8 ms·
Rare color film shows what London looked like in 1927
- cookiem0nster 13y agoThis is absolutely beautiful, and thought provoking. Thanks for uploading this!
- dalek_cannes 13y agoI'm more surprised by the frame rate than the color. It seems to have been enhanced. Everything looks smooth, but there's something peculiar about the way people walk, for example, notice the pedestrians' feet at 1:54. Either way it's beautiful.
- gejjaxxita 13y agoFrom the original article: The British Film Institute have used computer enhancement to minimise the flickering and low quality of the original bicolour film.
- hrkristian 13y agoThis one was on HN only a few months ago, it's beautiful, so much so I saved it to my phone. It's very interesting to see similarities and differences, and I get chills at knowing this is before it was bombed asunder. England was and is a truly remarkable country.
- agumonkey 13y agoI like how color makes everything contemporary.
- chmars 13y agoI love old pictures. Just recently, I discovered a picture of my office building from 1890 on Wikipedia – and it still looks about the same today! )
- icecreampain 13y agoBlogspam. More original link: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/198876/rare-color-film-shows-what-london-looked-like-in-1927/ http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/198876/rare-color-film-shows...
- Alexx 13y agoThat's fantastic, the very first shot is of my street, filmed next to the building I live in. I can't quite make out the sign on the building corner - but I'm pretty sure it's the exact same pub that's there now. It's also odd seeing trams in London.
- ris 13y agoWhat is your rent like?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- rfnslyr 13y agoIt's HN, I just assume everyone pays like 5k~ in rent.
- laurencerowe 13y agoWhile you certainly can pay that in parts of London, you wouldn't there. I'd expect more like £1200 or $2000.
- beachstartup 13y agothese days usd 1-3k/month is what most working professional people pay in rent in a major city.
- ksrm 13y agoAnd here's what that street looks like today: http://goo.gl/maps/Ya7wH http://goo.gl/maps/Ya7wH
- jacko0 13y agoYes it's still a pub, it's called The Pommelers Rest . I doubt it the same name as it was then. Street view here: http://goo.gl/maps/Ptb0v http://goo.gl/maps/Ptb0v
- andyidsinga 13y ago
- parksy 13y agoSo... England won a test match? Jokes aside, it's a fascinating study into a world riding the wave of the industrial revolution; a strong sense of pride and optimism seemed to exist. It's saddening to think that basically all of the people filmed were affected in some way by the Second World War. It also brings mortality into focus to also think that the children pictured so carefree here are now either very old or dead. How will the future look back on us? Will they dig up early 3D scanning attempts and think the same? Will they attempt to 'restore' their findings to modern standards? "Oh, it's missing smells, humidity, air pressure and breeze so we used environmental cues during 'restoration'" A lovely piece of footage.
- chr15p 13y agoIt struck me that the two women and a child at the Cenotaph at about 2'20" were quite possibly remembering husbands and fathers killed in the First World War (9 years earlier). Yes a wonderful piece of film.
- thisiswrong 13y ago> a world riding the wave of the industrial revolution > all of the people filmed were affected in some way by the Second World War I can't agree with you more. But what makes me more sad is that it all seems to be slowly repeating itself right now. I mean we're currently riding the first ripple of the digital revolution... and war, fascism, and social unrest is back once again in the west - just under a less recognizable form. The words from this song might be familiar to you. What's scary is that the speech makes so much sense in a present day context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzxT7DNabB4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzxT7DNabB4
- NAFV_P 13y agoAbout three quarters through you see a gasometer, they're still a fairly common site around the UK.
- jws 13y agoGasometers have largely passed as a result of high pressure distribution systems. Ours are disused or removed in St. Louis. Wikipedia explains that they are rare in the U.S. and those were some of the only ones. The UK gasometers are largely disused, but the sites are expensive to decontaminate and reuse since they were frequently used to produce "town gas" from coal.
- NAFV_P 13y agoThere was one down the road from me until just last year: http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Gloucester-s-Skyline-Vanishes/story-17062007-detail/story.html http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Gloucester-s-Skyline-Vani... I don't think it had been used for years, but it was a notable part of the Gloucester landscape.
- carlob 13y agoThe article says the film was bicolour, but wikipedia [1] states Friese-Greene invented the biocolour, where red and green frames are alternated (hence the flickering that had to be removed). Here's another article on the same subject [2], which seems to be the source for OP. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Friese-Greene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Friese-Greene [2] http://urbanpeek.com/2013/05/13/rare-color-footage-shows-what-london-looked-like-90-years-ago/ http://urbanpeek.com/2013/05/13/rare-color-footage-shows-wha...
- pablobaz 13y agoOne thing that struck me is how uncluttered the streets look. There is very little street furniture. Interesting that this is being returned to now.
