Two moving pictures were made in December 1912 in Sherman and Denison.  The first movie was titled Seeing Sherman; it was shot on December 10, 11, and 12.  The second movie was Seeing Denison, which was apparently filmed in one day, December 14.  Both movies were done by W.O. Lamb of the Special Event Film Company.  The Sherman and Denison films were similar in that both were funded by the local Chambers of Commerce and businesses.  

Sherman Chamber of Commerce appointed several committees.  Dr. O.H. Ahlers was assigned to duty to have the streets of Sherman swept just prior to the automobile parade.  L.T. Martin, Ike Exstein and Will Leslie were appointed as finance committee with their task to visit merchants in the city and determine what each would pay toward the making of the film.  R.H. Hall headed up the committee to see the merchants on Travis Street, encouraging them to arrange the fronts of their business establishments as neatly as possible so that the parade would portray a pretty scene.

The plan was to screen the finished films locally for a few days, then send them to as many northern and eastern cities as possible throughout the coming year, 1913, in hopes of attracting capital investment.  The two movies had similar storylines.  Six young ladies would pretend to arrive by train at the local depot.  They would be met in each case by a single male escort.  He would be driving a new automobile.   


The escort for the Denison actresses was A.L. Lewis, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.

The "visitors" would then be filmed riding in a parade through downtown before continuing on to various schools, churches, public buildings, factories, residential neighborhoods, and even construction sites of "good roads."  In Denison the fire department was filmed in action.

Townspeople were invited to participate as extras in the parades and other scenes.  They were encouraged to bring decorated automobiles and bicycles.  In Denison a silver loving cup was awarded to the best decorated automobile and $2 in silver given to the boy or girl riding the best decorated bicycle.  (The Denison Daily Herald, Wednesday, December 11, 1912, pg. 8)

The names of the six Sherman actresses were Misses Elizabeth Allen, Lena West, Ira Mae Allen, Ruth Bullock, Ada Field, and Selma Couch, all of whom were selected by popular vote and all of whom attended Kidd-Key College.  In Sherman the following places were visited:
Chamber of Commerce headquarters
A house party for the young actresses
Visit to two of Sherman's six public school buildings
Visit to Sherman's colleges
Tour of the residential district
Visit to some of Sherman's leading churches
Tour of Sherman's jobbing and factory district
Tour of some of Sherman's public buildings
WItness the construction of good roads in the Sherman district
Considerable footage was devoted to the county's big mule market.
(The Denison Daily Herald, Tuesday, December 10, 1912, pg. 2)

Post-production periods were brief for both films.  Seeing Denison, shot on December 14, began a three-day run at the Alladin Theater on December 26; the Chamber of Commerce leased the theater in order to show the films.  It moved down Main Street to the BrooksTone for two more screenings on New Year's Day.  (The Denison Daily Herald, Tuesday, December 24, 1912, pg. 8)

Seeing Sherman was screened at the Jewel Theater beginning the first week in January.  The longer turnaround may have been because it was a longer movie than Seeing Denison, or it may have been because it was screened in New York City, where it was processed, before being shipped back to Sherman.

Ten months after Seeing Denison was made, the Denison Chamber of Commerce sent a telegram to Denver requesting the reels be returned to Denison in order that M.L. Ridout of the Star Theater could take the film to Dallas to show at a meeting of the Moving Picture Exhibitors' League of Texas.