I’ve never been to San Francisco, but I’ve often wanted to visit because it looks so beautiful, plus I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Armistead Maupin and his Tales of the City series of books that take place there.
But… have you seen this video?
I’ve gotten trapped into watching this whole thing many times in the last few years after I found it initially. It is a trip down Market Street. It was apparently originally thought to have been filmed in 1905, but was really filmed four days before the big San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
It isn’t paranormal at all, but it is so haunting to watch for several reasons. First off, who isn’t impressed with footage from 1906? You can learn so much about history just from the video. For instance, these people were reckless and not afraid of getting run over or trampled by a horse! Apparently there weren’t any traffic laws. I am fascinated by the children chasing the cars down the street or running ahead of the camera. I wonder how many kids in 1906 would have even been able to identify a video camera and knew what it was? The heavy coats and dresses are interesting to me, considering it was filmed on April 14th (my birthday… it’s a stretch… but it’s another thing that makes it haunting). Also, maybe it’s just me… but it is strange to see a video from so long ago that shows people strolling, walking, and strutting just like we do today! You mean people didn’t walk differently 100 years ago? 🙂 I wonder if these people imagined we’d be watching and learning from them over 100 years later?
Secondly, imagining the destruction and lost life that happened just four days after the hustle and bustle of a normal day in San Francisco is truly haunting. According to USGS, it is estimated that 3,000 lives were lost and 28,000 buildings were destroyed.
I’m not sure if the same people who filmed the above video filmed the footage after the destruction, but it seems genius that it is filmed in the same manner. Both videos have been paired next to each other so that you can compare.
And lastly, a trip down the same street in 2005. The same hustle and bustle… only different. To me, the neatest things about this version are the cyclists and passersby that seem fascinated with the filming, just like in the original footage. And even cooler, it finishes off with the same historical building at the end of the street that apparently survived. I don’t know enough about San Francisco to tell you anything else about it… but it’s cool.
Will people watch and learn from us in 100 years?
May 19th, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Nice juxtaposition! Thanks for sharing.
May 20th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
I can’t take credit for any of the videos obviously. It is really cool that they were able to get the timing so accurate in the second video. You can see some of the same buildings in both videos at the same time.
May 20th, 2012 at 8:39 am
These videos were very haunting. I kept wincing expecting someone to get run over in the 1906 video. After the disaster, the people were all walking in the opposite direction, as if they were coming from the builing at the end of the street. I wonder if it is a church? I also enjoyed the music in the videos…added to the incredible ambience of the scenes.
May 20th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
I’ll see if I can find out what the building is…
May 20th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
The San Francisco Ferry Building… http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/history.php
May 20th, 2012 at 10:15 am
Good post. Love it!
May 20th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Thanks!
May 21st, 2012 at 11:02 am
Loved the videos! Great post.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:05 am
Reblogged this on Samantha Cangelosi and commented:
I’ve never re-blogged anything before, but since I’m going to be busy for the next week and a half I figured this post is worth sharing. Since I’m a history minor, this article really fascinated me. It’s amazing to see what life was like over 100 years ago.
May 24th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Just watched the DVD “The Afterlife Investigations” about the Scole experiments… in several scenes they showed parts of the original video from Market Street. Funny and random… or maybe not. 🙂
June 3rd, 2012 at 1:51 pm
So i’m learning about my intuition…When I saw the picture at the top of this post, I immediately thought “earthquake”, almost as if it was an “impression” i was getting. Then a few lines down you mentioned the footage was filmed before an earthquake happened!
June 3rd, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Wow! You’re getting good! I wish I was that good.
July 19th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Patrick, there were no video cameras in 1906. This movie was made on motion picture transparency film run through a hand-cranked camera. But you are right that few people would have recognized the contraption in that year.
July 24th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
I guess maybe I don’t understand the difference. Thanks, John. Do you have any links to info or any photos about the camera?
July 24th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
A video camera is a device which converts images into electronic signals. The signals are meaningless without a video screen to interpret and display them. On the other hand, a film camera focuses images onto transparent film which, when developed, contains actual tiny pictures that you can see when you hold it up to the light.
Almost no one uses film cameras anymore. Your iPhone, for example, contains a video camera and a video display screen. Your digital camera is a video camera as well.
Here’s a picture of director James Cameron using an antique hand-cranked motion picture camera while making “Titanic.” There’s no electricity or battery involved.
July 24th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Thanks, John!