We're in the midst of some of the busiest travel days of the year, so it seems a fine time to share this 1930 travel footage ...

We're in the midst of some of the busiest travel days of the year, so it seems a fine time to share this 1930 travel footage from Hagley Library's collection of RCA Camden records (Accession 2464.76).

The film documents the Sommerer family's travels, beginning with domestic scenes at home in Camden, New Jersey and follows our travelers via train to Vancouver, Canada, through British Columbia, to life at sea on the RMS Empress of Asia, and finally to their destinations in Yokohama and Kamakura, Japan.

Harvey Price Sommerer (1911-2007) and his father Harry Leadom Sommerer (1885-1956) were both employees of the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan from 1930 to 1937. Harvey worked as a buyer, while his father was the managing director of the Victor company's plant in Yokohama, Japan. They both left the company when RCA sold its majority stake in the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan (later to become JVC) as a result of the Japanese invasion of China in 1937.

Upon their return to the United States, the younger Sommerer worked for RCA Victor in Camden, New Jersey as chief buyer in the home instrument department. The elder returned to Camden as well, and became the Manager of Manufacturing for RCA plants, and also oversaw subcontracting operations on war work.

The RCA Camden records (Accession 2462.76) collection also documents RCA’s work in the space program, electron microscopy, nuclear fusion, and other fields through research records, correspondence, reports, photographs and films. It has not been digitized in its entirety. To view a selection of materials from this collection, click here to visit its page in our Digital Archives.