Vintage travel film takes you back in time

I’m making an assumption (yes, I know where that can lead) that those of you reading Trailheads are interested in visiting historic sites, either in person or virtually. The folks at Landis Valley Museum recently shared with me a vintage piece of travel film featuring Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. “Beautiful Lancaster County, 1960s,” as it’s titled on YouTube, was produced by the Penn Dutch Tourist Bureau and provides an overview of farming, industry, and tourism. Many of the tourist attractions and historic sites shown are still in business, although some of the industries are not.






In addition to the vintage cars, clothes, and hairstyles (not to mention the soundtrack that will remind you 40-somethings of 2nd grade filmstrips), you’ll see several sites along the Pennsylvania Trails of History, mostly in the last 10 minutes of the 26-minute film. If you don’t have time (or interest) for watching the whole thing, Ephrata Cloister makes an appearance at about 18:40. Landis Valley Museum shows up at 20:45 (warning: don’t watch this if you’re hungry). A few PHMC historical markers are also featured.



YouTube has another film titled “Lancaster County Heritage, 1960s” that features many of the same elements, but in a different order and with different footage. This was also produced by the Penn Dutch Tourist Bureau. Please note: if you're planning a trip to Lancaster County, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau can provide much more up-to-date information than the films.



Both of these films are part of The Travel Film Archive . Other sites that may be of interest to Trailheads are The Savvy Grouse , Pennsylvania’s official tourism blog, and Gozaic--Connecting through Places that Matter, a new blog launched by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as part of its Heritage Travel initiative.