These films were taken, fully or in part, within a couple hundred miles of Palm Springs, California. The captions in [brackets], whenever possible, include labels from the original item in “quotation marks.” We add estimated dates and other details. For best viewing experience, choose the 720p setting or higher setting on the player.
#51. [“California (Calico) Ghost Town, Lake”, 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Older couple visits Lake Tahoe and the Calico Ghost Town.
#164. [“Southern Calif. and Mexico,” ca. 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#116. [“Farmers’ Market, Universal Studios, Part I”, ca.1974.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#87. [“Memorial Day,” — San Diego to Tijuana, ca.1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#81. [“Kodachrome Color, California,” — Santa’s Village, ca.1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Includes great footage of Santa’s Village near Lake Arrowhead.
#80. [“Big Bear Lake,” ca.1940s-50s.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. Woman and several children play on the lake and swim. The digitization on this one was sort of a salvage job.
#261. [“Vacation in California, Colorado, and Family, July 1952.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Includes some footage of Joshua Trees and at the end small girls in cute Halloween costumes. More description forthcoming.
#238. [“Mt. Laguna, CA. San Juan Capistrano,” 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#233. [“Owl, Picnic, Tahoe 1946 — Death Valley.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Older children and teenagers with great 1940s outfits playing baseball, views of Lake Tahoe, group posing on Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City, scenes around Furnace Creek Inn (now The Inn at Death Valley), including the mule-drawn wagon train used in 1885 to haul borax from Death Valley to the Mojave desert, and folks relaxing around its huge swimming pool, plus POV shots from a wooden speed boat.
#222. [“KLAC Ranch Party,” Sunday, October 29, 1978.] 8mm. Color. Silent (sadly.) Country music radio station KLAC hosted its first annual (and seemingly only) “KLAC Ranch Party” at Montie Montana’s Rodeo Ranch in Agua Dulce, California, on October 29, 1978. Footage includes Montie and Elly Montana and others trick riding and doing rope tricks, probably Rex Allen on stage and other musical acts performing, followed by a performer in traditional mariachi attire and a KLAC personality. Possibly Roy Rogers signing autographs, and the crowd and surroundings. Here’s a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times from that day. We could use some assistance identifying performers!
#740. [Black Church Gathering and LA Dodgers Parade, Los Angeles, ca. 1959?] 8mm. Color. Silent. A group of church-goers in their Sunday bests gather and chat outside a building at 7922 (unknown Boulevard) somewhere in Los Angeles. We then follow two of the group to St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church (designed by Albert C. Martin) at 621 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, and to an apartment building.
#283. [Seabiscuit at Santa Anita Park, March 2, 1940.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Santa Anita Park grounds with crowd, spectators in seats, a bit of the race Seabiscuit (#4) famously won. If you care about horse racing history, read Laura Hillenbrand’s book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, or saw the 2003 film adaptation by Gary Ross, you’ll know that race 6 of the Santa Anita Handicap on this day was a momentous one for this famous horse and its rider Red Pollard! Together they won $100,000 and set a new track record for the mile and a quarter race.
#286. [Driving past Joshua trees, Newport Harbor and/or Laguna?, Double Exposure of Catalina Island sites over ruins and desert sites (Arizona?), 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#307. A Mask for Me, A Mask for You (Gabriela Samper, Ray Witlin, 1967). 16mm. Color. Sound. Adventures in Art Series title. Mubi’s synopsis: “A lonely little [B]lack boy in Watts finds his way to the Watts Towers Arts Center (South Los Angeles) and finds companionship and satisfaction in creating masks and other craft projects. This ethnographic documentary describes the thoughts of this boy who likes to hide behind the security of paper masks.” [Note: a big thanks to A/V Geeks for restoring this education film to most of its full-color glory.]
#309. [Track and Field Olympic Trials in The Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, August 5, 1984.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Panning shot of Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park, and spectators from the stands. Track and field events include Jeanette Bolden winning Heat 1 of women’s 100 meter race, Carl Lewis winning men’s 100 meter semifinal race 2, and women’s javelin.
#310. [Family (From Indio?) at Disneyland, ca. 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Little boy punching wooden cigar shop “Indian,” POV of Native American village from river boat, and the same little boy trying to get Goofy’s attention. We have another film from this same family (#328) over on the “Our Region” page.
