Drum brakes are essentially extinct on new cars today—save for a few budget-minded holdouts like the Ford Focus 1.0-liter. But for nearly a century, they were the standard system of choice on nearly every automobile, from the earliest rod-operated mechanical brakes of pre-war cars to the ABS-equipped stoppers of the 1990s and 2000s. And while they might conceptually seem simple, it took a lot of engineering to make them reliable and powerful enough to slow down ever-faster and more powerful automobiles.

That's why, even if you know the inner workings of a drum brake like the back of your hand, you'll still enjoy this fantastic film from 1934.

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Yes, we're talking about another Jam Handy instructional film. Commissioned by Chevrolet in 1934, it's essentially a 10-minute-long advertisement for the apparent superiority of Chevy's drum brake designs.

Of course, back in 1934 the state of braking art hadn't even figured out hydraulic brakes yet—the stoppers in this film were operated by a series of rods and cables connecting the brake pedal to the four wheels. Think about that the next time you bring your two-ton family hauler to a stop with just a subtle flex of your right ankle muscles.

Like all of the Jam Handy films we've featured in the past, explaining how manual transmissions, cooling systems, differentials, fuel systems, engine lubrication, and suspension systems work, this one uses stone simple illustrations to start at basic physics principals and work up to the complete system. If you can follow the first few sentences, you won't get left behind.

Go ahead, learn something.

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