- japhyr 13y agoI think the lack of lines in the road stood out to me the most. It seems this was a time of trying to figure out how to share the road with pedestrians, bicycles, vehicles, and other modes of transportation. We are still working on this, but seeing all those people in the streets with nothing but a traffic cop there to direct things made me very happy to have the rules of the road we have now. They aren't perfect, but they look a lot better than what those people had to deal with.
- ealexhudson 13y agoThat's definitely the case for me too - mostly, London looked incredibly similar. The skyline has obviously changed, but it's obviously recognisable. Interestingly, they're continuing to play around with sharing the road - Exhibition Road (which probably also looks very similar to how it looked then) being the leading example. No lines down the middle, no obvious pavement. As an experiment it seems to be going pretty well - it seems like we've figured out the main problem isn't segmenting by size, but ensuring most users move at similar speeds.
- lmm 13y agoI've seen it argued that a road without those markings is much safer - it makes explicit that people are sharing the road and need to watch out for each other, rather than assuming that as long as they're in "their" part of the road they don't need to check.
- petercooper 13y agoThere weren't even speed limits at that time. It was pretty much a free for all subject merely to the same customs surrounding horses and carriages :-)
- CalvinsDad 13y agoPerhaps most astonishingly, in 1927, the world was still mostly sepia toned! Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930's and it was pretty grainy color for a while too. The truth is stranger than fiction...
- y4mi 13y agoin case someone is interested: here is a side-by-side video with similiar recordings from 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z76s4a4amJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z76s4a4amJ8
- tehwalrus 13y agothanks for that - it does add to the original! :)
- nmeofthestate 13y agoHave to say: I'm so sick of that 'teal and orange' colour grading that's so trendy these days.
- swang 13y agoHow does this relate to the thread?
- camillomiller 13y agoIt's a joke about filters. You must be fun at parties!
- csomar 13y agoI find this interesting. Even though we think our lives did change a lot with Technology; in appearance the change is minimal. This is almost 100 years old. 100 years ago, there were cars, roads and buildings. After 100 years, there is cars, roads, and also buildings. There are certainly changes: The cars are more comfortable, there is traffic lights, the buildings are higher... But they didn't change the way our lives look completely. I suspect the next 100 years will be quite similar. We'll have better cars (and maybe automated ones), faster trains, more glass buildings, but essentially, the landscape is staying the same.
- tostitos1979 13y agoI think the cars moved A LOT slower.
- csomar 13y agoThat doesn't matter when you are inside the city. Also I already mentioned in my comment that things are getting indeed fast (I mean trains, planes, cars, the Internet...)
- laurencerowe 13y agoThe average speed in London is much the same as it was with horse drawn carriages 100 years ago.
- tim333 13y agoThere may of course be the 'singularity' stuff coming. Although I suspect in 100 year London will have similar buildings, traffic and people.
- foobarian 13y agoAlso: advertisements on the buses. But gone now: all the hats on the men. I was surprised too how modern things seemed already at that time.
- narrator 13y agoWell we're still using liquid fuel rockets to get to space and those were invented in the 20s. We're still using coal, gas, and hydro as our main energy sources. They were all around then. Radio, Airplanes, Cars, etc all were around. I think the two biggest difference are no plastics and no electronics in these pictures. The other difference is that people are more individualistic in their appearances. They don't all wear the same clothes.
- mstrem 13y agoThis video comes up again and again but is is always amazing to watch. Related but a little later (a train ride!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTwSNPqAqs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTwSNPqAqs
- eddieroger 13y agoI think the most interesting thing I took away from this video was the look of surprise and curiosity on the faces of people looking directly at the camera, specifically during the bit on Petticoat Lane. It may just have been the (for the time) large vehicle coming at them in the middle of the street, but I prefer to think that they'd yet to have seen a camera like this one, and didn't know what to make of it. I can't imagine seeing anything that would take me so by surprise these days - maybe one of the downsides to how small the world has become.
- dcminter 13y agoIf I remember rightly there's a photo of their setup - a bulky camera on a tripod with a man operating it on the roof of a car. I think that would still draw attention these days. I'll look for the link (on the BFI site somewhere probably).
- dasil003 13y agoThere's also the fact that someone is driving a vehicle through the middle of the market and they need to get out of the way with no room to move.
- sentenza 13y agoTo me they seemed more annoyed that the camera vehicle was coming through. I couldn't help but think that more than one of the turned heads mentally cursed the cameraman. Spooky to think that, of some of them, this one annoyed look is all there remains.
- eddieroger 13y agoMaybe in just being too idealist, but I don't want to think of that look as frustration with a car driving through, but I get that's probably it. Yeah, though, what a bummer that your only pictured self is that look.
- neals 13y agoI wish hats would come back like in the video. Almost everybody wore a hat in 1927. I bought a hat a few weeks back. It's so great to wear, it's safe and warm. However, everybody looks at me as if I am some crazed hipster with my "fedora". If everybody would wear a hat like in the video, life would be so much nicer.
