This week, some great shots of huge turtles, a snoozing alligator, Mt. Rushmore, and vistas of the Grand Canyon. All from our contributor Ashima, who adds this:

My mama had a hard time remembering the year, but she thinks it is 1977. I do clearly remembering waking up that alligator in my little brown suit. I didn’t want to get mud on it! We took this trip from Chicago to California and these were some stops along the way. I think the trading post at the end of the video is the Hubbell Trading Post, a national historic site. Honestly, I have no idea where the turtle and alligator were located. I asked my mama and she cannot remember either. BUT, doesn’t that guy look like Steve Irwin only skinnier? I doubt it was him…

The Hubbell Trading Post is the oldest operating trading post in the Navajo Nation of the U.S., located in Northeastern Arizona.

For high-resolution footage of this film and more, click the “MPEG-2″ link above to access the Internet Archive.

More from Ashima’s collection of home movies this week. Here, we feature a visit to India in 1969, with lush, detailed images of the spectacular architecture there. Ashima offers a little more detail on the locations:

This must have been 1969 and taken at two places, Red Fort in Delhi and Jama Masjid. The snake charmer was at Red Fort. This must have been just before we left for Europe.

The Red Fort is a tremendous fortress palace and Jama Masjid a historic mosque, both constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the mid-1600s. See a satellite view of the Red Fort here and Jama Masjid here.

Click the “MPEG-2″ link above for high-resolution footage of this gorgeous film and more at the Internet Archive.

In this film full of delicious looking food, our contributor Ashima turns one year old. She tells us more:

My 1st year birthday party (1969) in Albany Village which is student housing in Berkeley, CA. My father was working on his PhD at UC-Berkeley (Industrial Engineering).

This was a typical Indian gathering, outside and with lots of food. Mama made a lot of the Indian food, but she got the cake and sandwiches catered. There were probably 30+ people in attendance.

There is a man holding me whose name is Russ. He was friends with my Leo Uncle. Leo and Ruth were two individuals who became like my Papa and Mama’s second parents in the US. We always had Easter and Thanksgiving with them when we lived in CA.

Anyway, Mama is wearing a sari that Papa gave her as a wedding gift. She still owns it! The two older girls are Raman (who lives in Detroit now) and Sunaina (not sure where she is now). Then, the other two babies I’m sitting with her friends I used to play with a lot. Mama couldn’t remember their names. The blue outfit I am wearing was sent to my Mama by her Mama. Ruth Auntie and my mama found the tights at a dime store called Kresge.

Interestingly, the Kresge dime store was the forerunner to the modern Kmart. Here are some fantastic recordings of the in-store background music to truly put you back in the 1960s Kresge experience. Read more about the history of the Kresge and Kmart stores here. And the Kresge Foundation website is here.

Click “MPEG-2″ above for a high resolution version of this film and more from Ashima at the Internet Archive.

This week, a charming tour of one of my favorite childhood haunts in the Bay Area, Children’s Fairyland. Located near Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, this theme park based on children’s literature is still very much alive, and not much changed from what we see in this film, submitted by Ashima here in Grand Rapids.

Ashima has a few words to add:

Must be 1968 and my Papa is holding me in the beginning. Papa was always wanting to use his camera to take pictures and video of me. Mama said that they had planned to send them to India, but never did.

Here’s another great set of photos from this unique place. A fun YouTube home movie that takes us down the rabbit hole in the Alice in Wonderland section. Here‘s a current bird’s eye view of the park, and an aerial view from Google maps.

Click the MPEG-2 link above for a high resolution version of this home movie on the Internet Archive.

This week, a beautiful and tender movie of a mother clearly in love with her new baby. Submitted by Ashima here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the film features footage from California’s Bay Area in the late 1960s. A bit more detail from Ashima, who was the baby in the film:

Circa 1968 at Albany Village. Outside the apartment, the red car is what my parents used to drive. The red dress I am wearing my mama made. She used to make a lot of the clothes as long as the fabric cost less than $.25.

