Baked Alaska #2
a virtual travelog
Travel video tapes were the very thing that inspired me to start digitizing, and it’s no secret that the thrift stores are full of them. Despite many of these tapes being published by well-known and still operational production houses and having pretty large budgets for their time, very few of them have made it to streaming services (and even fewer have been given a DVD release).
Back in 2018, I came across a few YouTube channels full of digitized media, and my favorite videos were always old travelogs and nature documentaries. Even when the information is outdated and the footage looks old, I still think they hold a lot of entertainment and value —sometimes especially for these reasons. I will occasionally find a few of these older tapes on Amazon Prime Video Streaming, but very often these will be for rent, as in they cost money to rent on top of the yearly fee to get access to Prime, and/or the uploads will be even worse quality (240p) than what I’m capable of creating.
In January 2023, I made an entry featuring a box set of three Reader’s Digest travel tapes, some of my personal favorite finds. At the end of one of those tapes, a much older documentary about an Alaskan cruise played after the credits rolled. I included it as a bonus video at the end of the post. I really liked that footage and wondered where it came from, and this weekend I got my answer!
I was sorting through the shelves at AmVets Thrift Store in Knoxville, Tennessee and came across this tape:
I didn’t know it at the time, but this turned out to be a standalone release of that exact bonus documentary I’d found on the Reader’s Digest tape. The copy I found is a little… ugly, with a water and glue damaged cover and a moldy tape, but after running it through my cleaning rig, it played mostly fine. As for the missing back cover information, now knowing what I was looking for, I was able to find an Ebay listing of this tape with photos of the back so I could transcribe all the information successfully.
Interestingly, the seller’s copy is also a plastic clamshell, which looks really nice, while mine is a cardboard sleeve meaning there’s at the very least two editions of this release —it must have been at least a little popular.
The other 5 tapes in this post have all new video for this blog, including another beautiful Fodor Video Travel Handbook like I had back in May of this year. I’ve got a ton of footage from Alaska to show you, so let’s get right into the tapes!
The Great Alaska Cruise
1990 | Runtime: 119 Minutes
The Great Land-Alaska The name brings to mind a thousand images: majestic mountains, rivers of ice, endless tundra, vastness, spaciousness, freedom. All of these images are true. But for today's traveler it also means luxury. Amid some of the most rugged scenery of the world, luxurious cruise ships and elegant trains carry travelers north to the top of the world to view the extraordinary sights of the "Last Frontier."
In THE GREAT ALASKA CRUISE, Doug Jones takes the viewer through the inside Passage and across the Gulf of Alaska on the fabled Island Princess of Love Boat fame. Join 600 passengers for a trip from Vancouver to Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Experience the thrill of a helicopter trip to the Juneau icefields, ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, see a salmon cannery in operation, sail through breathtaking Glacier Bay and College Ford and experience all the magic that has beckoned travelers to Alaska for over a hundred years.
Visit Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley, stop by the Alaska State Fair, toke the Midnight Sun Express to Fairbanks, ride the Discovery sternwheeler paddleboat, pan for gold at the Little Eldorado Mine, and visit the seismology lab of the University of Alaska.
Then further north on the gravel Dalton Highway, past the pipeline, to Coldfoot, the northernmost truck stop in the world, flightseeing over the Brooks Range at midnight, then over the tundra to Prudhoe Bay, the oil fields and the Arctic Ocean.
From the Arctic, travel to Denali where you'll discover the magic of Mt. McKinley from the air then travel back to Anchorage and reboard the ship for a final trip south through the breathtaking icefields of the Columbia Glader All this awaits onboard the Island Princess as Doug Jones takes you north to the top of the world in THE GREAT ALASKA CRUISE!
Fodor's Video Alaska
1993 | Runtime 100 Minutes
Alaska, The Last Frontier
Experience Alaska, where Russian influences, gold, oil, natives and newcomers form a cultural tightrope between the past and the future. Relive Klondike Gold Rush days in Old Skagway and frontier days at the Fairbanks Dog Sled Race. Tour Alaska's cities- the skyscrapers of Anchorage and the idyllic setting of Juneau. Soar over Alaska's wilderness to rural towns, snow-filled valleys and the majestic peaks of Mt. McKinley with a bush pilot. Meet fisherman, oil workers and an artist who paints landscapes of her adopted state. Marvel at the miraculous Northern Lights. Enjoy the dance, music and mythical stories of Athabascan Indians. Cruise the waters of Glacier Bay amid whales, bears and marine birds.
Travel Planner
A special video segment designed to make you feel at home on any trip. Uncover cultural insights, logistical information and timely tips. Preferred modes of transportation... where to find economical lodging... the variety of recreational activities... sources for cruises, native art, baskets, jewelry and leather and the best locations for photographing wildlife and scenery.
Traveler's Handbook
A valuable resource filled with up-to-date information on your destination. Use it to plan ahead and for easy reference when you arrive. An essential travel companion covering:
Local maps
Where to stay
How to get around
Money matters
Speaking the language
Cultural insights
Fodor's Video
With more than 50 years of travel experience, Fodor's brings you an indispensable travel series filled with detailed maps, insightful facts and trusted recommendations-perfect for planning your travel itinerary.
