8 ms·

What great American cities looked like a century ago, in video (thread)

50 points by vinnyglennon 3y ago

maxehmookau 3y ago
I wish I could see this, but since its on X and I'm not a member I can't view more than the first video. I wish cool stuff like this was more openly available and that we didn't rely on platforms like Twitter to make it visible.
- D13Fd 3y ago
  Yeah, same. I don't know why this couldn't be a blog post with links on Twitter or whatever closed platform.
- stetrain 3y ago
  https://nitter.poast.org/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://nitter.poast.org/Culture_Crit/status/175529370618420...
  - JKCalhoun 3y ago
    Hammered.
    - stetrain 3y ago
      Other instances are listed here: https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances
- weberer 3y ago
  There's a Firefox extension called LibRedirect that automatically redirects you from closed platforms like Twitter/Reddit/etc to mirrors. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  Best thing to do (for those of you that are into video archival and restoration) is to donate it to archive.org and museums. Anecdotal, my granddad was an avid photographer / videographer back in the 50's in a fairly "backwater" area of the country, taking photos and whatnot of daily life and local events and the like. My dad got the negatives after my grandma died last year (she was like 94), he's digitising them and will probably donate the rest to the local museum. Anyway. I hope people making these videos will also make "small" websites that just host the videos with texts and explanations in the style of the old internet, ideally on a host that can last the ages. With an option to download an archival copy, just a .zip with the text, videos, etc.
- SushiHippie 3y ago
  https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293708075864146 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293708075864146 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293709950714314 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293709950714314 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293712106578103 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293712106578103 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293816825758158 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293816825758158 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293818524483946 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293818524483946 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293820277674074 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293820277674074 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293899222909048 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293899222909048 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293901034852498 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293901034852498 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755295770293465399 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755295770293465399 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755296211811074294 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755296211811074294 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html
say_it_as_it_is 3y ago
San Francisco's streets were cleaner of feces back when horses were the primary mode of transportation than they are now.
- TheBlight 3y ago
  I bet the smell was worse though.
- dang 3y ago
  Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
francisofascii 3y ago
These videos are incredible. Are the sounds real or added? San Francisco, 1906. Assuming before the fire? Fun to see the streets filled with a variety of modes: horse and buggies, trolleys, cars, bikes, kids, etc.
- RandomBacon 3y ago
  I've seen this video (with sound) before. It sure sounds to me like the video's sound is a modern background track and is not original. If there was no sound, I don't imagine I would have been able to watch the video for the full 3 minutes.
petermcneeley 3y ago
Notice the complete lack of advertising.
- bondarchuk 3y ago
  I've only skimmed the first video but I see a bunch of huge billboards.
- FinnKuhn 3y ago
  no? There are giant billboards on the walls of the buildings and also on the trams.
thsksbd 3y ago
I'm strongly convinced that the biggest regulatory mistake in human history was not limiting car's maximum velocity to the horse' when we have the opportunity.
- kmarc 3y ago
  In the city I live, speed is reduced to 30km/h (18.5mph) for most of the residential area [1], including my most frequently commuted routes. I love this town for many reasons, but this, the "silence" (especially compared to other towns) is something that cemented me in here. I find it really hard to exist in other cities, that are usually suffocated by cars. [1]: https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/outlook-to-2030/reduction-to-30-km-h https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/outlook-to-2030/reduc...
- lawkwok 3y ago
  That metric is like the megapixel wars of cameras. Just something to chase so the newer model can be “better”. It does nothing except validate your purchase when you rev it obnoxiously. To continue your thought, what are some things that need to be regulated in order to prevent future societal decay that the technology itself brings (such as allowing cars to roam free which propagated further car-centrism?)
- francisofascii 3y ago
  Yeah, the history around this is both interesting and disappointing. Cities did have speed limits related to horse speed and at least one city had a referendum to mandate speed governors. But those efforts failed due to heavy lobbying by auto interests. So basically like today.
Gabriel54 3y ago
Amazing how much of the NYC waterfront is still recognizable over 100 years later. One structure I didn't recognize looks like some kind of dock for ships?
biggestlou 3y ago
Please do be aware that this is an openly white-supremacist Twitter account
- hasty_pudding 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - giraffe_lady 3y ago
    I reckon you're just being edgy for the sake of it but it's still a shitty take. The only thing that an ancient greek, a renaissance italian, and a modern american share is that the american thinks they are all white. Otherwise these groups share almost nothing in culture, religion, ancestry, worldview. Being able to have this open-ended ability to cherry pick things from highly disparate times and places and consider them "white" is white supremacy. A modern palestinian is culturally closer to an ancient greek than you are. These things simply are not yours to claim, or at least not any more than they are all of ours.
    - hasty_pudding 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - giraffe_lady 3y ago
        It's shitty because only whiteness is defined negatively by what it is not. Africans may disagree about what it means to be african, but there is long-term near consensus on who is african and why. What defines white people, other than who is not part of it? What is it that all white people share, other than whiteness itself? Those other groups do share some of ancestry, history, culture, religion, especially certain historical experiences. Within those groups you mentioned, there are certainly interesting discussions about what comprises it. I don't, for example, know of any mainstream thinkers who frame a unified african people, except one defined by an experience of exploitation and colonialism. Certainly in contrast to african americans, who do share the culture and history of having their culture and history forcibly removed from them, and forging a new one in a place they did not choose. As an exercise though, define "white people" in a way that is useful and coherent, and extends from the present back through the sistine chapel and to the ancient greeks. All of the others groups you mentioned are able to do this within their own histories so it should be straightforward. You shouldn't have to use something so crude as skin color, of course, since I'm sure there's much more to your people than that.
slipperybeluga 3y ago
[dead]
neonate 3y ago
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html
youarenot 3y ago
If you like this kind of video, I'd recommend you this youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1W8ShdwtfgjRHdbl1Lctcw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1W8ShdwtfgjRHdbl1Lctcw

