Cool film of a 1906 street scene from San Francisco

[Barklessdog]

 
  

This is a fascinating movie.
 
A camera was mounted on the front of a street car 104 years ago (1906).
Perhaps the oldest "home movie" that you will ever see!  Look at the hats the ladies were wearing and the long dresses.
 
Some of the cars had the steering wheels on the right side.  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.  It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car. The number of automobiles is staggering for 1906.  The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there.
 
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 18th 1906 and shipped by train to NY for processing.

Best viewed full screen
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k
 

[Dave W]

You must mean a street scene from San Francisco.

Fascinating. A lot of risk takers there!

[Rob]

I like the car almost hitting the two ladies at 5:10 myself

[Basvarken]

There's cars almost hitting people all the time!
My Goodness, this is what traffic anarchy looks like 
This film is a little slowed down, so in real life it must have been worse even...

[uwe]

I would assume that cars were a lot slower back then and didn't have the accident-prone acceleration capabilities of today's autos. And you probably heard them better too.

That is an issue with the coming generation of electric cars, they are made artifically noisy to warn pedestrians.

Dave could probably give us a first-hand impression about life in 1906?

[Barklessdog]

The police officer in the beginning is really intimidating.The woman with the big hoop dresses seem to glide accrues the street. Very surrealistic the way it just keeps unfolding as you go down the street.

[Freuds_Cat]

here is the post quake movie

[Dave W]

That looks to be very soon after the quake, yet it's surprising that the streetcars were up and running.