Next, outside on the lawn on the University campus. The pram was used for both Ashima and Shailesh [Ashima's brother, born later]. Sari was silk given by Mama’s mama when she got married. Building is near or around Berkeley campus. Hippie is some guy playing the guitar on Berkeley’s campus. My mama said that she didn’t think of him as a hippie, he was just a nice person playing pretty music. How sweet is that?! I love that shot! My mom in a sari and this dude playing guitar! Cultures come together peacefully!

Albany Village is now known as UC Village, a student housing complex just outside of the University of California at Berkeley campus. Ashima’s father was was then working on his Ph.D in Industrial Engineering.

Click the “MPEG-2″ link above for high-resolution footage of this lovely film from the Internet Archive.

The story behind the images is too vast and complex to present here; instead, click here, here, and here for accounts that better explain and document the historical significance of this event.

See also this photo slideshow with accompanying map for a better sense of the geography of these locations.

Thanks to Tony P. for sending this all the way from France to us in Michigan for inclusion on this site.

Click the “MPEG-2″ link above for a high-resolution version of the film, downloadable via the Internet Archive.

I love this week’s film from the 1950s. A simple haircut produces tremendous drama. Our submitter, Susan S. of Louisiana, USA, sums it up best:

My Dad, Carter, is giving my brother, Stephen, his first haircut and I am sure that Mom is taking the pictures. Dad was always the one to give haircuts, bathe us, trim nails etc. I think he was way braver than mother would have been with those scissors! My brother never did like haircuts but Dad continued to be his barber until the ’60′s when he let his hair grow! I think it’s funny at the beginning of the film, that Dad thought Stephen was going to just sit in that chair with the towel around his neck and be cooperative!

Click the “MPEG-2″ link above for a high-resolution version of this film, available for download and re-use under a Creative Commons copyright license through the Internet Archive.

Things I love about Old Christmas’: Ashtrays, metal toys, stockings for Porky, miniature bowling alleys, blinding light, ice in tumblers, gravy boats, modeling for moms, Cookie Monster slippers, babies trapped in rolling apparatus, aunts, AM radios, weapons, little bakers, mesmerizing toy packaging, cat tails, typewriters, ez bake ovens, kids buried in wrapping paper, 6-packs, 60 lb. radio controllers, floral house coats, moms who like everything, and easy to please grandpas.

Music: “Blue Christmas” by Jack, Tanner, and Anja. More songs here. Check out Anja’s website which is chock full of her beautiful original artwork, vintage clothes, found photos, and fun blogs.

I love the way this film is shot – meandering, exploring, unafraid. This film offers attention to the interesting details of these scenes: kelp rolling on the surface of the water, kites and seagulls overhead, playful interactions with friends. It’s an unusual kind of home movie in which the filmmaker directly participates in the film’s making, rather than simply observing and documenting. I’m sure it made a difference that these films were shot by Janet in her teens and early 20s – there’s a youthful eye behind this camera.

–Jen

Find high-resolution extended versions of this film on the Internet Archive through our File Directory.

Music: “Baby That’s Me” by The Cake

As a teenager, I bought my own Kodak Super-8 camera, and between 1967 and 1975, I shot dozens of rolls of film. Most of the 60′s films feature the daily lives of my childhood friends, and are located primarily around the Boston, Cambridge, the South Shore, Cape Cod, and New Hampshire. The 70′s films include scenes from my misspent college years, including Worcester Massachusetts’ first-ever gay pride march. This one, however, is a pride march in New York City. I peg the year at 1974, although I am not 100% sure. Look for Kate Millett and Boston’s “Lavender Rhino” float, as well as early (founding?) members of what would become PFLAG. Note that in those days, we marched from downtown up to Central Park, instead of vice versa.

Download high-res versions of this film and more from the Internet Archive, available through our File Directory. Music: “Prowlin” by the Whitefield Brothers