corvetteronw

NOT C4 related or even Corvette related but thought I would share. This was recently unearthed and is supposed to be the first 35mm movie ever shot. The camera was mounted on the front of a street car.
I can't believe how many automobiles were on the streets. Looks like everything was right hand drive and there were few traffic laws.
The clock tower in the film is supposed to still be there.
This is a hoot. Moderators, please feel free to move this to another section.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k

drmrman

Looks like it was on the front of a trolley to me!

Thats so cool!

Nice find

RollaMo-LT4

Fixed.

Looks like that might be Market Street.
Wow, and it looks like a lot of people like to "play chicken" in front of the trolley cars too.

Sweet 90

Cool find Ron. 104 years ago, wow!!

mike100

That's a lot like the streets in parts of Asia. well, except with an American twist that the pedestrian still has the least amount of right-of-way, whereas in Asia, the bikes and people are able to step out in front of bigger traffic with a little more expectation that they won't get blasted.

You can still see mules pulling carts in china too, but the average driver there just got their car so it is very similar sharing streets with buses, bikes, people, and animals.

My observation is that a system works as long as everybody is playing by the same rules. street chaos is ok if you keep the speeds to 30 mph. In our western modern system, we can go much faster, but the rules are much stricter.

very interesting vid.

did anybody else notice how formally people used to dress?

kangi

That was a cool video. That looks like absolute chaos on that street!

kimmer

Like a time machine and total confusion, thats Market street going towards the ferry building.

powerpigz-51

That must have been right before the big quake and fire in 1906....just watched a show on that. Thousands were killed and 20,000 buildings burnt up in the fire after the quake. Most of Frisco was rebuilt with no regards to building codes and on top of the rubble....waiting for the next disaster.

Shawnksf

yea the ferry building clock tower is still there. its a market place now. market looks nothing like this now! some of the buildings are still there but most fell in the 1906 quake

TAZO

It was filmed 4 days before the 1906 earthquake. It was then shipped to NY. It was then lost for years. My grandfather drove a horse and buggy then delivering feed. It was filmed on Market Street going east towards the ferry building which is still there. The clock tower was rebuilt after the 1989 earthquake. The street car tracks are still there and are used daily. It is supposedly the first 35mm film made.. What a cool part of history.

chatham

whereas in Asia, the bikes and people are able to step out in front of bigger traffic with a little more expectation that they won't get blasted.

let me know the next time you're going to china and step in front of on coming traffic, cars, buses and the like. i want o buy travel / injury / life insurance on you with me as the benifactor. i have been traeling and living in asia for over 30 years. crossing the streets is alwasy taking you life in your own hands. bigger guys always wins and people are the lowest point on the totem pole. there is no asian city i have ever been in except tokyo where pedestrians can cross without concern.

cool video

joesgulfstream

Did you see that blue GS cut right in front of him?

SunCr

Wow - nice wide angle shots - didn't exist until after the first WW, but what the hey.

Electric lines were strung prior to the turn of the Century and the new electrics replaced the Cable Cars along Market. The electric trolley crossing perpendicular to the rails is a bit curious - especially since it seems to be under it's own power (they can't do that now). Montgomery Street was the financial hub (still kinda is) and everything running North/South was Cable Cars and the only Electrics were on Market so I don't get this North/South crossing.

Most of the buildings were wood which is why the City burned to the ground in '06.

There's an old grainy photo here of what Market looked like prior to the quake: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...AGQ09QUAKE.DTL

I'm guessing someone spliced together some old stills . . .

Vette Jockey

My grandmother was there for the quake. She was six years old.

mike100

might be because a foreigner attracts attention walking in the street or that rules are different in the inner mongolian province, but people drive out in front of you without looking as a matter of standard practice- that's why they drive slower and use horns as sonar. The bigger the vehicle, the more at-fault you are there- not saying that a coal truck won't completely ruin your day though...

I wouldn't cross the street in bejing though. anyways, societies that have just adopted the car (as in this SF movie) tend to drive like you would ride a bike or walk.

Eakster

Those pedestrians are way more aware than most of the zombies I see slowly dragging their fat ***** across the road here and now..

Great vid - thanks for sharing!

SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84

Incredible footage! Imagine, many of those people were doomed just a few days later! Buildings and neat old cars reduced to junk!

that traffic and jayalker activity would be a modern ticket-writer's heaven!!!

thanks for bringing the video here, Ron!!