“ SCHLEY RIDE TO NASSAU “ 1950s BAHAMAS TRAVELOGUE FILM NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND XD47784

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website Part 2: This travelogue film was made by Norman Schley, a filmmaker from Wisconsin who made many wonderful travelogue films. It likely dates to the late 1950s/early 1960s. This narrated documentary and takes the viewer to Nassau in Providence Island, the largest city and capital of the Bahamas. Nassau was historically considered a haven for pirates and British loyalists alike. The tourists in the film also take a boat to Rose Island, where tropical cocktails and white sandy beaches abound. The film shows a sometimes uncomfortable but interesting display of mid-century tourists interacting with Nassau locals. Beautiful footage with narration that touches the history of the island. Title cards read “Schley Ride To Nassau” “Photographed by Norman Schley” “A Picturelogue Presentation of Waukesha Wis.” People board a Panama American Clipper plane (00:26). Aerial views of the ocean and New Providence Island in the Bahamas, destination Nassau. Locals walk through Rawson Square downtown (1:28). Tourists shop at the open air market, the women try on hats under colorful umbrellas. A young girl sews beads onto a hat, local children laugh (2:10). Shot of government buildings outside of Prince George wharf. A statue of Queen Victoria sits on a throne (2:37). Cars and horse drawn wagons move down Bay street. A line of horse drawn carriages wait to taxi tourists around. Shots of locals, children and buildings. A woman weaves slippers (3:56). Gregory’s Arch on Market Street (4:10). Camera moves from Grants Town to Fort Fincastle on top of Bennet’s Hill. Shots of the water tower. Panoramic views of the ocean and city (4:54). British flag waves. Man helps people onto his boat. Family’s pose on the boat. Local boys bob in the water. They are diving for coins. The tourists on the boat throw coins into the bay while the young men dive (6:13). They swim to the dock and climb up. They take turns diving from a roof (7:30). Sail boats, schooners and yachts float in the harbor. A man steers the boat through blue sparkling water. A small island appears. The boat pulls up to the Royal Victoria Beach Club on Rose Island (9:50). White sand and blue water. A local man brings tourists tropical drinks on the beach (10:25). The tourists are served food on the beach by men in white shirts and bow ties. A man emerges holding wooden boxes is introduced as Howard Daikan (sp?) of Minnesota, inventor of underwater photography equipment (11:35). He removes a 35mm Claris camera and Weston light meter from the boxes, they are encased in airtight plexiglass (11:53). He demonstrates how it works. Howard loads rafts with his equipment then puts on snorkeling gear. Howard and his friend Dr. William Clark take the cameras underwater with tubes in their mouths to breathe (14:08). The tubes are attached to floating washing machine engines, they pump air. A family of dolphins floats peacefully underwater (15:00). Another man named Howard Eldon puts on a mask and picks up a spear to go spear fishing. He swims out and picks up a small sea turtle and brings it to shore (16:11). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit