This Swissair film (from circa 1960) follows a Swiss father and son as they travel to the United States and tour the country from New York City to San Francisco via Texas. The film features a handful of good shots of New York, Indiana, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and California as the son—Peter—drives what appears to be a 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL convertible across the country. The film opens with a shot of a Swissair Douglas DC-8 airliner flying through the sky. The father and son chat while sitting in the cabin of the plane (02:00). Peter looks out across the water at New York City (02:25). The father walks by the United Nations headquarters. Footage also shows the Empire State building and a view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral from the top of the Empire State building. Peter walks down Wall Street and down 5th Avenue. In an apartment building, Peter stands with an old friend as she tries to balance on down-hill skis (04:08). Peter climbs into the Mercedes-Benz convertible (04:44). The father flies over Washington, D.C. in a helicopter (05:07), with good aerial views of the Pentagon and the Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln Monuments. Peter rides a ferry from New York (05:55). Footage shows Peter driving the car down a rural highway, then off on a sideroad where men are picking apples. The father tours a chemical facility (07:07). Peter picks up his father, and the two drive to Indiana. They pull up to a farm (08:09), where cattle mill about in their pens. The farmer greets the men and shows them his cattle feeding machine: corn, molasses, and other ingredients are mixed together. The farmer plays an organ for the two Swiss men (09:10). Later, they eat supper with the family in the living room. A man drives a corn harvester through a corn field (09:55); the corn is moved on an elevator into a silo. Peter drives a tractor (10:30), then he is shown cleaning the convertible. The father looks out over the Mississippi River and St. Louis (11:25), while Peter drives across the same river near Memphis. There is a good shot of cotton fields and a cotton harvester that then dumps cotton into a truck. Peter drives the car through fields of oil derricks in Kilgore, TX (13:33). He passes an open field where two horses run. He approaches Dallas on the interstate (14:08). Peter goes to the Texas State Fair (14:38), where he watches FFA kids showing hogs and people riding rides. He meets the owner of the car, Mr. Harding, at a restaurant where the waiter brings the man a massive steak. Peter drops off the car (16:18), then he goes to try on cowboy boots and a hat at a store. Peter and Harding ride horses on Harding’s ranch (16:55); they go see Harding’s small airplane. Meanwhile, the father tours a shoe sole factory (18:12). The Swiss men drive to New Mexico (19:10); there are good shots of the desert landscape. They visit a church on their way to Santa Fe (19:50); in Santa Fe, they walk down a main street. A family throws a large barbeque for the visitors and neighbors (21:24), where people dance a dance that the narrator says is originally from Warsaw. The father and son visit a small Spanish church at Chimayo, NM (22:26); Native Americans dance the Deer Dance in front of the church. Next, the two stop at a Grand Canyon overlook (24:48). The two Swiss men pull into Las Vegas at night (26:10), with the lights of the Strip glowing. There is a shot of the Blue Angel Motel. The men play slots, then visit the remains of a ghost town as they drive to California. They reach the coast (28:19) and see sea lions swimming in the water. They drive the Mercedes-Benz to San Francisco (28:50), driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, and stopping at a drive-in diner. There is an aerial view of land Harding purchased in suburbia where several housing developments are being built (29:43). Footage shows construction workers pouring foundations and framing. Peter sits for a Thanksgiving dinner with a family (31:30). The men then go to dinner at Yamato (32:01), a sukiyaki restaurant in San Francisco. The film concludes with the two Swiss men saying goodbye to Harding at the airport.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com