California, Number One

Duration: 12:00

Year Published: 1965

Creator: Filmed by Jack Denove Productions Inc. for Pacific Telephone

Complete Record: California is the most populous state. This program looks at the variety of life, business, people in California. California’s leadership from three points of view: Farming, housewife, businessman. Dr. Frank Baxter questions what it is that has attracted so many people to California and created “the unique State it is.” Reenacted scenes of Christopher Columbus discovering America. Shots of fifteenth century ships and explorers. California was explored by the Spanish as well: Images of Conquistadors on horseback, American Indians making adobe, planting trees, building of the missions, various shots of missions, footage of the Santa Barbara fiesta days and parade. Reenacted scenes: The pull of the open country beyond the Atlantic Seaboard brings Americans overland as explorers and fur trappers colonize the North American continent. Then gold was discovered in California in 1848. This created a stampede to California -- scene of conestoga wagon. In 1850, California became the 31st State in the United States. Scenes of ghost towns and abandoned mines -- using images from Bode California State Park. Early photographs of San Francisco, “the Queen City of the West.” Scene of gold being weighed. Scenes [from some western movie] of stereotypic gambling and saloon cancan dancers. Re-creations of San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 with burning building and explosions. Footage from the rebuilding of San Francisco celebrated by the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in 1915 [actual footage taken during the fair.] To show people pouring across California’s border: 1910, shots of trains; 1920s electric car; 1930s with early passenger plane, and finally the 1940s, illustrated with guns firing off war ship; military encouraged aircraft and ship industries for war in the Pacific. There is some footage of marching navy soldiers. Peace illustrated with banners held high “Complete Surrender.” Scenes of navy men debarking ship and embracing their loved ones. Population explosion after the war. In 1963 California surpassed New York in population. Housewife is shown on her patio. She is made to look like Grace Kelly. She talks about (illustrated by film shots): Bigger and better crops, living wage, healthy environment. There are scenes of children playing on beach and scenes illustrating “easy living” -- BBQs, beach, Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade (flowers in winter!), golfing, fishing, beautiful parks, general scenic wonders, water skiing, snow skiing. She tells us that there are excellent schools, churches, shopping, cultural benefits, SF Opera, new LA Cultural Center, painters, etc. These are shown with illustrative film footage. In a curious exchange of dialogue about “who is the man of the house” and how they afford all their “easy living,” her husband, the Wage Earner, BBQing on the same patio speaks of living and working conditions in California: Higher wages (21 % above the national average), then shots of crowds, industry leaders, wage earners to show new opportunities for growth. Hoover Dam and pharmacist,carpenters are imaged. He proceeds with “the business and industry story,” that California is Number One because it is a great place to make a living. Early aircraft to rockets start in California with examples from experimental flying machine to rockets. Pools of scientists and engineers make California “science center of the world.” Natural resources shown (not then, but now, considered as exploited) as when this section opens with redwood tree falling. fish moving on conveyer belt, forests, logging shots, and connection to hundreds of jobs in allied industries. The idea that all these natural resources just exist for consumption by industry and for jobs is an interesting attitude for 1965. Strip mining operations are shown as husband says California produces twice as many minerals as any other state. Shots of mining in borax, gypsum, and other minerals. Shot of worker using computer cards to illustrate California produces more paychecks than Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, etc. Each city has a piece of illustrative footage. High diversity of jobs shown in shots: Aircraft, food processing, publishing, clothing, lumber, plastics paints, steel, glass, ceramics, ship building, furniture, oil, automobile assembly, paper, rubber, textiles, leather, and electronics. Services are provided through communications, (for example, Bell Telephone): telephone “girls” shown at PBX machine, field jobs for men repairing and stringing wires, inside technicians and supervisors (also men), -- leading to community growth shown by demand for more building (building site and workers), laying underground cable, Shots of ocean shoreline what Wage Earner tells is one thousand miles. This culminates with shot of San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Shots of harbors welcoming ships from all over the world illustrated by ship flags from international ships whipping in breeze. San Francisco harbor aerial view is touted as the world’s largest natural harbor. Los Angeles as the world’s largest man-made harbor, and San Diego as “naval installation second to none.” Shots of ocean waters teeming with fish to show fishing industry. San Francisco Street scenes: cable car, aerial views and up close aerial views of financial sector. Narrator tells us that San Francisco markets and financial district are a a gateway for the US and with the Far East. There are jobs in the entertainment industry: Shots of camera tracking a film scene, radio announcer, television studios, and motion picture scenes and all the supportive creative talents needed for this industry. The Farmer gives his point of view of what makes California Number One. Shot of Farmer in orchard next to his tractor. Five years after the Gold Rush, many miners lost their finances because they didn’t find gold. Out of tis flood of people, agriculture became the industry. Less than 15 years after the Gold Rush, California became one of the leading stock and hide industry. Shots of cowboys moving cattle. Drought ruined this industry for a while, but by 1870, California was second in the nation for growing wheat. Shots to illustrate everything the Farmer says, including wheat fields and fields that are shared between sheep, etc. and crops. Lacking in Southern California and the Great Valley was water. Reenacted images support the miners abandoning their sluices and ditches. These were reused by damn builders who sought to harness water for delivery to the places in California where water could support crops. Farmers, industry, and government built together a most complex irrigation system known to man. Shots of sprinkler systems, mammoth pipes being laid, water gushing from dams, etc. The Imperial and Coachella Valleys transformed into agricultural paradise. As a result, California produces 50% of the nation’s vegetables, fruits and nuts. Multiple shots of these crops as well as land being farmed, sorted, boxed. Cotton, rice, hay are shown being harvested. Shots of the wine industry and livestock handling -- stock yards, chicken farms, dairies, etc. Marketing shown by images of transportation shots of railroad and trucks; boxing of produce, etc. Shots to show California’s flower and seed industry. California's place in the field of education. Housewife talks over shots of schools, libraries, state colleges and universities, UC, community colleges, private institutions, etc. Conclusion: Variety of human endeavor, variety of climates, boundless recreational facilities, heritage from diverse populations, . . . human drive and spirit inspires California to be Number One. Sacramento State Capitol shown.