Alaska Film Archives

[Fairbanks ice carnivals and aviation]
[Fairbanks ice carnivals and aviation]
This footage features the 1929 Fairbanks Ice Carnival Queen contest, a flight with Ed Young, a film shot by Dan Lhamon, Howard Hughes in Fairbanks in August 1938 during his 1938 Around the World Flight in a Lockheed Super Electra, a Pan American airplane, a Pacific Alaska Airways airplane, a Wien Alaska Airlines airplane, and the 1948 Ice Carnival sled dog races. According to George Lounsbury, approximately the first five minutes of footage is a Lounsbury family film, and it contains images of George's mother in the late 1920s. Scenes of Howard Hughes were from a film obtained from Earl Pilgrim. Scenes of Russian airplanes, Juneau, and Nome were films from Dan Lhamon and Rod Wolff. The remainder is film George Lounsbury received from his brother, but the origin is unknown, and the Lounsbury family does not appear in that part of the film.
[Lounsbury film collection 1]
[Lounsbury film collection 1]
Footage includes children, rotary snow plow, men outside F.E. company building, downtown Fairbanks, a dredge, Pacific Alaskan Airways (PAA) hangar and people leaving, the Cleary City Post Office, people posing, Billy Roots bus (?), Cleary Summit roadhouse, men with a caterpillar tractor, small cat train in front of Service motors, Fairbanks streets, Jimmie Mattern signing autographs at PAA Hangar at Weeks Field, Mattern's airplane “Texan” and Russian flying boat at Weeks Field during search for Sigismund Levanevsky, people departing Fairbanks on Alaska Railroad (ARR), Richardson Highway Transportation Company bus, steamship travel in Southeast, a gold dredge and thaw field, MST Company bus , boys at Fox, woman with a horse at Cleary Summit roadhouse, a boy with shovel, Chena River spring break-up, dog races, Sigrid Seppala wearing parka, Winter Carnival Parade, and dog races.
[Lounsbury film collection 3]
[Lounsbury film collection 3]
Some portions are left-to-right reversed. This footage includes travel outside of Alaska including a Rose Bowl parade. Alaska footage features Alaska Railroad travel, tent camp in Mt. McKinley National Park and activity at camp, sled dog races on Chena River in Fairbanks, sled dog demonstrations, Fairchild 71 airplane on skis and pilot Ed Young, Russian Junkers arriving in Fairbanks in March of 1931 carrying body of Ben Eielson, funeral procession in Fairbanks carrying body of Ben Eielson to the railroad depot, road travel, chained bear, bison and sheep at the University of Alaska, hydraulic giant, bi-plane at Fairbanks with pilot A.A. Bennett (?), aerial view of Fairbanks, Alaska Railroad train travel, sternwheeler at Nenana, U.S. Army Pilot Captain Hoyt at Fairbanks and hand-propping airplane, riverboat travel, houses and yards in Fairbanks, and summer parade at Fairbanks, and Mayor Rothenburg of Fairbanks handing flowers to George Lounsbury's mother Fay Jennings. Additional footage (from Johnny Repo) includes canoe, small mining operation and cabin, moving mining equipment by barges marked as Florence and Alyum Mining Co,. moving dragline, group of men outside the roadhouse at Wiseman with man getting haircut, people crossing mouth of Wiseman Creek in boats during break-up on the Koyukuk River, rowing and paddling on river, cutting wood, Wien Alaska Pilgrim airplane at landing strip, Wien airplane on landing strip with pilot Tony Schultz, cabins at creek, assembling dredge, flying boat Sikorsky S-42 (?), Glass Flying Service at Valdez, Ford Tri-Motor takes off from Valdez, winter storm at Valdez, airplanes at Valdez from different companies including Lyle, Mirow and Reeve, Pilgrim airplane on skis taking off, aerial views of mountains and gold camp, J-2 (?) Piper airplane taking off, Jim Dodson aircraft, break-up on unidentified river, Wiseman (?), man sawing firewood, men building cabin, men whipsaw lumber, mining operation with dragline and hydraulic giants, large dead bull moose being hauled off, Caterpillar pulling small building, aircraft, and aerial view of Fairbanks and mining operation. AAF-9547 begins with footage shot by donor George Lounsbury's grandfather, Guy Jennings, on a trip out of Alaska to buy a new Buick automobile. Following the scenes of the log buildings and wall tents at the entrance of McKinley Park is Jennie R. Jennings, Guy’s wife, wearing a fur coat and standing closest to the camera at the far edge of a group of four women. Following the scene of the vehicle driving on the park road, is a close-up shot of Alice Nordale and Austin E. “Cap” Lathrop, who wore a bill cap. Following scenes of men washing dishes at McKinley Park, is a close-up shot of Fay Jennings, daughter of Guy and Jennie, with dark hair, (and Alice Nordale?), standing in front of a vehicle. Following scenes of a parade in Fairbanks and Mayor Rothenburg handing flowers to Fay Jennings, who is wearing an aviation hat, there are scenes of a canoe and mining operations, and beginning with the canoe is footage shot by Johnny Repo (sp?). Scenes of airplanes at Valdez came from film obtained by the Lounsbury family through Bob Reeves. The final part of the reel, beginning with aerial views and then a color shot of the Ophir area, are films from Johnny Repo (sp?).