Time travel

[Greg G.]

A friend emailed this to me:

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 clock tower 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 & shadows indicating 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!).  It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing but true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k

[Dan/Panther]

A few observations.
]The pedestrians look at the camera like they are seeing an alien.
It appears that when it comes to film, we have gone backwards, people appeared to have understand that you need to move when filming, not just stand still and look at the camera like we do now.
Did everyone wear suits all the time back then, didn't anyone have regular casual cloths ?
That was sure filmed at the perfect time.
Great thanks.
D/P

[AET]

I showed this video to my dad too, he really enjoyed it.  I can't believe how close people get to being smacked by that streetcar, whether on foot, driving, or navigating a carriage. 

D/P, suits were acceptable attire nearly 100% of the time then, unless you were at a job, such as factory work.  It's so great to just see everyday life then.

[Greg G.]

Did everyone wear suits all the time back then, didn't anyone have regular casual cloths ?

D/P

Pretty much, and for about the next 40-50 years after that.  Especially if you were in town.  You could be a grubby farmer most of the time, but when people went to town, they dressed up.  Now they don't even do that for church on Sundays.

[Greg G.]

I can't believe how close people get to being smacked by that streetcar, whether on foot, driving, or navigating a carriage. 

In that respect, nothings changed.  They show the same disregard for buses today.

[Greg G.]

Click ahead to the other videos on this Youtube account.  The next one is the same film, but spliced with scenes after the earthquake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k

[Steve]

I first saw this a few months ago, and it very captivating footage. finding out about the earthquake afterwords was kinda sad.

it's really only 2-3 cars in this reel, but they are circling the streetcar over and over.

the pedestrian death rates back then were huge. I had a website bookmarked a while back that had statistics of things like that, and crossing the street was a leading cause of injury/death. the early Edison reels are very cool to watch too.

[McHeath]

Great footage!!  It's pretty mesmerizing really, a window into a world that no longer exists.  All these people are gone now, kinda amazing.

I noticed the utter chaos of the streets as well, people just wandering about, traffic follows no pattern at all, near crashes all the time.  We use the saying about some people that they are "Hanging out on the streets", but back then they really were, literally in the street. 

Clothing was pretty formal eh?

The mix of cars, pedestrians, horse drawn wagons, bicycles, horses, and street cars is fascinating.  And then they way they just drive however they want, talk about deadly!

[Greg G.]

Great footage!!  It's pretty mesmerizing really, a window into a world that no longer exists.  All these people are gone now, kinda amazing.

I noticed the utter chaos of the streets as well, people just wandering about, traffic follows no pattern at all, near crashes all the time.  We use the saying about some people that they are "Hanging out on the streets", but back then they really were, literally in the street. 

Clothing was pretty formal eh?

The mix of cars, pedestrians, horse drawn wagons, bicycles, horses, and street cars is fascinating.  And then they way they just drive however they want, talk about deadly!

As a bus driver, the lack of traffic control made me cringe watching this.  My parent's generation, the WW2 generation, was probably the last generation that dressed formally when going out.  It was considered a disgrace to be seen in public and not be nicely dressed. 

[Steve]

I think it depends where you are from.

my Dad would literally choke me if I tried to go out in a t shirt or similar clothing.
a t shirt go's under your shirt. especially if it has writing on it. no smiley faces allowed outside.

I wear collared shirts ALWAYS. as do most of the guys I grew up with.
a tie, or sport coat are a must when going "somewhere"
we carry handkerchiefs too.

[bingster]

I remember my grandmother, as late as the early 1980s, wouldn't step foot out of the house without wearing her little white gloves.  It's just the way people of her generation were.

[Steve]

 
my son wears rugby shirts on wth day or whatever you want to call it. if he ever gets out the door in a rock t shirt, or smiley face t shirt etc. I have failed.  

they had a pajama day a few weeks ago. denied. nope. wont happen in my lifetime.

if it does, it will be the day of my fatal, massive heart attack. go ahead and take odds on it.

[McHeath]

Fun thoughts on clothes.  My folks were mildly formal, having been born in 1930, and I never saw my dad in a t-shirt or shorts, that was not going to happen, but he did not often wear a suit and tie either.  The older I've gotten the more formal I've tended, and getting my current job sees me wearing a tie usually 3-4 days a week now and suit coat as well, people at work comment on how "well dressed" I am and I even won an award a couple of years ago for it.

Ironic thing is that I'm not really all that dressed up, the tie is usually loose, I don't often tuck in the shirt, the suit coats are more modern and informal and I always wear jeans.  But people think I'm amazingly dressed up, like the old days some of them will say.  I guess we've just gotten to the point that a guy in a tie and blazer is dressed up, whereas 50 years ago I'd probably have been sent home to change into proper clothes. 

And yeah they have come to work in your pajama days once a year.  Not gonna happen.

[Dan/Panther]

Briny;
Could you post a link to the film you mention. I can't find it.
D/P

[AET]

I dress much more formally than most people my age. I NEVER go anywhere without my hair combed (and plenty of Brylcreem in it) and a collared shirt, tucked in.  I couldn't stand to be out in less than that.

My dad is the opposite.  I've seen him wear a collared shirt probably twice in my life.  He told me when he was a kid, he was running late for school and forgot to put his collared shirt on, and when he got there with only his t-shirt on, they sent him home.  Ah, the good old days.