Western travels in California, Arizona, and Mexico, 1939--Robert Hoadley Whipple--home movies. Reel 7

Date1939

Can DescriptionsOn can: "Western #2, Grand Canyon 1939”

AbstractColor home movies of the Whipple family's travels through the American West and Mexico in 1939, including scenes of San Francisco, Tijuana, and Grand Canyon National Park.

Viewing NotesReel begins with city views of downtown San Francisco. Mission-style architecture, including a church with an ornate mural on its facade. A passing parade features a marching band in mariachi costume, costumed men and women on horseback, horse carriages and wagons. Shots of various buildings, a large empty football stadium, an outdoor amphitheater, aircraft on a runway, large military vessels seen off shore, possibly in San Diego. Dark shots of waterskiing and of rocky coastline taken from a boat. Street scenes in downtown Tijuana, Mexico. Empty racetrack, a boy in sombrero carrying piñatas, gardens, coastline. Oil fields along roadside, citrus trees. People at a roadside attraction in Death Valley, California: "San Bernardino County/The original 20 mule team wagon used for hauling Borax out of Death Valley for the Pacific Coast Borax Co." Cut to vistas of the Grand Canyon. More canyon views intercut with shots of three-level stone dwellings, a stone tower, a Native American dance performance for a gathered audience of tourists, and a body of water seen from a moving vehicle. The reel ends with a very brief (under 10 seconds) shot of the Trylon and Perisphere at the New York World's Fair.