50 points by vinnyglennon 3y ago

I wish I could see this, but since its on X and I'm not a member I can't view more than the first video. I wish cool stuff like this was more openly available and that we didn't rely on platforms like Twitter to make it visible.

D13Fd 3y ago
Yeah, same. I don't know why this couldn't be a blog post with links on Twitter or whatever closed platform.
stetrain 3y ago
https://nitter.poast.org/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://nitter.poast.org/Culture_Crit/status/175529370618420...
- JKCalhoun 3y ago
  Hammered.
  - stetrain 3y ago
    Other instances are listed here: https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances
weberer 3y ago
There's a Firefox extension called LibRedirect that automatically redirects you from closed platforms like Twitter/Reddit/etc to mirrors. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Best thing to do (for those of you that are into video archival and restoration) is to donate it to archive.org and museums. Anecdotal, my granddad was an avid photographer / videographer back in the 50's in a fairly "backwater" area of the country, taking photos and whatnot of daily life and local events and the like. My dad got the negatives after my grandma died last year (she was like 94), he's digitising them and will probably donate the rest to the local museum. Anyway. I hope people making these videos will also make "small" websites that just host the videos with texts and explanations in the style of the old internet, ideally on a host that can last the ages. With an option to download an archival copy, just a .zip with the text, videos, etc.
SushiHippie 3y ago
https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293706184208631 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293708075864146 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293708075864146 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293709950714314 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293709950714314 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293712106578103 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293712106578103 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293816825758158 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293816825758158 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293818524483946 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293818524483946 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293820277674074 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293820277674074 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293899222909048 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293899222909048 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293901034852498 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755293901034852498 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755295770293465399 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755295770293465399 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755296211811074294 https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1755296211811074294 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html

say_it_as_it_is 3y ago

San Francisco's streets were cleaner of feces back when horses were the primary mode of transportation than they are now.