#314. [Living Room Dance Party, Griffith Park in Fog, 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Delightful film of two men dancing in the living room, two people at a street event, plus a glimpse of we think Griffith Park Observatory surrounded by fog. Reel indicates the film was shot in a house in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
#330. [Disneyland Main Street and Character Parade, ca. 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Great footage of Disneyland’s Main Street, flower vendors, and close-up view of a parade with all the then Disney characters walking past, POV shots from aboard a boat, mariachis, and two women and toddler in a back yard. Possibly this is the same family as #310 above.
#275. [“Mexico, April 1963.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Amazing footage of a trip throughout Mexico from Mexico City to the countryside, including many basilicas, a gondola parade, donkeys drinking beer, etc.
#272. [“Lancaster, CA, Parade and Family, 1956.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Title card says “Our family grows…”, followed by three girls of different ages playing, then posing next to a camper trailer, then another title card, “We Try Our New Wagon…”, followed by a 1956 station wagon and road trip to Sequoia National Park, and then a long sequence of footage of a Shriners Parade in Lancaster, CA, held during the 1956 Fall Ceremonial.
#173. [(196?) Rose Bowl Parade, Family Pose, and Thousand Pines Baptist Camp and Conference Center, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. The Rose Bowl Parade from the stands (year unclear still, 1960s), the filmmaker’s family pose, and they go to Thousand Pines Baptist Camp and Conference Center to document the buildings, a man giving a sermon from an outdoor pulpit, the dispersed congregation.
#174. [“Monterey Club, Oil Fields, CA”, mid-1955s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. The New Monterey Club was located at 13927 South Vermont Ave. in Gardena, Calif. It’s hard to say, but the oil wells may be Long Beach or Redondo Beach/Palos Verdes. The billboard for the housing development suggests this is Lakewood, Calif., the West Coast’s version of Levittown, Pennsylvania. Lunch at Los Angeles’ famous Farmers Market, and some neat park. Read for more about the Lakewood development here and here.
#177. [“So. Cal., 1957 ”and Tijuana.] Coronado Island and crossing border into Tijuana, street vendors, etc.]. 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#184. [(Tijuana? and So. Cal.) Desert and Mission San Juan Capistrano, 1940s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#227. [“Coronado Island and on Ferry, San Diego, Calif. 1961.”] 8mm. Color. Pan of boats, shore from above, POV shot from inside car on ferry of San Diego and warships, then driving through desert landscape (possibly Anza-Borrego and/or into Mojave?)
#228. [“1955 Catalina.”] 8mm. Color. View from boat of Catalina, passing speedboats, the bird sanctuary on the island, the S. S. Catalina, a seaplane, bird sanctuary, folks on the beach, a marina full of boats, the Casino.
#230. [“Talmadge Tour of Southwest, Reel #1, July 1966.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. A great travelogue of the Talmadges (a middle-aged couple) through St. Louis (incl. the Dred Scott Memorial and the Gateway Arch), Albuquerque, a Native American pueblo and locals posing, the Petrified Forest, a Castle Film about the Grand Canyon spliced in, Hoover Dam, and finally great footage of Disneyland.
#237. [“Balboa Park,” ca. 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. San Diego. Shots of long-board surfing, kids and others fishing and horsing around on a pier, older well-dressed ladies checking out mid-century travel trailers, POV from car on the Pacific Coast Highway through approximately Encinitas or Carlsbad, grade-schoolers square dancing in the yard, Balboa Park where groups of folks parade in national costumes from around the world, a special focus on the Japanese group.
#241. [“(Grauman’s) Chinese Theatre, Actors, Actress Names, Footprints, June 1961 L.A. Trip.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Facade of the theater (The King and I is on the marquee), the wall of signatures with a couple close-ups, CBS buildings, wide shot of Los Angeles from hills above Hollywood (?), the Moulin Rouge nightclub exterior, and the Griffith Observatory.
#247. [“1964 Drag Races at Ramona, 4th of July Parade 1964, Clairemont Drive (Clairemont, CA), Flagstaff Ariz., Walnut Canyon, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Calico Ghost Town.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. (R.H. Widmer family?) Several drag races at the San Diego Raceway at Ramona, after which is an Arizona road trip, Hoover Dam, and back to the Calico Ghost Town.
#205. [“From San Diego to San Francisco, 1965.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Kutscher family home movie includes footage of the now defunct Bible Land in Temecula and the old Universal Studios tour. The makers also handcrafted some great opening titles. The possibly teenage daughter Carolyn was cameraperson. The family was from New Britain, Connecticut. Harry died in 1973.
