[1929 HOME MOVIE FLORIDA VACATION BRIGHTON VALLEY HOTEL MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT]

Shot on 16mm film, this 1929 home movie show's a family's fabulous Florida holiday. This includes images of parents sledding down snowy slopes at home in the East, a young girl’s experience riding horses, investigating exotic animals at Brighton Valley Hotel, and playing along Florida’s shorelines. The famed Brighton Valley luxury hotel stood on the Seminole Reservation on Lake Okeechobee. From the 1920’s to the 1940’s it lured many prominent guests and hosted numerous activities including fishing, hunting, archery, golf and an aviation field. After the installation of horse stables in 1928 it would be marketed as the "only dude ranch east of the Mississippi". The resort has since been replaced by the Seminole Brighton Bay Hotel & Casino. Though the film features a well-to-do family on an expensive trip, most of Florida in 1929 was suffering from economic blows delivered by the Great Depression, the cessation of the land boom, numerous hurricanes and a fruit fly invasion which ravaged the state’s citrus industry. The film includes images of a Pan Am Sikorsky S-38 seaplane, Ford Trimotors and the Miami International Airport. Pan American was dominating the commercial aviation industry as they pioneered international airmail and passenger service to Latin America. It was a ‘Golden Era’ for aviation as plane fabrication shifted from materials such as wood and fabric biplanes to all metal high speed monoplanes enabling faster and more comfortable rides. Flight was still considered a daring adventure with open windows, wicker seats, frequent bumpy rides often calling for the use of oxygen masks.

00:00 Film opens with snowy scenes at home capturing the joys of sledding (:11). Close shots show the father in a trench coat and top hat (:23). The girl nestles between her mothers knees as the duo take a run (:33). The pair sprint uphill to go back down (:37). The child reappears in summer scenes of sunny Florida in a dress and stockings atop a stocky pony (:40). A ranch handler rides behind. Profile shots contrast the daughter’s dress and the man’s rugged cowboy attire (:44 & :46). She inspects a kangaroo (:49). The girl leans on her elbows watching a bear in his cage (1:12) and pokes fingers at the ring tailed lemur (1:16) The exterior of Brighton Valley Hotel follows (1:40). The cowboy and the girl watch the bear (1:34). She poses by a totem pole (1:56). Parrots perch on a metal bar (1:49). The Sikorsky S-38 appears (1:58); a twin engined ten seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft. It drives forward (2:22). A Pan American operated Ford Trimotor (3:05) follows. The craft; nicknamed the Tin Goose, was heavily utilized by Pan Am providing early international expansion beginning with mail flights to Cuba in 1927 and passenger service in 1928. Mother and daughter pose (3:38). Automobiles drive down Floridian roads lined by subtropical foliage (3:44). A motorcade passes luxury homes (3:56). Crowds gather at Miami International Airport (3:59) for another take off of the Ford Trimotor (4:47). The side of the plane reads ‘Tri Motored Air Tours Inc. (5:00). The daughter unloads first and the rest follow (5:27). It advertises Gulf Oil’s Gulfpride and Aviation Gasoline. The family poses (5:35). A brown pelican wades harbor waters (5:39). The group lounges on a boat with fishing poles (5:49). The daughter plays on her back over hot sands (7:00). Floridians and tourists mingle with the waves. Luxury hotels stand in the background (7:14). Close shots highlight a golfer’s stance (7:23-7:56). He guides another golfer through the swing (8:07). An elephant drives a cart down a modern road (9:09). Elephants were used briefly in Florida as a marketing tool for Miami’s beach boom providing an exotic change from the usual Florida adventure. Kids pet the trunk (9:31). Panoramic images over a crowd highlight the fashion of the late 1920’s (9:54). It concludes with affectionate scenes of the family (10:32-10:52).