In the aftermath of WWII, photographer Harold Jenkins started a company called “World in Color” productions. Jenkins’ plan was to sell 16mm and 8mm movies to the public, many of whom owned film projectors. Among the company’s films were a series of girlie movies and swimsuit films — several of which featured the famous Blue Book Models. (In fact, one of Jenkins’ collaborators was the first cameraman to film a young Marilyn Monroe!) This reel shows some of the company’s more conventional offerings — simple, short and beautiful-looking silent films that were sold at the nation’s National Parks. Tourists would then cut these films into their own home movies to provide a bit more entertainment on a Saturday night. The movies may have proved popular at first, but the arrival of television in many homes doomed “World in Color” and the company folded by the 1950s.

Featured on this video is most if not all of the “World in Color” tourist films, including U.S. National Parks, Monuments, and Memorials, as well as privately owned and undesignated (at the time) scenic areas. They include the following:

Badlands National Monument, South Dakota (00:09)

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota (03:17)

Seven Falls, Colorado Springs, Colorado (06:56)

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming-Montana-Idaho (10:56)

Jackson Hole National Monument, Wyoming (14:10)

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (17:21)

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (20:30)

Dinosaur National Monument, Utah (23:37)

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado (27:07)

Monument Valley, Arizona (30:09)

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico (33:17)

Big Bend National Park, Texas (36:43)

Saguaro National Monument, Arizona (39:50)

Painted Desert and Cliff Dwellings, Arizona—featuring Walnut Canyon and Montezuma Castle National Monuments (43:02)

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona (46:12)

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (49:21)

Zion National Park, Utah (55:37)

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah (58:44)

Arches National Park, Utah (01:05:05)

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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