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
Amazing there were that many cars outnumber the horses in 1906.
What a great picture of a slice of urban life at that time.
Enjoy!
I did. I worked in the city in the late 1970s and I thought it a zoo then. This film just reinforced my observation.
At least the 1906 ers dressed better.
Ont thing that struck me is how few women are seen in this film. I suppose most women stayed at home those days except for very special occasions. (Of course, women would be handicapped somewhat trying to dodge everything in the clothes they wore—LOL!)
Wow! Thanks! Amazing - so much history and so many events have transpired since then. They were blissfully unaware of the fate that soon awaited them in just a few days.
What a great city it was...thriving and active with everyday city life. What an amazing view of reality this is. The emergence of the automobile, the trolley, the lack of traffic control, the fashions of the day, the street activity, the reactions of those seeing the camera .....amazing.
I think these San Franciscans would be mortified to know the connotation their great city has these days.
NO INCOME TAX! Miniscule government.
Do you happen to know what section of Market Street this goes down?
My grandmother lived on the corner of Powell and Market in 1906.
I’ve been reading a novel which takes place right before the 1906 earthquake. It’s really cool to see this.
It was groovy!
I did enjoy that. And I didn’t see any road rage even with all that confusion.
Most, but not all, of the cars seen have license plates. This implies some type of DMV, even at that early date. Horrors!
I don’t know San Francisco at all...however the email did say that there is a video of the same section of the City in 2005 on the website. Good luck!
This was way before the City became a mecca for that kind of thing. In those days, my great-great grandfather had just finishing up a career as a paving contractor in SF. His son (my great grandpop) had passed away two years earlier (the same heart stuff that I have) and had a career in major-league baseball and later, his own shipping business. His son, my grandfather, was a young man of fourteen and probably living across the bay from there in San Rafael.
Some of the people in that clip may be direct relatives of mine. :-)
Some of the people in that clip may be direct relatives of mine. :-)
Wow, great story.
bump
Amazing bit of visual history. Everyone in the entire video (men & women) wore a hat. I would describe the traffic as fairly well organized chaos. Thank you for posting this Hildy.
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