TheBlight 3y ago
I bet the smell was worse though.
dang 3y ago
Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

francisofascii 3y ago

These videos are incredible. Are the sounds real or added? San Francisco, 1906. Assuming before the fire? Fun to see the streets filled with a variety of modes: horse and buggies, trolleys, cars, bikes, kids, etc.

RandomBacon 3y ago
I've seen this video (with sound) before. It sure sounds to me like the video's sound is a modern background track and is not original. If there was no sound, I don't imagine I would have been able to watch the video for the full 3 minutes.

petermcneeley 3y ago

Notice the complete lack of advertising.

bondarchuk 3y ago
I've only skimmed the first video but I see a bunch of huge billboards.
FinnKuhn 3y ago
no? There are giant billboards on the walls of the buildings and also on the trams.

thsksbd 3y ago

I'm strongly convinced that the biggest regulatory mistake in human history was not limiting car's maximum velocity to the horse' when we have the opportunity.

kmarc 3y ago
In the city I live, speed is reduced to 30km/h (18.5mph) for most of the residential area [1], including my most frequently commuted routes. I love this town for many reasons, but this, the "silence" (especially compared to other towns) is something that cemented me in here. I find it really hard to exist in other cities, that are usually suffocated by cars. [1]: https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/outlook-to-2030/reduction-to-30-km-h https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/outlook-to-2030/reduc...
lawkwok 3y ago
That metric is like the megapixel wars of cameras. Just something to chase so the newer model can be “better”. It does nothing except validate your purchase when you rev it obnoxiously. To continue your thought, what are some things that need to be regulated in order to prevent future societal decay that the technology itself brings (such as allowing cars to roam free which propagated further car-centrism?)
francisofascii 3y ago
Yeah, the history around this is both interesting and disappointing. Cities did have speed limits related to horse speed and at least one city had a referendum to mandate speed governors. But those efforts failed due to heavy lobbying by auto interests. So basically like today.

Gabriel54 3y ago

Amazing how much of the NYC waterfront is still recognizable over 100 years later. One structure I didn't recognize looks like some kind of dock for ships?

biggestlou 3y ago

Please do be aware that this is an openly white-supremacist Twitter account

hasty_pudding 3y ago
[flagged]
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  I reckon you're just being edgy for the sake of it but it's still a shitty take. The only thing that an ancient greek, a renaissance italian, and a modern american share is that the american thinks they are all white. Otherwise these groups share almost nothing in culture, religion, ancestry, worldview. Being able to have this open-ended ability to cherry pick things from highly disparate times and places and consider them "white" is white supremacy. A modern palestinian is culturally closer to an ancient greek than you are. These things simply are not yours to claim, or at least not any more than they are all of ours.
  - hasty_pudding 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - giraffe_lady 3y ago
      It's shitty because only whiteness is defined negatively by what it is not. Africans may disagree about what it means to be african, but there is long-term near consensus on who is african and why. What defines white people, other than who is not part of it? What is it that all white people share, other than whiteness itself? Those other groups do share some of ancestry, history, culture, religion, especially certain historical experiences. Within those groups you mentioned, there are certainly interesting discussions about what comprises it. I don't, for example, know of any mainstream thinkers who frame a unified african people, except one defined by an experience of exploitation and colonialism. Certainly in contrast to african americans, who do share the culture and history of having their culture and history forcibly removed from them, and forging a new one in a place they did not choose. As an exercise though, define "white people" in a way that is useful and coherent, and extends from the present back through the sistine chapel and to the ancient greeks. All of the others groups you mentioned are able to do this within their own histories so it should be straightforward. You shouldn't have to use something so crude as skin color, of course, since I'm sure there's much more to your people than that.

slipperybeluga 3y ago

[dead]

neonate 3y ago

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1755293706184208631.html

youarenot 3y ago

If you like this kind of video, I'd recommend you this youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1W8ShdwtfgjRHdbl1Lctcw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1W8ShdwtfgjRHdbl1Lctcw