#331. [“Bible Land Film with Sound,” ca. late 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Sound. Footage of the former tourist site, Bible Land in Temecula and they move on to a roadside attraction north of Escondido called the Glass Garden, and a quick shot of the sign for Hans Danish Farm Restaurant on Highway 395. Soundtrack includes voiceover walkthrough by the filmmakers and artist Bible Land artist Ted Conibear speaking.
#351. [“Newport Revelry (7/’40), Picnic Revels (8/’42), “COH on the Range (2/’34).”] 8mm. B/W. Silent. A home movie, edited by the maker with hand-made titles, includes fun times at Newport, CA, a picnic in Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Texas, and military men conducting what looks like machine gun practice. More soon! See also #352 for more from this filmmaker.
#350. [“Arrowhead Snaps, Relaxing at Newport, Commencement, Dress Parade, Hiking in Fisk Canyon, Occidental College,” ca. 1940s.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#361. [U.S. Olympians and Sports Mom at Christmas, West Los Angeles, ca. New Year’s Day 1957.] 8mm, Color. Silent. Caccamise family film. POV from airplane window, bespectacled woman comes out of a small home (11530 National Blvd, Los Angeles — it’s still there!) to pick up the Los Angeles Independent with a headline “Happy New Year”, footage of the two Olympians (1956 and 1960 U.S. Olympian/hurdler Irene Robertson and Olympic alternate Rose Caccamise and her mother Nellie whose family’s films these are) running around, smiling and goofing for the camera, making phone calls, and more. We’re not yet sure who the blond woman is. See more of these Olympians in #355 under “Our Region” and the Olympic trials they participated in on August 25, 1956 in Washington, DC, on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page. Caccamise graduates from high school two years later in #373 on the “A Flight Away” page.
#349. [“Calif. Scene – Webers” pre-1941.] 8mm. Color. Silent. We originally placed this film on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page because it includes some interesting double exposure footage. The parade at the end, we recently discovered, runs down the fifth block of South Broadway in Los Angeles. The Shell Theatre you see was located at 547 S. Broadway. That theater seems to have been torn down by 1941.
#335 [“Griffith Park Party 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA. A big children’s birthday party with kids and adults, kids in cowboy costumes, opening presents, cake, etc. One man shows off his Polaroid Land camera. [Digitized by UCLA grad students in IS289-3 “Special Issues in Information Studies: Motion Picture Film Preservation” course, Fall 2022. There are some washed out areas, but overall they did a great job! See notes about the collaboration on the “Events and News” page.]
#378. [California Kite Festival, ca.1930s or 1940s.] 8mm. B/W. Silent (sadly). Radio announcer speaks with children who are kite festival participants, kids display and fly their kites. It’s unclear which location as there were several around the state. Possibly Carmel in 1931 or more likely the Ocean Beach (San Diego), which started until the 1940s, or the Twin Oaks kite festival of 1941.
#377. [Xmas 1952 Anne’s (Ken’s 2nd Wife) House, Xmas 1953, Tijuana, Mexico, Mt. Baldy – Snow, Mother’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Catalina Island, Forest Lawn — Paul and Elsie, Picnic.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Two Christmas mornings, opening gifts, dinner, etc.; a trip to Tijuana, shots from the Mt. Baldy ski lift, playing in snow, Mother’s Day and Easter with family, laying flowers on graves at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Glendale), great color footage of Catalina, a woman and man on a lobster boat, back to Forest Lawn, a picnic, etc. [Note: This is the same family as #376 at right.]
#376. [“1954: Joyce 11th Bday, Mother’s Day, Will Roger’s Ranch, Yosemite Vacation, Knott’s Berry Farm, 4th July, Church Picnic, Beach.”] Further description forthcoming. [Note: Digitizing this film was a bit of a salvage job. It was in rough shape and we thank Ping Ping Media was making it look this good. Due to significant damage, the reel does not include Knott’s Berry Farm onward. This is the same family as #377 at left.]
#394. [“Catalina, Howard 1 Yr., Boats,” early 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Cute footage of presumably one-year-old Howard and his dad (or grandpa?) playing in the pool; then Catalina and harbor as filmed from an arriving ferry; then back to the baby and pool time.
#398. [“Thanksgiving, Xmas 1960, Mother’s Day…Harry & Family, Joe & Jay(?), Pets(?)….”] 8mm. Color. San Diego-area family celebrates the holidays, relax in the backyard and newly erected patio, pose in their Sunday bests, and go camping and motorbiking out in Anza Berrego. Crosslisted over on the “Holidays, Special Events, Parties, & Weird Stuff” page.