- councilscheme 13y agohow is the fit? it seems a lot of people are trying to look fashionable by wearing a fedora without even considering its fit and size. and further, does it go with the rest of your outfit? most everyday/streetwear would look awful with a fancy hat. If you'll notice in the video, most people are wearing proper coats or suits.
- neals 13y agoI am a boring dresser because I visit many clients. A nice button down shirt, a black jacket, none-casual-pants. People say the hat goes really well with it.
- Pacabel 13y agoDeserved or not, fedoras and similar hats have become associated with hipsters today. The public at large generally does not like to deal with hipsters, for a variety of reasons (their typical attitude is a big one). It's really no different than how many people distrust others who wear extremely baggy clothing. Clothing like that has become, rightly or wrongly, associated with gang culture. Most everyday people do not want to deal with others who dress in such a way. Had fedoras become associated with a more respected culture or group of people today, then they very well could have become more popular.
- neals 13y agoI agree. They so ruined it for us.
- omegant 13y agoHonest question: how do hipsters behave? Wthey have appeared in mass just the last year here in Spain(just very unusual before ). So I've had no oportunity to interact with them (just with some friends that are in a rock group, they have to keep an "attitude", but I think is mostly to keep the artist behaviour that people expect)
- w1ntermute 13y agoI noticed that there weren't any lanes painted on the streets. Does anyone know when that practice started?
- crazygringo 13y agoI was wondering the same thing! Wikipedia says: [1] > In the United States, the first documented use of a painted center line was in 1911... According to the state of Michigan, the idea of using a painted center line was conceived in 1911 by Edward N. Hine... > In the UK, the first "white line" road markings appeared on a number of dangerous bends on the London-Folkeston road at Ashford, Kent, in 1914, and during the 1920s the rise of painted lines on UK roads grew dramatically. In 1926 official guidelines were issued by the Ministry of Transport that defined where and how white lines on roads should be used. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_surface_marking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_surface_marking
- iaskwhy 13y agoThe thing that stood out the most for me is the complete absense of bicycles, I even went out to check when was its invention (apparently around one century before this footage). Something else I noticed is how much cared after is Hyde Park right now, although it doesn't look bad at all on the footage. I can't say I was surprise as the Central Park in New York City also changed a lot (probably even more than Hyde Park), mainly during the 80s if I'm not mistaken.
- jchrisa 13y agoThere are some cool cargo bike on the right hand of London bridge at 1:26
- iaskwhy 13y agoTrue but not as surprising since you can still find some similar to those in central London nowadays around Soho.
- mogrim 13y agoI found the complete lack of horses more bizarre - I'm surprise just how motorised everything already was.
- geetee 13y agoSide by side comparison to 2013 (better than the 2010 video in my opinion): https://vimeo.com/81368735 https://vimeo.com/81368735
- pedalpete 13y agoMy initial reaction to the first video was how slowly everything seems to move in London. But it doesn't seem modern day is much better.
- bbosh 13y agoThe second video is obviously slowed down to keep pace with the old video. Certainly the buses and horse-drawn carts would be a lot slower.
- Sharlin 13y agoI don't think it's specific to London that in 1927 vehicles were slower than today...
- alandarev 13y agoconsidering the current London traffic, they were faster back in 1930's...
- tlarkworthy 13y agoHe made this film so people could travel to the city of London without being there. I bet he did not expect it would be used by people 100 years in the future to travel back in time.
- reddog 13y agoWhat gets to me is that while most of the roads and building you see endure today, every single person in this film are likely dead. Even the little children.
- chetanahuja 13y agoI think I just saw first color footage of a test match (if the caption is to be believed). That had more resonance with me than anything else in the video -- which is fantastic nonetheless. PS. And oh yeah, England beat Australia here... strange ;-)
- lifeisstillgood 13y agoDarn, and I was so hoping this was not a fake video - but that test result cannot be right :-)
- lifeisstillgood 13y agothe place just looks so empty - Whitehall has no traffic in it. it's incredible
- DanBC 13y agoHow was colour achieved back then? Has anyone on HN tried similar experiments? I miss using b&w film with a deep red filter to get dark skies. I need to learn photo manipulation to get a similar effect
- LaSombra 13y agoThis film reminds of a rare colour film from Rio de Janeiro in 1936, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kymi7y6CyJA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kymi7y6CyJA. I find these kind of films very interesting. In case of Rio, how much it changed and in case of London, how much is still the same.
- zacinbusiness 13y agoI love London, it's one of my favorite cities in the world. There's an energy there like nowhere else. And it looks like that same energy was there in 1927. So amazing.
- shirro 13y agoThe people of that era were closer in time to the moon landing than I am now. With the exception of that horrible war around the corner they seem to have much more interesting stuff in their futures.