This color travel documentary film from sometime in the late 1960s titled “Armchair Vacation! Alaska: The Giant of the North” takes the viewer on a tour of America’s 49th state, Alaska. The film highlights the state’s rich history of Russian settlement and gold mining as well as important towns, scenic views, and local customs of the indigenous people. This film was in fact an episode in a larger series titled America! and was hosted by Jack Douglas.

Opening remarks by Jack Douglas (0:09). Map of Alaska – highlights Skagway, Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks (0:16). View of Alaska and mountain ranges from the air (0:42). Aerial tour of Juneau and facts about the city which was discovered by Joe Juneau (1:10). Alaska State Capitol Building (2:06). The Old Juneau Mine (2:16). Aerial view of the ice field that feeds the Mendenhall Glacier that extends into Canadian territory (2:38). Close look at the glacier from Mendenhall Lake (2:57). Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center (3:22). Scenes from Skagway, Alaska (3:41). The Golden North Hotel Skagway (3:48). Lodge of the Arctic Brotherhood (4:07). Photograph from 1898 depicting men laying railway from Yukon territory to Skagway (4:15). Photos of Skagway’s main street in 1899 (4:29). Contemporary view of main street in Skagway (4:37). The Trail Bench gift shop – jackets made from arctic rabbit hair and vests from a leopard seal (4:44). Can Can Girls performance at a dance hall (5:20). Tour of Anchorage, Alaska (5:50). Alaska Historical Society Museum – artifacts such as Eskimo wood baskets and Aleutian grass baskets by Elite women, beaded jewelry from Russian settlers in Kodiak Island, prehistoric ceremonial necklace (6:11-6:59). Furs by David Green shop – models show off Mongolian fox coat, beaver coat, muskrat parka, wolfskin parka (7:02). U.S. Army Fort Richardson (7:58). Fort Richards Provost Marshal building – wildlife exhibit which includes things like the Alaskan Brown Bear, a wolverine, an arctic fox, a mountain goat which medaled at the Alaska Big Game Trophy Club, a Ptarmigan (Alaska’s state bird), a harbor seal, a polar bear, arctic snowy owl (8:04). Food prices in Alaska (9:29). Matanuska Valley – agricultural area of Alaska (9:46). Mount McKinley National Park – McKinley Park Hotel and sightseeing tour (10:37). View of Denali – North America’s highest mountain peak (11:12). Herds of caribou grazing, moose, doll sheep, and porcupines (11:47). Tour of Fairbanks on the banks of the Chena River and 130 miles south of the Arctic Circle (12:15). Special parked-car heaters (12:31). The University of Alaska (12:53). Musk Oxen raised by biologists at the university (13:20). The Fairbanks Country Club (13:58). The Gold Rush town of Gnome on the Bering Sea coast (14:15). Ivory carving workshop of Aloysius Pikonganna (14:44). Aerial view of the Yukon River (15:13). Village of Kotzebue on of the largest Eskimo settlements – United States Post Office (15:20). Traditional Inuit Sod House (15:24). Umiak ride on Kotzebue Sound (16:15). Alaskan husky dog sled ride like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (16:35). Eskimo dance, song, and traditional storytelling (16:57). Seaplane taxis out into the waters of Sitka Sound (17:30). Aerial view of uninhabited islands of a bay of the Pacific Ocean (17:48). Aerial view of Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano (17:55). Aerial view of City of Sitka (18:31). The Pioneers Home – apartment building complex and statue of “The Old Prospector” (18:36). The Indian Arts and Craft Board (18:54). Craftsman from the Tlingit Indian Tribe works on miniature totem pole and other wood carvings (19:00). Russian Orthodox Cemetery of Sitka (19:44). Resting place of Lieutenant Alexander Michaclovish Gavriloff (19:58). St. Michael’s Cathedral constructed by Russian and Finnish

craftsmen (20:32). Photo of Bishop Innocent Veniaminov or “Innocent of Alaska” (20:47). Interior of the cathedral (21:12-22:00). Sitka National Monument and examples of totem poles, two men wear traditional Tlingit dress (22:19). Jack Douglas closing remarks (23:11).