#382. [Old Universal Studios Tour, ca. 1970s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Description forthcoming.
#407. [Kleimer Moving Truck Driver Home Movie On The Road, ca. 1947.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. Home movie seemingly shot by a Kleimer Moving truck driver of places perhaps along his route? Footage includes Lake Arrowhead (we think!), either Kelso Sand Dunes or White Sands National Park in New Mexico, downtown El Paso, an Air Show where we see a blimp and a “New Douglas AD-1 Skyraider” among other aircraft, waitresses in a cafe near the old American Storage building on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles along with city streets, City Hall and Pershing Square, perhaps The Grapevine in winter, Santa Anita racetrack, other bits and bobs, a team painting the dividing line down the middle of a highway, Deschutes River and coast in Oregon, young people drinking in a bar, and just a fun few seconds Hollywood Boulevard at night decked out for Christmas — right by the Pantages Theatre.
#393. [Big Bear, Snow Valley In Winter, Downtown and Lake, ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Southern California family’s winter fun in the San Bernardino National Forest, etc.
#536. [“Alan – Graduation, Palm Springs June ’72.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. McCormick family films. Bolsa Grande High School graduation, class of 1972. Graduation ceremony, a day at the beach and a pool party. *The pool party also shows up in Stumpf#1.
#537. [“Aug. ’71 – J. Grad(uation), Elsinore Beach.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. McCormick family films. Junior High graduation at we think Jordan Intermediate School in Garden Grove, CA; then a day at Elsinore Beach, and sunbathing on Huntington Beach.
Stumpf#2. [“Aug. ’71, Lake Elsinore with Explorers.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family films. Fun camping on Lake Elsinore beach. Same event as end of #537.
#414. [Wrestling Match (Bobo Brazil v. Don Carson), The Grand Olympic Auditorium (Los Angeles), ca. 1969-70s.] 16mm. B/W. Sound. Distributed by American Forces Radio & Television Service.
#439. [“Calif Trip,” 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Mytinger Family Home Movies. Ladies relaxing with martinis and cooking skewers on their poolside hibachi at the family’s Rolling Hills house, a birthday party, big group dinner, a stay at the former Erawan Garden Hotel in Palm Desert (then Miramonte Resort & Spa, and now Tommy Bahama’s), then they go to Torrey Pines resort in San Diego, Mission Valley Inn, and then to various stays and sites (including Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Then back to martinis and a hibachi and the family poodle. See also #438, #440, #443, #444, and #498.
#440. [Rolling Hills House, Wedding, 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Mytinger Family Home Movies. Footage includes the family and their poodle at their Rolling Hills house, visiting another home (Guy Germain) and other locations in Maine, a wedding there, visiting the University of Colorado Boulder, etc. See also #438, #439, #443, #444, and #498.
#506. [“Reel #1: San Diego Zoo…San Juan Capistrano…Corriganville Movie Ranch,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This filmmaker (D.S. Jones) and others visit the San Diego Zoo, road trip through the mountains and countryside, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Corriganville Movie Ranch, and Marineland.
#426. [“Hot Dog Stand, Beach & Topanga — Horse, March 1964.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Starts off in Palm Desert where this family first seems to have purchased or picked up their new cart. There’s always money in the hot dog on a stick stand! They then parkby at a Malibu beach, and ride horses at stables in Topanga, Calif. (Los Angeles). Hot Dog on a Stick started in Southern California on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, but founder David Barham had a stall at the Date Festival for decades too.
#519. [“Goofy, Pluto, Small World, Car Ride, (undecipherable) Vacation, California Road Trip, Classic Cars, Dave, Disneyland,” 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Young couples and baby (Dave?) on a road trip (along Highway 1 often) stopping places and shooting out the window: posing by cars at River Inn in Big Sur (Calif.), driving through Santa Lucia Mountains; past Pfeiffer Beach and Los Angeles National Forest signs; passing Big Sur Inn; various stops at beaches and the Bixby Bridge; California’s first functioning movie theater “First Theater” in Monterey; Olympia Lodge (Pacific Grove, Calif.); sign for U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Ord; Seaside (city) sign; Monterey flea market; sign for Gonzales; King City, and Los Angeles; Correctional Training Facility (we think); sign for Camp Roberts (San Miguel, Calif.); views inside the new car they’re driving; Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles sign and the landscape; now a teenager riding a bike in a dark garage on a suburban Southern California street, followed by (the notes say) classic cars — particular focus on a blue VW Bug pulling out of driveway; little boy Dave (presumably) sleeping outdoors on patio; Dave in a wheelchair on the sidewalk next to a car; dark interior shots of living room, Dave and teenage girls dancing wildly; a couple packing a car; family/friend group at Disneyland: Adventureland, outside Aunt Jemima’s restaurant, the race track, It’s a Small World ride, a Goofy and Pluto sighting, Tomorrowland, and lots more cool footage; a a bridal shower party, cake; young couples on the beach (washed out); a boat tour (where?) by some caves in a cove and on the ocean; a dog show in a park, focus on a Saint Bernard; a family picnic, bit of baseball; Summer: Saint Bernard puppy? playing in a yard and sprinkler, with woman and hose; a bridal shower (bit dark — the same one as above?; snowy mountains, teenagers sledding down a steep hill and wiping out.
