Let's go on a holiday in Philadelphia this week.

Let's go on a holiday in Philadelphia this week. This ca. 1960 film was produced by the city's Board of Trade and Conventions to promote tourism. It follows the fictional Daley family as they plan their vacation and sightsee Philadelphia's historical attractions, shopping, and sports and cultural events. The film, narrated by Dick Clark, also includes behind the scenes footage of the American Bandstand television show at the WFIL TV studio.

The film is part of Hagley Library's collection of Strawbridge and Clothier photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1995.250), as the department store provided the set furnishings for the production. The company, founded as a partnership by Justus C. Strawbridge and Isaac H. Clothier on July 1, 1868, was a major department store chain in the Greater Philadelphia area. The firm was operated on Quaker principles of simplicity and community service, control remaining with the founding families for four generations.

The company was the last locally-​controlled, family-owned department store chain in the region. Despite an early move into suburban branches beginning in 1930 and the development of the popular Clover line of discount stores, the firm succumbed to changing patterns in retailing and sold its stores to the May Department Store Company of St. Louis on July 15, 1996.

To view this film online now, as well as other materials from this collection, our Strawbridge & Clothier records (Accession 2117) collection, and the company's employee newsletter, Store Chat magazine, click here to visit their page in our Digital Archives.