HOME MOVIES: 1940s-50s CALIFORNIA 8MM

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1940s

Creator: erpi

Format: 16mm

Description: This reel of 8mm mixed color and black and white home movie footage from the 1940s and 50s offers a tour of Northern California, highlighting Mission Revival architecture, early motels, holiday decor, and a new Ford Customline. Urban street lights, neon signs of Reno, Nevada: "Bank Club, 222, Palace Club, Arch Drugs, Reno: The Biggest Little City in the World" (0:01). A sign: "Eureka" and a steam stack. Pedestrians in suits and coats. Women in furs. A newspaper rack. 1940s automobiles (0:18). Two women in red and two in white talk in a public park. Old Mission Santa Barbara (0:46). A police officer wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket poses next to his car, with a female companion (1:55). The seal of Eureka, California on the police vehicle (2:26). A set dinner table with a floral tablecloth, a Thanksgiving centerpiece with turkey, pilgrim, pumpkin candles. Roasting, tasting the drippings (2:41). Store window display of a decorative model trolley car. A mechanical storefront Santa Claus (3:13). Black and white footage of residential homes in the Mission Revival architectural style. A boy at a courtyard fountain (4:05). A slow pan across the grounds of the Santa Barbara Mission. A dedication plaque. An exterior arcade or corredor. An El Camino Real bell (4:48). Bas-relief skulls & crossbones. A statue of a Franciscan monk. A crucifix (5:44). A young monk waves. Exterior views of the mission (6:12). A sign for St. Anthony Seminary (7:22). A Northern California construction project and surrounding buildings set on an incline (7:53). A Daly City skyline panorama (8:34). A building takes shape. A sign: "State Bld. Corp. 6147 Mission St." (9:22). A view from inside the building. A two story home, scaffolding. Nearby homes in San Mateo County (9:48). A window, a smile, a kitchen stove (11:02). An urban street decorated with tinsel for the holiday season. TWA and Pan Am airlines offices (11:49). A Bay-area steam passenger ferry (12:05). Alcatraz launch (12:52). Classical architecture. Passing automobiles. San Francisco City Hall (12:57). A trolley style streetcar. Tilt up to the building’s dome (14:58). Streets of San Francisco (15:20). Color footage resumes, showing a woman in a floral hat and veil. A statue of a Franciscan monk holding a cross (15:39). San Francisco pedestrians. Traffic following a church service (16:03). A sign at a train station: "New Brunswick" (16:43). A locomotive steam engine arrives (17:25). Black and white footage of gardens, fountains outside Santa Barbara County Courthouse (17:58). The Miramar Hotel in Montecito. A sign: "This establishment is recommended by Duncan Hines, author, ‘Lodging for a Night,’ restful sleep, ‘Along the Highways of America,’ approved in 1942 edition, pleasant traveling." The grounds of the Miramar (20:25). A swimming pool. A trellis. A woman under an umbrella. Boys playing catch (20:53). Color footage resumes. A woman arrives home and walks upstairs (22:17). Sitting on a couch, she smiles next to a decorated Christmas tree. A doorway lined with greeting cards (23:30). A Santa statue on a fireplace mantel (24:51). A stove and refrigerator (25:08). A young boy and girl, both in suspenders, play with a rocking horse and a Fisher Price Mickey Mouse Choo Choo train pull toy (25:38). A man in a collared shirt smiles for the camera on the front lawn of a residence. An elderly man watches the children at play (26:35). A neon motel sign: "Ranch O Tel" and a panorama of the motel’s accommodations. A group of people share a shaded hammock style swing (27:32). The Ranch O Tel motel’s neon sign at night (29:01). A gleaming blue 1953 Ford Customline and "three lions" emblem. A plate from a Berl Berry Ford dealership. Posing with the new car (29:43). A paved footpath. A bas-relief of a monk. Carmel, CA. Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, aka The Carmel Mission. A statue of the Virgin Mary (31:06). A plaque indicates Columbia, CA in Tuolumne County, near the Sierra Nevada foothills. A sign: "Stage Driver’s Retreat, beer, wine, soda." The "original famous" Columbia Candy Kitchen near Sonora, California (32:36).

