View movie

View thumbnails

Play / Download (help)

(50 MB)512Kb MPEG4
(53 MB)Ogg Video
(223 MB)HiRes MPEG4
(343 MB)MPEG2

Resources

Handy (Jam) OrganizationRoads to Romance (Part II)

Travelogue, made for theatrical showing and commissioned by Cheverolet, promoting tourism by car in several Natural Parks, including Cayuga Lake in New York, Olympic National Park in Washington, Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah, and the Columbia River Highwa in Oregon.
0631 PA8632 Roads to Romance: from 013.07; 16 Koda pos comp print


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Automobiles: Advertising; Travelogues; New York; Washington; Utah; Oregon; Recreation

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review
Downloaded 2,570 timesReviews
Average Rating:

Reviewer: Holly Daggers - - October 8, 2006
Subject: Vote YES for modern highway referendum.
Before the Pennsylvania Turnpike (based closely on Germany's Autobahn) politicians and engineers alike were against the super-highway concept, saying it would be expensive and unused. The 2-lane roads connecting urban centers were inconsistantly managed by local governments, and were anything but direct. Sending cargo by truck was almost unheard of, and a family vacation meant a day trip (usually by private rail) to a beachfront amusements like Coney Island or Sutro Baths. But the postwar boom years saw waning influence from the railroads, and America's unique love of the automobile was dawning. Politics were shifting to the national level, and voters began to demand a national road system. Can Chevrolet be blamed for making this mild propaganda for larger "touring" cars? Especially if it encouraged Joe Public to think super-highways benefitted his family somehow...?

This film has four roadtrips: The whole family enjoys the outdoors at Cayuga, longest of New York's finger lakes. First a jaunt on the water in a lovely wooden Chris Craft. Then a short drive on the "fine paved roads" through rolling mountains which lead to lookouts with views of towering cliffs and tumbling waterfalls (convenient parking nearby). Nature is best experienced from a vehicle..., especially if it's our next romantic destination Olympic National Park, almost a million acres of mountains of America's NorthWest! "Modern highway engineering and your modern motorcar bring this beauty close-at-hand" without marring its lonely mystery by walking all over it.... Cedar Breaks National Monument is particularly inhospitable, so don't even THINK about getting out of your car! These dangerous cliffs drop 2000ft, dramaticly carving away a Utah plateau two miles above sealevel. It looks like those MagicRocks⢠you grew as a kid.... But if you like trees, boy, has the Columbia River Highway got trees! Giant Douglas fir, spruce, hemlock, cedar, and pine are all being cut down under the watchful eye of forest rangers in their lonely towers. Oh look, there's a waterfall up ahead! Let's park and get ice cream. Again the Columbia River Highway has an interesting history not evident in this film. It is actually the oldest scenic highway in America. Begun in 1913, it was a technical and civic achievement of its time, but by the 1950s was largely broken and abandoned due to a dam shifting the water table. Heavy trucking made much of the remaining route too dangerous to stop for tourists. Today there is renewed interest in the original route and parts of the original highway are biking trails.

This set of films lumps together several National Parks attractions, but you can't help but feel family vacations in general were boring (especially for the kids) before man-made resorts like Disney World, Las Vegas, and Branson. But back in those days the only way to really see something was to experience it first-hand, and what better way than with your loved ones packed into a new Chevrolet!

Reviewer: Spuzz - - June 9, 2004
Subject: Look Honey! Clearcutting!
Another 4 Roads To Romance spots, 1 of which features th family from Part A who I really began to like because they were just so spunky in travelling to less-then-exciting spots. The other three therefore I don't want to say dissapoint, but they are less interesting to watch. I've actually liked ALL of these spots in general. Because they tell me of vacation spots that I've never heard about, for example, in this batch which include stops at Cayuga's Waters, Olympic National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument and The Columbia River Highway. Mind you, I don't know how much of it has changed, and I'm certain that what appears to be clearcutting of the forest would qualify as a romantic getaway.