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St. John: the good old days

"Return with me now to the thrilling days of yesteryear” is how the old Lone Ranger radio shows began.  

The Inquiring Iguana couldn't help thinking of that phrase when he stumbled across an eight-minute travelogue about St. John, produced in the ‘60s by Midwest Film Studios and available online.

About three-quarters of the film focuses on the development of Caneel Bay, new at the time. There are shots of the sand and the surf, of course.  The deep-voiced narrator explains,  The “slave quarters (have been)  remodeled as pastel-tinted cottages …the old Sugar Mill is now a shop.”

There was a golf course pictured (which Capt. Doug, in a comment, said is on St. Croix).

Oldcaneel
If you rented a car you could explore the island, including the waterfront where there multi-masted sailing ships appear to be anchored.

The film is available at the Travel Film Archive, which appears to be a real trove of treasure for travel veterans. Here's a link.

5 thoughts on “St. John: the good old days”

  1. Very cool. I have stayed at Caneel a bunch of times and always thought that the grounds reminded me of a golf course. Now I know why! I shared your find over at VIOL too.

  2. Wow, Frank. That was quite a find! Loved the music, voice, photos and feel of the video. I wonder how those rental cars did on the roads back in the day. Yipes!

  3. The golf course, the waterfront,the fishing boat, the rental cars are all St Croix. The date is pre-1960, probably 1958.

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