Complete Record: This reel of 8mm mixed color and black and white home movie footage from the 1940s and 50s offers a tour of Northern California, highlighting Mission Revival architecture, early motels, holiday decor, and a new Ford Customline. Urban street lights, neon signs of Reno, Nevada: "Bank Club, 222, Palace Club, Arch Drugs, Reno: The Biggest Little City in the World" (0:01). A sign: "Eureka" and a steam stack. Pedestrians in suits and coats. Women in furs. A newspaper rack. 1940s automobiles (0:18). Two women in red and two in white talk in a public park. Old Mission Santa Barbara (0:46). A police officer wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket poses next to his car, with a female companion (1:55). The seal of Eureka, California on the police vehicle (2:26). A set dinner table with a floral tablecloth, a Thanksgiving centerpiece with turkey, pilgrim, pumpkin candles. Roasting, tasting the drippings (2:41). Store window display of a decorative model trolley car. A mechanical storefront Santa Claus (3:13). Black and white footage of residential homes in the Mission Revival architectural style. A boy at a courtyard fountain (4:05). A slow pan across the grounds of the Santa Barbara Mission. A dedication plaque. An exterior arcade or corredor. An El Camino Real bell (4:48). Bas-relief skulls & crossbones. A statue of a Franciscan monk. A crucifix (5:44). A young monk waves. Exterior views of the mission (6:12). A sign for St. Anthony Seminary (7:22). A Northern California construction project and surrounding buildings set on an incline (7:53). A Daly City skyline panorama (8:34). A building takes shape. A sign: "State Bld. Corp. 6147 Mission St." (9:22). A view from inside the building. A two story home, scaffolding. Nearby homes in San Mateo County (9:48). A window, a smile, a kitchen stove (11:02). An urban street decorated with tinsel for the holiday season. TWA and Pan Am airlines offices (11:49). A Bay-area steam passenger ferry (12:05). Alcatraz launch (12:52). Classical architecture. Passing automobiles. San Francisco City Hall (12:57). A trolley style streetcar. Tilt up to the building’s dome (14:58). Streets of San Francisco (15:20). Color footage resumes, showing a woman in a floral hat and veil. A statue of a Franciscan monk holding a cross (15:39). San Francisco pedestrians. Traffic following a church service (16:03). A sign at a train station: "New Brunswick" (16:43). A locomotive steam engine arrives (17:25). Black and white footage of gardens, fountains outside Santa Barbara County Courthouse (17:58). The Miramar Hotel in Montecito. A sign: "This establishment is recommended by Duncan Hines, author, ‘Lodging for a Night,’ restful sleep, ‘Along the Highways of America,’ approved in 1942 edition, pleasant traveling." The grounds of the Miramar (20:25). A swimming pool. A trellis. A woman under an umbrella. Boys playing catch (20:53). Color footage resumes. A woman arrives home and walks upstairs (22:17). Sitting on a couch, she smiles next to a decorated Christmas tree. A doorway lined with greeting cards (23:30). A Santa statue on a fireplace mantel (24:51). A stove and refrigerator (25:08). A young boy and girl, both in suspenders, play with a rocking horse and a Fisher Price Mickey Mouse Choo Choo train pull toy (25:38). A man in a collared shirt smiles for the camera on the front lawn of a residence. An elderly man watches the children at play (26:35). A neon motel sign: "Ranch O Tel" and a panorama of the motel’s accommodations. A group of people share a shaded hammock style swing (27:32). The Ranch O Tel motel’s neon sign at night (29:01). A gleaming blue 1953 Ford Customline and "three lions" emblem. A plate from a Berl Berry Ford dealership. Posing with the new car (29:43). A paved footpath. A bas-relief of a monk. Carmel, CA. Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, aka The Carmel Mission. A statue of the Virgin Mary (31:06). A plaque indicates Columbia, CA in Tuolumne County, near the Sierra Nevada foothills. A sign: "Stage Driver’s Retreat, beer, wine, soda." The "original famous" Columbia Candy Kitchen near Sonora, California (32:36).