Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Filmed around the time of Alaska’s statehood in 1959, this short clip showcases Ray’s Super Market in downtown Fairbanks. Created to demonstrate that Alaska cities offered the same modern conveniences as those “Outside,” these scenes capture shoppers browsing aisles stocked with fresh produce, meats, and canned goods.
The market offers overflowing displays of fruit -- oranges, apples, grapes, cantaloupe and pineapple -- as well as shelves lined with staples such as canned beans and bottles of "pop" or soda. Butchers ready cuts of ribs and chicken, and show off a whole crab, while a pharmacist assists customers at the counter. Together, these vivid glimpses reveal the abundance and optimism of early-statehood Alaska.
Ray's Super Market, owned by Ray Gross and Ed Rusing, and located in the Northward Building at Third Avenue and Lacey Street, billed itself as "Alaska's Great Economy Food Center" in newspaper ads of the day.
NOTE: This clip was previously misidentified as Anchorage, but an eagle-eyed viewer set the record straight. Newspapers and photos from the era confirm the location as Fairbanks. Thank you eagle-eyed viewer!
This clip is from AAF-1135 (Color/silent/16mm film) of the Machetanz collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
Filmed around the time of Alaska’s statehood in 1959, this short clip showcases Ray’s Super Market in downtown Fairbanks. Created to demonstrate that Alaska cities offered the same modern conveniences as those “Outside,” these scenes capture shoppers browsing aisles stocked with fresh produce, meats, and canned goods.
The market offers overflowing displays of fruit -- oranges, apples, grapes, cantaloupe and pineapple -- as well as shelves lined with staples such as canned beans and bottles of "pop" or soda. Butchers ready cuts of ribs and chicken, and show off a whole crab, while a pharmacist assists customers at the counter. Together, these vivid glimpses reveal the abundance and optimism of early-statehood Alaska.
Ray's Super Market, owned by Ray Gross and Ed Rusing, and located in the Northward Building at Third Avenue and Lacey Street, billed itself as "Alaska's Great Economy Food Center" in newspaper ads of the day.
NOTE: This clip was previously misidentified as Anchorage, but an eagle-eyed viewer set the record straight. Newspapers and photos from the era confirm the location as Fairbanks. Thank you eagle-eyed viewer!
This clip is from AAF-1135 (Color/silent/16mm film) of the Machetanz collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