#542. [“Review at Fort MacArthur, Shook & Gladys at Phoenix & Tuscon/George & Louise, Vintage Dance Festival,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. A ceremony of some kind connected to journal, Military Review, perhaps at Fort MacArthur; a higher up military man walking with an elderly woman and a middle aged woman (perhaps his wife?) all turned out – posing and talking to the camera; the presumed wife and others (Shook and Gladys?) riding the little train at Hotel Sahara in Phoenix, AZ, and more of the hotel grounds; this family on sidewalk next to nice Spanish-style house; a huge “Vintage Dance Festival” at an elementary school; and driving into Camp Seely (Crestline, CA).
Stumpf#3. [“Summer 1969 Catalina.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family collection. Family trip includes sunbathing and playing on the beach, posing outside a house where they’re staying, a seaplane taking off and landing, boats, etc. See Stumpf#4. on this page for the rest of the trip, and more of the family in Stumpf#11, #12, and #13.
Stumpf#4. [“’69 Catalina.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family collection. Family on the groovy Skyline Drive tour bus including great shots of the town Avalon and harbor from above, the shoreline, KBIG Ranch sign, Santa Catalina Airport, buffalo, and other sights. See the beginning of this trip in Stumpf#3 on this page, and more of the family in Stumpf#11, #12, and #13.
Stumpf#11. [“Beach, Mom & Dad, Universal Studios, Aug. 1966.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family collection. The family at what looks like an Orange County beach and neat footage of a day at Universal Studios. See the rest of this visit in Stumpf#12 on this page, and more of the family in Stumpf#3, #4, and #13.
Stumpf#12. [“Universal Studios, Aug. 1966.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family collection. The rest of the family’s day at Universal Studios. See the rest of this visit in Stumpf#11 on this page, and more of the family in Stumpf#3, #4, and #13.
Stumpf#13. [“Jeffrey’s Birthday at Disneyland with Becky, Oct. 16, 1966.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family collection. Family visit to Disneyland — all the sights including Autopia and the Dumbo ride. See more of this family in Stumpf#3, #4, #11, and #12.
#710. [“Surfing Hermosa,” 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Check out the sand surfing!
Stumpf#21. [“’71-’72, Highway #1.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Stumpf family films. Stumpfs travel down CA Highway 1 past Big Sur, Los Padres National Forest, Morro Bay, and more.
#219. [“Parties,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Southern California ladies who lunch. A number of luncheons, dinners, and bridge parties on one reel. We think one get-together is at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara.
#742. [“Aug. ’59, May ’60.] 8mm. B/W & Color. Silent. Christmas 1959 festivities plus a trip to Santa’s Village near Lake Arrowhead, the beach, Huntington Gardens, and more. According to the can, “Kids in Backyard – Aug. ’59”; “Kids in Backyard – Aug. ’59” (again); “Sultan – Vera – Aug. ’59” [includes Knott’s Berry Farm]; “Santa’s Filage [sic: Village] – Aug. ’59”]; “Christmas – Dec. ’59”; “After Xmas day – Dec. ’59”; “After Xmas and beach – Jan. ’60”; “On the beach – Jan. ’60”; “Huntington Garden – May ’60.”
#738. [“Big Bear 1967; Grandkids Xmas 1967; Grandkids and Space Fair, Pt. Mugu (Calif.) 1967; Flight Suit.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Footage shot from the moving car: highway down from Big Bear and San Bernardino Mountains; a visit with their son’s family living in military housing it seems, probably in Pt. Mugu; son parachuting during a demonstration on the base; a great shot of the Goodyear Blimp, etc. Further description forthcoming.
