[Home Movies: Summers collection: New Orleans to San Francisco, silent, ca. 1941]

This 1941 home movie captures a journey from New Orleans back to San Francisco, featuring a blend of iconic American locations, landscapes, and everyday life scenes. Starting in New Orleans, the footage showcases bustling street scenes with people, traffic, and local landmarks like Cafe du Monde and the “Ramos Gin Fizz” sign. The film highlights unique New Orleans architecture, including wrought iron balconies and aboveground cemeteries, with shots of mausoleums and Civil War memorials. After exploring the city, the film moves through the countryside, capturing views of the Mississippi River, the Huey Long Bridge, and scenes from a moving train. Along the way, there are glimpses of African-American girls dancing beside a country road, the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis, and scenic river canyons. Further west, shots of the Rocky Mountains, desert prairies, and telephone wires stretch across the landscape. As the journey nears its end, a playful terrier greets family members in the yard of a small California house, followed by the closing scene of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, a fitting finale to this travelogue.

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