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good evening ladies and gentlemen this
is jack douglas and this is the
mountainous desert area near palm
springs california unchanged since the
spanish and mexican explorers notably
the romero expeditions of 1823-26
made peace with the desert indian tribes
not until the 1880s however was palm
springs able to attract permanent
settlers a few decades later the
horseless carriage had replaced the
covered wagons and as the saying goes
you should see it now and so we will
during this armchair vacation to
the palm springs scene
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[Applause]
this looks like and is a modern oasis
located 10 miles north of palm springs
at an elevation of 1100 feet the view is
soft and dreamy and very attractive but
this oasis the desert spa offers
something special
curative hot springs extremely rich in
minerals the water temperature is 169
degrees and you can actually see the
steam rising from the spring
a swimming pool would be a natural
requisite for the guests but shucks the
indians had the same idea when they
built this old bathhouse back in 1871.
some of the world's famous winter
resorts are overrated palm springs is
not it has the expected palm trees
lining the streets streets much wider
than average as we can see and enough
shops and stores to make window browsing
a major tourist attraction
of the older homes in palm springs this
one known simply as miss cornelius house
is unusual because it was built of
railroad ties
well inside most of the furnishings are
either the original pieces or were
donated by local residents
we photographed several of the rooms to
get an idea of how the well to do
furnished their desert homes near the
turn of the century
returning to this century here's a house
as elegant as any in palm springs it
perches on a mountain cliff overlooking
the city and the desert beyond and its
owner here is the great and beloved
opera star miss lily pons now since the
house is not open to the public this
ponds graciously allowed us to take our
cameras inside
the decor is oriental antique and
virtually all of the pieces were
imported from france which until recent
years had access to the best furnishings
in the orient by way of french indochina
this screen is rare 17th century
japanese and the table is made of two
doors from an 18th century chinese
cabinet
this small center table piece is a 19th
century burmese version of the ancient
phoenix bird here's a section of the
lovely bedroom and it shows the bed
designed by miss pons and crafted in
paris
the symbols on the headboard are missed
pawns initials in chinese and the
magnificent screen in the background is
18th century chinese a truly magnificent
home and we appreciated the chance to
see it
the lush greenery of palm springs comes
as a big surprise to the first time
visitor it's hard for people from the
midwest and east especially to believe
that this sandy barren soil could be
made rich and fertile but the natives
will tell you and it's true that if a
tree shrub plant or flower can survive a
warm climate it will grow quickly and
well in the city of sunshine and
speaking of visiting where does one stay
in palm springs well we won't have to
rough it among the famous choices are
ray ryan's el mirador
gene autry's melody ranch is named after
the cowboy stars radio and tv ranch
at indian wells our host was if we could
get him away from the golf course
the arrow on garden hotel in palm desert
is oriental in design and decor it
derives its name by the way from the
erawan hotel in faraway bangkok
and for a motor lodge i'm sure you'll
agree that the international will do yes
they call this a motor lodge
the riviera is another long time
favorite and so is the palm springs spa
and there are many other fine hotels
motels and lodges to choose from but
listen i want to show you a trailer camp
and this is the trailer camp to end all
trailer camps bing crosby's blue skies
village now here's the deal you rent
trailer space for a year on up to 10
years and the lease price runs from
about 700
to 1200 per year which for palm springs
is merely nickels and dimes anyway just
look at what some of the long least
residents of blue skies village have
done with their trailer space these
believe it or not are trailer homes
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[Applause]
the roads at the village are named after
bing and his co-stockholders and the
village even has a nine-hole pitch and
putt golf course
this now is the approach to charlie
farrell's racquet club which is to palm
springs what the marian cricket club is
to philadelphia's main line
as implied by its name tennis is the
main attraction at the racquet club to
such an extent that the olympic-sized
pool rarely has a ripple also at the
club the royal game of chess is played
on a grand scale the chessmen are the
size of tahitian war clubs and the
squares are actually a part of the
landscape red and white tiles embedded
in the turf
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there are probably more bicycles than
palm trees in palm springs and what
started out as a fad has become the
resort's most popular form of
transportation
and no extra charge for hitchhikers
private planes are also very large on
the palm springs scene and at the
airport we had the pleasure of meeting
the flying great grandmother
zaddy bunker a long time resident of the
springs
well i'm sort of a pioneer we came in 19
and 13.