#409. [“Lesson #1 Film, 4/6/1968.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie includes super rare footage of an approximately nine-year-old Eve Plumb (“Jan” on The Brady Bunch) in a group music class, taught by Hugo Montenegro and well-known session guitarist Ralph Grasso, learning to play guitar. Documentation of the class extends over three reels, one shot each week. This reel is extra special because it includes her sister Flora Plumb. Eve and Flora place outfits in the trunk of a white car, wave at the filmmaker and drive away. Then Montenegro and Grasso lead a guitar lesson for a small group of young people including Eve Plumb. See also reels #410 and #411. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved. Hugo Mario Montenegro (September 2, 1925 – February 6, 1981), who lived for years in Canyon Estates in Palm Springs, was an American orchestra leader and composer of film and television show soundtracks as well as several albums under his own name. He was an early adopter of the Moog synthesizer. Click here to read more.
#410. [“Guitar Class, 2nd Meeting, 4/13/1968.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Hugo Montenegro and guitarist Ralph Grasso conduct a second guitar lesson for a group of children and young teenagers, including nine-year-old Eve Plumb (“Jan” on The Brady Bunch). See also reels #409 (for Montenegro bio) and #411. Click here to read more about Hugo Montenegro, who lived out his final years in Palm Springs. For information on Montenegro, see below. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed Initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#411. [“Musica Class, 1968.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Hugo Montenegro and guitarist Ralph Grasso conduct a third guitar lesson for a group of children and young teenagers, including nine-year-old Eve Plumb (“Jan” on The Brady Bunch). See also reels #409 (for Montenegro bio) and #410. Click here to read more about Hugo Montenegro, who lived out his final years in Palm Springs. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed Initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#123. [“Death Valley 1961.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie documents what looks like a tourist bus visiting Death Valley National Park including sand dunes, Badwater Basin, Furnace Creek Ranch (now The Inn at Death Valley), Borax mine ruins, Scotty’s Castle, as well as an old stagecoach and Death Valley Railroad car. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#162. [“Disneyland,” ca. 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. In this home movie an unidentified family plays in a hotel pool, and goes to Disneyland where they document a former version of the Jungle Cruise ride (when the shoreline sites were still culturally insensitive), the monorail, submarine ride, Autopia, the tea cups, Storybook Land, all the fun rides… Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#415. [Disneyland and Family Scenes/Domestic, 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Home movie footage includes a family’s trip to Disneyland where they go on the Mark Twain Riverboat Ride, shoot images of the park from the Monorail, and film the Goofy character on stage singing with a band of other characters and an unidentified singer. The family then visits a homestead in unidentified woods near and a home on what looks like a farm. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#421. [Disneyland, Christmas season, mid-late 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Home movie footage follows a family during a day at Disneyland during the Christmas season in the mid-late 1950s, including Main Street USA shops, posing with Alice In Wonderland characters, and visiting Storybook Land. Film is a tad dark at times. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#167. [California Attractions Including Marineland and Knott’s Berry Farm, ca. 1960s.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie documents a family vacation in California including trips to Marineland, Buena Park (Calif.) and Knott’s Berry Farm, and the beach and sea lions sunning themselves, at perhaps Carmel or Monterey. Trip seems to take place around or during Memorial Day weekend, 1976. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#434 [“Vacation 1966, Xmas 1966.”] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. In August 1966, home movie makers document the family water-skiing on Lake Shasta and camping, their visits to local sites such as Lake Shasta Caverns and Antlers Trailer Park (where we they may be camping), a girl’s birthday celebration at the campsite. Lots of water skiing. In December 1966, the family spends Christmas in Antioch (California we think?) according to handmade titles. They open presents, including a projection screen, visit with extended family, and undecorate the tree. The filmmakers record family members opening presents exactly the same way every year. See also 435 and 436. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#435. [“1967 Swimming, 1968 Mardi Gras, 1968 Vacation Calif., 1968 Christmas” and Christmas 1967.] Super 8mm. Color. Silent. Home movie opens with a handmade title “Steve & Linda, 1967, N.O.L.A.” (Northern Louisiana), and documents a boy and girl repeatedly diving into perhaps a hotel pool; title card states “1967 Merry Xmas in Gretna” and footage includes the family spending Christmas in Gretna (La.) with visiting grandparents: the tree, opening presents and some out-of-focus close-ups, goofing around, dinner, etc.; next title reads “1968 Mardi Gras, N.O.L.A.; they then attend a Mardi Gras parade with great floats in Harvey (La.), a suburb of New Orleans (La.) near Greta, Terrytown and Algiers; attend another parade down New Orleans’ Canal Street (including at 15:09 musician Herb Alpert on one of the floats), and shots of two elaborately dressed “Mardi Gras Indians.” After a title reading “1968 Vacation to California,” footage continues with a summer trip to California to their grandparents’ house, which may be a farm, near Antioch (Calif.), fishing in a river (possibly the San Joaquin River), posing with family; plus another title and footage of “1968 Christmas in Gretna, Louisiana” where they open presents at home. Note: the filmmakers record family members opening presents exactly the same way every year. See also 434 and 436. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#464. [“Gas Model Flying,” 1939.] 8mm. B/W. Silent. This home movie opens with a hand-crafted title card that reads “Building and Flying a Gasoline Motor Powered Model Airplane” and what follows is a unique amateur-made demonstration film about building a gas-powered model airplane from scratch. It begins with reading schematics, and then cutting wooden pieces, building, making improvements, etc. which leads to a model airplane exhibition in Pomona (Calif.). Other titles include, exactly as written: “Covering the surfaces,” “Water tightens the surfaces. When dry dope is applied by brush or spraying,” “The model is powered with an OHLSSON 1/5 h.p. motor,” “Off to the field for testing,” “The first flight,” “As the initial wing proved defective, a new one is designed and built and again the plane is tested,” “Gas model snapshots,” and “Gas Model Contest at Pomona, March 5, 1939.” Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#472. [Scuba Training in Pool, Water-skiing, The Huddle (Restaurant), 1960s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Aside from the unusual documentation of scuba diving training in a backyard swimming pool, this group of people also stops by the long-gone Huddle restaurant (a roadside/Googie-style architectural gem) in West Covina (Calif.); and they continue on to either Big Bear or Arrowhead Lake to water-ski. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#482. [“Mother’s Day Pool Party at Doreen’s, Long Beach,” 1961.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie documents a day at Long Beach in early 1961. First they play on the beach, and then enjoy the rides, including one on live horses, at nearby The Pike amusement zone located there until 1979 when it closed. This footage is followed by a pool party and backyard lunch for Mother’s Day. Levine Family (Alhambra, Calif.) films. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
#500. [First World Hang Gliding Championships in the U.S., April 12, 1975.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie captures the First World Hang Gliding Championships, held on April 12, 1975, at Escape Country, located in Trabuco Canyon in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County (Calif.). It includes the competitors, press in attendance, spectators, and aerial views of the site. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#4. [“Kellogg Ranch #2, Feb. 1960.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This 1960 home movie captures a demonstration of equestrian skill, trick riding, cattle wrestling, etc., at the historic W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center (AKA Kellogg Ranch). It was by that time part of Cal State Polytechnic College (now University). Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
Family bio: Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., (1902-1983), “Parkhurst” to friends and family, worked at Technicolor for many years and was a Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Governor 1969-1970. In 1974, he was awarded by the organization the Natalie M. and Herbert T. Kalmus Medal “In recognition of his outstanding leadership, during the 37 years of his technical direction at Technicolor, Inc., in the advancement of the science of color in motion pictures.” Frank’s wife Katharine “Davida” (Wark) Brackett, and their daughters were Patricia (Brackett) Coulter and Alison (Brackett) Howell. It is Patricia “Pat” Coulter’s son, Steve, who donated this collection. Frank and Davida lived in North Hollywood and other areas of Los Angeles. Frank Jr.’s parents were Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Sr., (1865-1951) and Lucretia Burdick (1868-1937). Frank Sr. helped found a Christian school in Pomona (Calif.) that served as the foundation of Pomona College where he initially taught mathematics and Latin, and later astronomy. The Brackett Observatory on the Pomona College campus is named in his honor. Lucretia’s father, Cyrus Burdick was a a co-founder of the city of Pomona, California.
