life itself was finding a steady job. For a lucky number of men, permanent employment came in the form of working in factories where they manufactured Chevrolet’s fleet of vehicles.

While time has healed many scars of the Great Depression, Hooniverse recently found footage of American autoworkers building Chevys at the Flint, Michigan plant from that notable era. You’ve probably taken automotive manufacturing tours before, but this footage of the Chevrolet assembly plant from 1936 is a must see.

By 1936, a series of programs known as the “New Deal” had been in place for three years, put into action by Franklin Roosevelt to help pull America out of its economic crisis. With some programs working better than others, the American public was beginning to see relief from the Great Depression and regain faith in their economy. Although the recession of 1937 would hit one year later, people were beginning to buy things again and car manufacturing got a boost.

Under taglines like “The Only Complete Low-Priced Car,” Chevrolet offered cars like the Standard and Master DeLuxe, which came in town sedan, coupe, coach and cabriolet versions, as well as a truck line. Chevrolet also offered top-of-the-line technology to its customers at the time, with things like a solid steel “turret top,” shock proof steering, hydraulic brakes and “genuine Fisher no draft ventilation.”

For a time when technology had advanced only to a point where televisions had been available for less than a decade, the amount of animatronics that were used in the Chevy factory in 1936 is impressive.

Add a bit of color to the footage and a some newer chassis, and you might confuse the video for a few generations later.

As noted by Hooniverse, the soundtrack of the footage is rather awful, but the nearly 10 minutes of metal stamping, chassis building, vehicle assembly and quality control checks is well worth watching from start to finish.