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Your Atlantic Holiday to Canada

A tour of Canada aboard the ships "Letitia" or "Athenia"

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Description

Passengers board the liner. Families and friends wave goodbye, and the liner steams away. The boat arrives at Belfast and the launch collects more passengers. On board, passengers play shuffleboard and deck tennis. They play a mock horse race, working out the position of the horses with dice as women move models up a track. We see the odds on a blackboard. Passengers relax inside a cabin, and in a lounge with fireplace. There is a masquerade ball. We see the characters in various costumes pass the judges. The liner arrives at Quebec. There are various shots of the land from the sea, and of the ship coming in to dock. A panning shot of the city from afar. We visit Montmorency Falls by Electric tram. There is a shot of the waterfall, and of Kent House. We then go to the zoo and see a child feed a deer. There is a shot of a stag. Returning to the Letitia ship, we see men loading on fuel oil, and the ship pass under a cantilevered bridge. We see the Athenia from the top of the Quebec bridge as it sails below and away. Shots of the docks at Montreal, the liner coming in pulled by a tug. Passengers disembark, and we visit the city with a montage of shots detailing important architecture. People enjoy a radio concert aboard the train to Ottawa. On arriving there, we again see an architectural montage, then travel to Toronto aboard the busy restaurant car. We see a parade, and crowds, and go across Lake Ontario by steamer to see Niagara Falls. There are various shots of the falls, including an aerial view. We also see an aerial car which spans the rapids on wires.

Questions & Activities

Questions

  • Who do you think made this film and why?
  • Who was Harry Lauder?
  • What leisure activity and games are shown in the film?
  • What is the capital city of Canada?
  • What languages do they speak in Quebec?
  • What river would they be sailing up to get to Montréal?
  • What different modes of transport were shown in the film?

Activities

English: Imagine you are travelling on this Atlantic holiday. Write a story detailing your adventure.

Moving Image Education / Travel & Tourism: Using the library and internet, collect a series of still images of the places this Atlantic holiday would have visited. Create a photo album or slide show, with captions, recording the holiday.

Media Studies / Travel & Tourism: Investigate whether this travel film would be acceptable as a form of promotion today. How would a modern holiday ad cover this kind of holiday?

Travel & Tourism: Prepare a research report comparing and contrasting holiday and travel then and now.

Social Studies / Travel & Tourism: What did 1st class, 2nd class and 3rd class travel mean? What would the different amenities be and who would use each kind of travel?

Clip Details

Record Id 007-000-002-527-C
Resource Rights Holder National Library of Scotland
Project Ref 7053
Date 1933
Genre Sponsored
School Subject English, Social Studies, Expressive Arts
Who Anchor Donaldson Line (sponsor)
Where Belfast, Canada, Glasgow
Attributes Black and White, Silent
Clip Length 12:54
Film Length 12:54