and
i lived here for uh 41 years before i
ever took a real vacation then i flew my
little
single engine plane
to visit kitty hawk north carolina and
one of the interesting things of that
trip
really funny was the looks on the faces
of people when they saw me
and they always looked for a pilot in
the plane zaddy how young were you when
you received your pilot's license i got
my single engine pilot's license on my
65th birthday
and
six weeks afterwards i gave my
great-grandson his first ride
in an airplane which i am believed to be
the only woman in the world to get a
pilot's license after she's a great
grandmother
and he's the first person to ever have a
ride with his great-grandmother as pots
driving back from the airport we saw a
sign that captivated our interest el
finco's anyway while the name sounds
frivolous the food isn't this slip
smacking cheese tortilla is quesadilla a
sort of spanish pizza
meanwhile across the street the white
job was on the job
the white job is palm springs vernacular
for the immaculate white truck and rig
used in pruning the palm trees and as
one taxpayer told us if they can't find
a tree to prune they'll plant one
the military honor guard signals the
arrival in palm springs of the world's
best known amateur golfer a great
military hero and twice the popular
choice of his countrymen as president
dwight david eisenhower accompanied by a
very radiant mrs eisenhower it's a big
day in palm springs
minutes after arriving at the secluded
quiet home the president will be found
driving his golf cart to his favorite
course to notice the five gold stars on
the front of the cart
a quick warm-up at the practice range is
followed by a full 18 holes of golf and
no amateur ever did more to popularize
the game
palm springs calls itself the winter
golf capital of the world and it's not
an idle boast on a per capita basis
there are more golf courses here than in
any other major city on earth eldorado
tamarisk thunderbird indian wells
westward hull biltmore and on and on and
all have this in common they're
beautiful courses lush and green and a
treat to the eyes and even if you don't
play golf you should make it a point to
walk around some of the better courses
when you visit the springs it's like
being turned loose in a private spacious
park and always you'll marvel at the
contrast the emerald fairways against
the tan brown
mountain range
the ranch club accents fun in the sun
western style it's a membership resort
club with living accommodations and all
the comforts of the plush hotels but
with horses and riding as the added
attraction
i'm sure you recognize tv and film stars
doug mcclure and peter brown very much
at home in a western setting
while we were here the club was
celebrating frontier day a day full of
colorful festivities here doug is having
his boots removed in preparation for the
shoe contest and these youngsters fill
the sin on what happens the boots of the
riders are collected and placed in the
center of the ring and the idea is to
dismount find and put on your own boots
and right back to the starting line well
doug won this particular event got a
round of applause and from this trophy
laden table a memento of the occasion
the pallet club of palm springs has but
a single-minded purpose to bring
together people who like to paint
all except the instructor mr han harloff
are amateurs they meet at the club each
day they bring their pets if they wish
and they paint or sketch whatever they
choose under the artistic supervision
of mr harlot
one nice thing about the club is that
the members willingly serve as free
models the artist by the way is mr
garmur who left hollywood to become one
of palm springs most successful
landscape and interior designers
amateurs well the word is often a
misnomer for example no art connoisseur
could possibly label these paintings as
amateurish
a few hours later it is sundown in this
paradise of palms and now the mood of
this fabulous desert playground changes
completely the air is balmy and quiet
and the same moon that shines over miami
shines on the palm springs sea
[Applause]
night life in palm springs is quite
frankly restricted to the better hotels
clubs and restaurants the neon signs
tell the story
[Music]
at charlie farrell's house the racquet
club the elite meet under the stars are
they watching an outdoor musical or play
no it's tennis tennis by day tennis by
night and really every night why well
the matinee idol of hollywood's golden
era gave us the answer later that
evening welcome jack welcome to palm
springs and the racquet club
tell you what i've been looking at i've
been watching the mouse burger
tournament we have a milesburger
tournament here every tuesday night and
we have had since 1950. it's a
tournament that was started by mousie
powell that's mrs william powell and the
reason it was started because there were
a lot of people that worked in town and
didn't get a chance to play tennis in
the daytime so we started this so they
could play at night
actually charlie you've literally
watched palm springs grow up haven't you
well i think i have seen it grow i came
here about 35 years ago now the racquet
club is 31 years old i've been here 35
years when i first came here there are
only two hotels the el mirador
and the desert inn and maybe the palm
springs yes the palm springs hotel and
only one or two restaurants the main
street was nothing
and there were very few people here and
to give a general idea i bought 200
acres of land at 30 an acre
and
that land i sold some of it at five
hundred dollars an acre and now if you
try to buy that land back would cost you
eight thousand dollars an acre so i've
been here quite a long while and i've
really seen it grow
a nice man and the gracious host at the
racket club
in palm springs god's country is never
more than a minute or two out of town
and if you drive through the open range
on any tuesday morning you're sure to
meet the desert writers now this group
was organized back in 1930 and each
tuesday they slick up in western writing
habit for a weekly breakfast ride the
mayor of palm springs is usually the
president of the desert riders in this
case mayor frank booger
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the chow line forms to the right and
with this long line we might as well
have a coffee clutch while we wait ah
