“Mexican Holiday” (1938) is a silent, color amateur travelog film chronicling the travels of A.A. MacDonald aboard a passenger cruise ship as it travels through the Panama Canal Zone. MacDonald was a member of the Amateur Cinema League, an organization which promoted best practices among home movie makers; ACL films tend to be much better than normal “home movies” and this is the case here. Note: although the opening title pages note that the film depicts “Our Trip to Mexico January 20, 1938” this is in fact a misnomer as the footage only chronicles the filmmaker’s journey through Panama to places like Balboa and Panama City. (Most likely the Mexican portion of the journey was chronicled in another reel of film, now lost.) The ship shown in the film was from the United States Lines and has twin stacks (seen at 1:54). Most likely it is the SS George Washington, SS Manhattan or SS Washington (although these last two ships mostly made runs between Bremen and New York City and not to the Caribbean). United States Lines was the trade name of an organization created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The Panama Canal Zone was created on November 18, 1903 from the territory of Panama; established with the signing of the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which allowed for the construction of the Panama Canal within the territory by the United States.

Text page (0:09). Opening credits overlaid colorful illustration of film reels (0:14). Footage aboard a United States Lines ship: scenes of water splashing against boat, men working on bow of ship, waiter preparing dining room for coffee/ tea service (0:28). Stop in Havana, Cuba: shot of Havana rooftops then coast line and small pier (0:54). El Capitolio: Cuba’s capital building in Havana; tourists perhaps sitting in El Senado chamber (1:28). United States Lines large passenger cruise ship in harbor (1:52). View from ship deck of dark sky slowly turning orange as sun rises over Panama Canal (2:03). Overgrown trees, palm trees growing along coast of Panama Canal (2:18). The ship passes through the Panama Canal Locks – Panama Canal has 3 locks systems but appears that ship is passing through Gatun Locks (2:44). Ship navigates through Gatun Lake (the 164-square mile lake was also the largest man-made lake on earth at the time); wild forest, greenery envelopes mostly desolate coastline, occasional shack/ farm structure or make-shift pier (3:31). The ship passes through another one of the Panama Canal locks; European looking tourists or expats wait on one of the banks of the canal (4:39). Perhaps British merchant navy steamship SS Stanbrook passes the passenger cruise ship along the canal (7:10). Views along coastline begin to change, more development along port and new builds (7:35). Perhaps Gamboa Bridge (7:48). Small waterfall flows over ridge into the canal (7:55). The ship passes through Culebra Cut: formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama (8:24). Once more coastline much more developed, more housing and perhaps industrial buildings as well (8:43). 1930s-era automobiles parked in lot beside the canal; Perhaps 1938 Ford Model 81A Club Coupe among other vehicles (9:12). Ship continues along canal, views of port city of Balboa: Balboa was once a separate town in the Panama Canal Zone. It was founded by the United States and was the administrative and government center for the Zone. It was once a marshland that was developed by the Army Corps of Engineers (9:47). Panama Canal Administration Building (10:00). Arrival in Panama City – small fishing boats, sail boats bob in waters off of port; Local fisherman and young men sit in boat in torn ragged clothing (10:10). Exterior of Gorgas Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Ancon Hospital): The control of yellow fever, malaria, and other tropical diseases was essential for the successful completion of the Panama Canal. COL William C. Gorgas, Chief Sanitary Officer, found Ancon Hospital to be a good site from to direct such efforts and the hospital ultimately played an important role in the creation of the canal (10:52). Couple walks along tree-shaded stairway; Perhaps tropical storm rolling through as strong winds pick up dust and debris (11:07). Club Union building (today Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo luxury hotel) (11:24). Statue of Pablo Arosemena at the Las Bovedas plaza of the Casco Antiguo or Casco Viejo in Panama City, film ends (11:51)

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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com