michaelangelo
29th March 2011, 10:57 AM
BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE: SAN FRANCISCO, 1906
Dionysio Spiliotopoulos writes:
This is a fascinating movie. A camera was mounted on the front of a street
car in San Francisco 105 years ago (1906). Perhaps the oldest "home movie"
that you will ever see! I watched it a couple of times. Look at the hats
the ladies were wearing and the long dresses. Some of the cars had the
steering wheels on the right side. I wonder when they standardized on the
left? Sure were still a lot of horse drawn vehicles in use. Mass transit
looked like the way to get around. Looks like everybody had the right of
way.
Watch the beginning carefully. At the 33 second mark and immediately after
an oncoming trolley clears the screen, a well dressed policeman walks across
the street from left to right. Notice his right hand that he's carrying a
truncheon (26 inch police baton) and although he appears walking his beat,
he looks ready to use it. Imagine the police of today walking down the
street carrying a 26 inch club in their hand???
This film was "lost" for many years. It was the first 35mm film ever. The number of
automobiles is staggering for 1906. The clock tower at the end of Market
Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there.
How many "street cleaning" people were employed to pick up after the horses?
Talk about going green!
This 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 Great California Earthquake of April 18, 1906
and shipped by train to NY for processing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k
Dionysio Spiliotopoulos writes:
This is a fascinating movie. A camera was mounted on the front of a street
car in San Francisco 105 years ago (1906). Perhaps the oldest "home movie"
that you will ever see! I watched it a couple of times. Look at the hats
the ladies were wearing and the long dresses. Some of the cars had the
steering wheels on the right side. I wonder when they standardized on the
left? Sure were still a lot of horse drawn vehicles in use. Mass transit
looked like the way to get around. Looks like everybody had the right of
way.
Watch the beginning carefully. At the 33 second mark and immediately after
an oncoming trolley clears the screen, a well dressed policeman walks across
the street from left to right. Notice his right hand that he's carrying a
truncheon (26 inch police baton) and although he appears walking his beat,
he looks ready to use it. Imagine the police of today walking down the
street carrying a 26 inch club in their hand???
This film was "lost" for many years. It was the first 35mm film ever. The number of
automobiles is staggering for 1906. The clock tower at the end of Market
Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there.
How many "street cleaning" people were employed to pick up after the horses?
Talk about going green!
This 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 Great California Earthquake of April 18, 1906
and shipped by train to NY for processing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k