this is the life get up before dawn and
have a hearty breakfast while the rest
of palm springs is still asleep
well these folks went back to town and
had a ball the rest of the day but our
camera crew chickened out we went back
to bed at 10 a.m
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drive south on palm canyon drive about
four miles and you will enter a 32 000
acre reservation belonging to the awa
caliente indian tribes
the most beautiful part of the
reservation is a section known as
andreas canyon and if ever a desert gave
man a secluded shangri-la this is it
in the winter months the ancient indians
would be content with the warmth of the
desert sands but in the scorching
summers they would camp here at andreas
canyon in the cool shadows of trees and
jutting granite by the edge of sweet
cool flowing water
the indians are no longer here in the
summer months but they left behind
numerous traces such as this grinding
mortar of the days when andreas canyon
was theirs and theirs alone
when you're in or near palm springs
don't miss the chance to visit this
beautiful canyon but let's drive on to
the other sites within a radius of 30 or
40 miles from palm springs
in yucca valley you'll want to stop at
the desert christ park where sculptor
anton martin created some 35 or more
biblical figures
now these sculptures are one and a half
times life size and each weighs well
over
four tons
to really appreciate these blazing white
sculptures however i'd recommend that
you take along yellow or amber
sunglasses the desert christ park in
yucca valley california and in
california the words date festival are
synonymous with the city of indio some
28 miles from palm springs
the camels have become a standard
fixture at this internationally famous
pageant
the indio date festival takes place in
february yet we were here in december
and as these pictures indicate the
preparations were already well underway
indio calls itself the date capital of
the world even though the first
commercial date gardens were planted a
mere 50 or 60 years ago and 98
of all dates raised in north america are
produced within a 20 mile radius of
india
the king of the date palm trees here is
old solomon imported from arabia in 1912
and it produces enough pollen for 400
female palm trees whereas the normal
palm can accommodate only 50.
most of these palms originated from
offshoots brought here from the persian
gulf area the male palm does not bear
fruit but develops the pollen which is
carried by hand to the blossoms of the
female palms during february and march
naturally you can't enter or leave indio
without being persuaded to take home a
gift package and the truth is that these
california dates win prizes each year as
the best dates grown anywhere in the
world
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indio is a part of the coachella valley
the valley that can grow anything from
cotton to citrus yes and even cattle no
these aren't the desert riders of palm
springs but real working cowboys
rounding up the herd and yippee i owe
you all isn't this palm springs vacation
full of surprises
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at idlewild california some 50 miles
from palm springs at an elevation of 6
000 feet there is a restaurant that is
the talk of the west and by now the
western world robert balzer's tyrol
restaurant
tucked away in the shadows of the tall
timber the tyrol isn't easy to find but
that doesn't seem to bother its host and
owner bob balzer welcome jack to the
tyrol in idlewild
when you're inside and you look through
those beautiful tall windows
the mountains that you see give the name
to this restaurant the tyrol like the
austrian tyrell
which is one more evidence of the
miracle of california
from the desert floor below
after just a few moments you arrive in
these mountains
with these trees and you're in the alps
and in our house we hope that you will
enjoy a european hospitality which is a
souvenir of innsbruck
the balzer family has had a tradition of
food which goes back to
well goes back to a hundred years ago
when my great-grandfather catered
lincoln's inaugural banquet in
washington in march
1865
among those sampling the superb cuisine
miss lily puns
here bob is presenting miss ponz with a
copy of his best seller the pleasures of
wine
thank you very much i hope that you will
enjoy that book i'm sure that there are
many souvenirs not only of california
but the france that you're from france
bordeaux and all those places
that's right oh our wonderful very sweet
of you
thank you very much
if any one place in or near palm springs
made us reluctant to leave this was it
bob balzer's tyrol a nostalgic touch of
europe in america and a major highlight
on
the palm springs scene
in palm springs you may have occasion to
visit the modest but attractive city
hall and you're bound to notice the
motto of this fabulous desert resort the
people are the city and a few feet away
this memorial to the young martyred
president who was a frequent vacationer
here the dynamic man whose infectious
grin made the whole world smile john
fitzgerald kennedy oh there is still a
spaciousness in this wide open country
to be sure the area surrounding palm
springs is mostly mountain and desert
and looking out over these endless dunes
you almost expect to see the old french
foreign legion marching in review well
many of hollywood's best known foreign
legion films were photographed in this
vicinity but the desert can be tamed and
the college of the desert is a tribute
to man's conquest of sand and scorching
sun
a lot of people laughed openly when the
founders said we shall build our college
here but they're not laughing today and
one of america's newest brightest
colleges has literally found a place in
the sun
there are other new sites on the palm
springs scene for example the recently
built tramway the world's largest
longest passenger carrying tram
from valley station elevation 2600 feet
you will rise almost 6 000 feet to the
peak of san jacinto mountain and in
distance your tram will travel more than
thirteen thousand feet or roughly two
and a half miles between stations it's
the world's greatest and an experience
that the youngsters especially
will never forget
now until next week jack douglas saying
thank you so much and good night ladies
and gentlemen boys and girls
[Applause]
[Music]
you