FB#9. [“Christmas ’56 & New Year’s ’57.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This 1956-1957 home movie captures generations of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family on Christmas morning opening gifts, having dinner, and receiving guests. Notes from the donor on first appearances of family members in the film: At timecode 0:13 Patricia (Pat) Coulter; at 0:23 Ray Coulter (Pat’s husband, Steve’s dad); at 1:03 Davida seated in the chair, then prepping the turkey; at 1:23 Frank Jr.. Other people are friends, possibly from Technicolor. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4 (incl. a family bio), FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#10. [“Xmas Before & After, Dec. ’57.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie captures generations of the Brackett family on Christmas 1957 wrapping and opening gifts, and relaxing. Notes from the donor on first appearances of family members in the film: At timecode 0:17 Davida seated in the chair; 0:24 the little girl is Kathy (daughter of Alison); 0:30 Alison; 0:38 Frank Jr.; 0:44 Patricia; 1:01 Patricia’s husband, Ray. Others may be friends from Technicolor, etc. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4 (incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#11. [“February 1957, Include in Xmas Reel.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie documents Brackett children posing for the camera and grandchildren playing in a yard; ends with Davida, later Frank Jr., and two other older people posing outside of a different house. Notes from the donor on first appearances of family members in the film: At timecode 0:24 Patricia and her husband Ray; 0:30 Alison; 0:56 Kathy with teddy bear and later in pink (daughter of Alison); unknown friends with Davida and Frank, Jr., outside of another house. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4(incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#12. [“#2 Murphys & Angels Camp,” ca. February 1973.] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie documents the Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family on a 1973 road trip to California’s Gold Country including footage of the historic mining towns Murphys (Bonnet/Compere Building and more) and Angels Camp. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4(incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#16. [“Fire & Air Shots, Sept. 22, ’57.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie captures some domestic scenes of toddler Kathy (Alison’s daughter) playing in a backyard play pool at Frank Jr.’s and Davida’s North Hollywood home; at 1:02 Patricia, Alison, and David visit nearby. Then the filmmaker, presumably Frank Jr., joins a pilot and likely owner of a two-seater plane in an airfield. Frank Jr. shoots out the window of the flying plane and captures a fire along a ridgeline above a freeway. According to the date and given the region where the Bracketts lived, the fire may have been off C.A. Highway 99 in canyons near the Newhall area of Santa Clarita that started on September 21st. The film continues with aerial shots of houses and freeways, then the Hollywood Reservoir and surrounding hills, and lastly, the Mount Lee radio transmitter tower and the back of the Hollywood sign. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4(incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#17, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#17. [“Pierpont Inn, Dec. 1956.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. In this December 1956 home movie the Bracketts stay with perhaps friends at the historic Pierpont Inn in Ventura (Calif.). Footage includes shots of the beach across from the inn and the grounds; the group posing at the inn; and a funny POV sequence where the camera person walks up to a house’s front door with Christmas decorations, after which a women fills her car with wrapped Christmas gifts and drives away. Notes from the donor on first appearances of family members in the film: At timecode 0:15 Davida seated on the right, and again on the far left at 0:25; and at 0:36 Frank Jr. on the far right. Others on the trip may be friends or other relatives. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4 (incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#22. [Kellogg Ranch Film, Desert Drive, ca. 1958.] 8mm. Color. Silent. In this ca. 1958 home movie, the Bracketts visit the historic W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center (AKA Kellogg Ranch) to observe horsemanship and trick handling as well as a visit with grandparents. They then, with friends, drive down what might be the Old Spanish Trail Highway through the Mojave Desert and Inyo County (Calif.) past the Badlands near Tecopa, and stop at a motel resort around there. Notes from the donor on first appearances of family members in the film: At timecode 1:27 Davida and Kathy, Alison’s daughter. Others in the film may be friends or other relatives. See also: FB#4(incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#22, FB#34, and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#34. [“Frank Brackett, Vacation – June 1961, Gold Rush Trip.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. This home movie captures a June 1961 road trip through more of California’s Gold Country including historic Coulterville (No. 332 California Historical Landmark), the Coulter Hotel (now the Northern Mariposa County History Center), Wells Fargo building ruins, and San Andreas (Calif.). At Timecode 2:10 Davida waves. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4 (incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22 and FB#35. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
FB#35. [“La Jolla, Oct. ’61.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. In this home movie the Bracketts, with friends or family, visit La Jolla (Calif.), La Jolla Cove, stay at La Jolly Cove Apartments and Motel, and finally stop by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California (now Scripps Research Institute.) At Timecode 2:53 Davida poses on the motel balcony. Part of the Frank Parkhurst Brackett, Jr., family film collection. See also: FB#4 (incl. a family bio), FB#9, FB#10, FB#11, FB#12, FB#15, FB#16, FB#17, FB#22 and FB#34. Thanks to a generous grant from the California Revealed initiative of the California State Library, this film has been digitized and preserved.
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