On Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings, throughout most of the sixties and early 70s, ABC aired “Discovery” — a historical and cultural documentary television series aimed at children. Hosted by Bill Owen, this episode takes viewers through Canada showing the country’s rich history, the divide between the French and English language as well as how life is lived by a traditional Canadian. It opens with shots from within a zoo of various animals including a polar bear (:08). A Canadian family sits around a television as a French language commercial for Ajax appears on the screen (1:13). One of the children reads the French-Canadian version of a US comic strip called ‘Nancy’ written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller (2:22). The film points to the notion that family life is very similar to that of life in the US with slight differences; a major variation being the two major languages spoken. A bilingual sign is pointed to (3:24). An image of Jacques Cartier follows as the fishermen and explorer had arrived to explore the New World on July 25th, 1534 (5:00). Although already inhabited by natives, Europe officially claimed Canada as being discovered by the French (5:21). Samuel de Champlain was accredited with making an alliance with the aboriginals of the land in the spring of 1603 (5:38). The narrator stands on a bridge crossing the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City (6:52) where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham took place in 1759. These ‘Plains of Abraham’ have been since then claimed as a national park (8:22). The Chateau Frontenac is pictured in Quebec City at (8:27). The Royal Canadian Police are seen (8:39). The Changing of the Guard ceremony follows outside of the Governor General Residence (9:01). Canadians gather around a traditional farm supper (10:25). Early residences of the Canadian people were constructed mainly of log and timber (10:50). A stable pictured (10:57) was constructed in 1780. A farmer works to prepare the lands for harvest as much of the land in Quebec traditionally had been used for agriculture (11:47). Women of the village are seen hard at work preparing meals for the workers on the farmland (12:19). An outdoor stone oven is used to prepare fresh bread loaves (12:27). A woman checks the temperature of the oven with a piece of paper (13:11). The family gathers around a harvest table from 1825 which is considered to be a collector’s item today (13:59). The traditional courses are depicted including the soup (14:18), crepes (14:23), pork and beans, a meat pie (14:33), head cheese (14:41) and the final course of apple pie (14:48). A Canadian bench bed follows used by children (15:04). Modern Quebec is depicted as the film moves to a Zoo where an elephant (16:22), a cheetah (16:43), racoons (16:54) and a lynx are shown (17:13). A geodesic dome is viewed in Quebec designed by a mayor and architect and built by students in the 1950’s (17:44). A discussion ensues over the turmoil of being a bilingual country and the desire of some to separate French Canada from English Canada (18:25). Narrators then show a series of books for further education on Canada (20:11). Previews for the following episode show a high-powered air boat moving through the Everglades in Florida (20:38). Gators, crocodiles and a king cobra will also be viewed in the episode (20:41). This film was a Jules Power Production in association with ABC News and Public Affairs (21:37).
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
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