Alaska: The Last Frontier
1991 | Runtime 75 Minutes
Join us on a breathtaking journey across Alaska. This all encompassing video unveils the spectacular scenery, incredible wild- life and hearty people of the Last Frontier. You'll see:
Inside Passage Call on the ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka. Encounter humpback whales, see ancient totems and the mighty Mendenhall Glacier.
Southcentral See Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. Visit spectacular Columbia Glacier and Portage Glacier. Go fishing for the mighty king salmon.
Interior Learn about Fairbanks' rich history. Ride the stern- wheeler Discovery. See sled dog racing. View rare footage of the dancing Northern Lights.
Denali Park Experience spectacular Denali National Park. Marvel at the varied wildlife and witness majestic Mt. McKinley.
Wildlife Watch brown bears fishing at McNeil River. See the fur seal rookeries and bird cliffs of the Pribilof Islands. Boat from Seward to the Chiswell Islands. See moose, caribou, eagles, puffins and much, much more.
People Visit an Eskimo fish camp near St. Michael. Watch the loggers festival at Sitka. See how men and women fight the elements for oil at Prudhoe Bay.
Also featuring: GLACIER BAY: THE GRAND DESIGN This video also features the film, Glacier Bay: the Grand Design, an in-depth look at Glacier Bay National Park.
Cultural Cruise of Alaska
1993 | Runtime: 30 Minutes
This thirty minute video was created especially for you, our guest, to help you relive, in the years to come, your Cultural Cruise of Alaska on the SS Universe. It features all your ports of call - including Glacier Bay National Park and Columbia Glacier. The video takes you "on stage" to see Russian and Indian Dancers. You fly onto the ice fields of Mendenhall Glacier and travel into the quiet fiords of Silver Bay. Whales, eagles, Alaskan folklore and life - all are a part of your professional quality video. The shipboard activities including the informal lectures and the classical entertainment are high- lighted. Your video captures the heart of this unique voyage of ALASKA on the SS Universe.
Voices From The Ice
Alaska Parks and Wilderness Series
1987 | Runtime 20 Minutes
PARKS AND WILDERNESS SERIES VOICES FROM THE ICE, dramatically captures the sights and sounds of Alaska's vast rivers of sculptured ice. A gold-medal winner in the 1986 29th Annual International Film and Television Festival of New York, VOICES FROM THE ICE brings much of Alaska's most awe-inspiring scenery to your living room.
This fully narrated program was photographed entirely in Alaska's Chugach National Forest. Its stunning sound track was created by the makers of the Star Wars films. To date, these are sights and sounds unmatched in any documentary on Alaska.
You'll see magnificent towers of compacted snow measuring nearly 10-stories high. You'll hear the thunderous roar of glacier ice as it "calves" into the water below. You'll travel over a land contoured by glaciers, and see moose, bear, mountain goat and birdlife struggling to survive in one of the world's most isolated forests.
VOICES FROM THE ICE is an extraordinary documentary about the tremendous force that has shaped the terrain of South Central Alaska for millions of years — an image of Alaska you'll not soon forget.
Great Alaska Tours
1996 | Runtime 23 Minutes
Alaska, Mother Nature used the biggest brush she had when creating this masterpiece. And to truly experience the wonders of this land, you must leave the water and explore inland. From the snow- covered slopes of Mt. McKinley to the winding river valleys and thriving wildlife in the Yukon and Alaska's interior, the Great Land offers something for everyone. Holland America Westours, the Alaska Leader, offers you the widest variety of the best Alaska tours.
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the tapes! If you’re looking for more, please check out my page on Archive.org for the full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. If you haven’t already, please check out the one of my previous posts below, or all of my other previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
Baked Alaska
Since the new year, I’ve come across quite a few tapes centered around America’s largest state, Alaska, so that’s what I’m highlighting in this week’s article. From Juneau to Denali, the dawn of civilization to the year 2000, there’s no way to cover everything Alaska has to offer, but this week we tour the Inside Passage and beyond.
High Speed Rail Travel
Hear the train whistle blow as you pull out of the station to begin your adventure on the Alaska Railroad. You'll journey from Anchorage to Fairbanks and Seward, crossing America's last frontier, a vast unspoiled wilderness where nature reigns in pristine wonder.
The Shape of Water
The Nature Company joins Emmy award-winning cinematographer Al Giddings to produce this breathtaking video experience of the beauty of water: the dawning of life in a Sierra stream, the steaming Micronesian jungle, the breaching whales of Alaska. An original musical score delicately interweaves the natural rhythms of water and eloquent narration by Gregory Peck. The accompanying full-color booklet explores water in its myriad forms.
You'll Never Guess What I Bought for $1
Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team aboard the windship Alycone sail into the Arctic Circle in Alaska. They explore an island with the largest gathering of Pacific walruses in the North, and assist in a polar bear tagging program. In this forbidding, frozen land, each day is a struggle for survival for every animal--including man. While families of huge grizzly bears fish for salmon in the frigid rivers, the native Eskimos continue to hunt fur seals, walruses, and bowhead whales, just as they always have. Now, the government restricts native hunting, which protects wildlife but threatens the age- old culture and sacred rituals of the Eskimo people.
The last tape has some stunning scenery! I was in AK when I was young but don't remember much.