Title:
Tacoma Washington Family 1940's Vol. 2
REEL ID:
L067R002
RUN TIME:
0:10:14
FORMAT:
16mm motion picture film
FILM TYPE:
Color
SOUND:
Silent (no synchronized sound)
Description:
This home movie documents seasonal change and everyday family life in and around Tacoma, pairing vivid springtime color with winter scenes and hands-on domestic activity. Shot on color film, the reel moves between landscapes, shoreline recreation, and candid moments at home.
The film opens with orderly rows of spring flowers in bloom—tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils—stretching across fields with a mountain rising in the distance. Sailboats glide through the Tacoma Narrows, while clear views of Mount Baker anchor the scenes in the Pacific Northwest.
Family activities follow across multiple settings. People explore an abandoned building, then relax along the shoreline at Perdue Beach, enjoying the water and open air. Back home, practical work takes center stage: two men butcher a cow, a woman grinds beef, and others tend to mechanical chores—men working on a car in the yard. Brief, playful interludes include men trying on shorts, captured with a lighthearted tone.
Winter returns in later sequences. Children pull a sled through the snow, play in white-covered yards, and move between houses and trees blanketed by snowfall—contrasting sharply with the opening spring imagery and emphasizing the region’s seasonal range.
Together, these scenes preserve a grounded portrait of midcentury life in western Washington—where gardening, shoreline outings, food preparation, winter play, and everyday work unfold side by side within family routines.
Tags:
Tacoma Washington, Washington State, Pacific Northwest, 16mm film, Color home movies, Spring flowers, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, Flower fields, Mount Baker, Tacoma Narrows, Sailboats, Family life, Shoreline, Beach recreation, Abandoned building, Home butchering, Grinding beef, Food preparation, Backyard work, Working on car, Winter scenes, Snow, Sledding, Kids playing in snow, Snow-covered houses, Seasonal change, Midcentury lifestyle, Americana, Analog film, Nostalgic footage