Posted on 03/21/2010 1:08:05 PM PDT by Hildy
This is well worth viewing and filmed just 4 days before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
You'll appreciate the research that it took to date this film so be sure to read this first.....
Here's a neat opportunity to enjoy some time-travel. The film is from a streetcar traveling down Market Street in San Francisco, four days before the big earthquake/fire that destroyed the area. You can clearly see the clocktower at the end of the street at the Embarcadero wharf that's still there... The quality & detail is great, so be sure to view it full screen.
The film was originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing, to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall and shadows indicating the time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!), the film could be correctly dated.
It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to New York for processing. Amazing but true!
According to Wikipedia, traffic signal lights were not invented until 1912, and not common for some years later. Click below to watch:
Also on the same site you can view another such covering the same ground made in 2005
What??? No sound?
It’s the day that Pelosi was born and GOD destroyed the mold.
Thanks. That was interesting.
I’ve seen it before and never get tired of it.
Thank you.
No Gay Pride parade that day.
Fascinating, for the near-anarchy that somehow functions. No traffic lights, no stop signs, no police directing traffic (one policeman is clearly seen, but he’s doing nothing to control traffic). Horse-drawn vehicles, autos, street cars, pedestrians— all cutting each other off but somehow surviving.
Wow, thanks. Love the music, too.
That’s how most cities in the third world still are.
That was great. Early autos, horse-drawn carriages, streetcars, and pedestrians (dressed almost exclusively in black) all staying out of each other’s way, without street lights for assistance, with the greatest of ease and good cheer.
Some real character out there. Check out the big dude at the far right corner of the screen at the 1:16 mark. Very hip shades. Looks like Belushi in the Blues Brothers.
Leni
I saw this a few months ago. Still the coolest thing to watch.
I have found among my mothers things a photo album made by a cousin as he was stationed near S. F. during WWI. He went to the zoo. I wonder if it could also be dated? There are a couple of shots of the military camp and parade grounds.
Thanks, no road signs or lines telling people where to drive, yet everyone seems to be humming along just fine! Horses and cars! LOL thanks.
Thank you, that is simply awesome. But they were crazy drivers!
El Presidente Chavez MAO-bama!
That was very cool. Thanks for posting.
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