Rare color film of NYC in 1939.

[Sheldon Cooper]

[steve2470]

1. thanks for this ! nt

[Politicalboi]

2. That's real nice

It's neat to look back and see how things were, and that film was spotless. I remember dad's old home movies. Mostly of my mother carrying me so my feet won't burn at the beach while my father filmed. He always got the cleavage shots to boot. I have this booklet of the Hotel Majestic built in 1894, and torn down in 1929. Here's a few pictures from the booklet.

<a href="http://imgur.com/Qe56M8d"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>

<a href="http://imgur.com/mGILZYZ"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>

<a href="http://imgur.com/nrO2kG6"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>

[RebelOne]

3. That is the year I was born.

I did not know there was color photography then.

[JohnnyRingo]

11. I think that was the year Wizard of Oz was released.

Rare and expensive, color photography spans almost the entire 20th century.

Check out these color photos from WWI:

http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/

The quality is stunning.

[Kurovski]

4. K&R

I love this kinda stuff. And NYC

Geez, is that layers of pollution, or a fog?

[Igel]

22. Pollution.

Even in summer, industry needed energy and a lot of that energy came from coal. In winter, more coal. In summer, stagnant air.

It wasn't until the late '50s that air pollution started to decline, and it declined more rapidly in the early '60s, with the clean-air legislation passing some time in the mid-'60s.

[onlyadream]

5. What a gem! Thanks!

[Graybeard]

6. Notice none of the kids is obese...

...or even a little overweight. Not one of them.

Notice all of the hat, hats, hats. Worn by both the women and the men.

The double-decker busses on 5th Ave. were a treat.

Lots of memories. Thanks.

[tom_kelly]

13. I Noticed

that too. The adults weren't obese either.

That was very nice.

[adieu]

16. Kinda hard to be obese

when you don't have gallons of HFCS drinks flowing through your veins.

[rug]

19. 10 years of the Depression helped.

[Posteritatis]

27. Zing! Way to wipe the rose off some peoples' glasses there. (nt)

[Retrograde]

21. No grafitti, no trash on the streets, little traffic

but also little diversity in the crowds: the people up in Harlem are all Black, the rest seemed all white.

[No Vested Interest]

26. Except for the residents of Chinatown-

also shown.
But, in general, you're correct.

[WillyT]

7. Pina Coladas... 5 Cents...

Ah...



& Rec !!!

[Johnny Noshoes]

8. Just TOO cool...

As a New "Yawker" I love this video. My mom was 9 in 1939 and dad was 12. Thanks for the chance to time travel. Oh and the music - jazz just seems to fit New York.

[BlueStater]

9. My paternal grandather was born in NYC and spent most of his life there.

He was 23 when when that footage was recorded. He moved to Florida when he was in his 60s and has lived there ever since. And, yes, he's still alive at 97.

[tom_kelly]

14. Bravo to Your Grandpop!

May he see a few more! (if that's what he wants)

[BlueStater]

18. He's definitely a fighter.

He's been having a few problems recently but for the majority of his life he has been in fantastic health. He loves tennis and frequently played it into his 90s.

[ellie]

10. Very cool!

[hrmjustin]

12. Cool! Thanks for posting this.

[GraniteDem]

15. While Hitler was invading Poland........

life as it was in NYC!

[Rose Siding]

17. That was great. Thanks!

[reformist2]

20. This might sound odd, but the lack of color footage makes it hard for me to "connect" with old times

It's like there's what I'll call "historical" America, and then there's "real", modern-day America. And the dividing line is when color newsreel and color photos came on the scene, somewhere in the 1960s. I wonder if it's the same with anyone else.

Color movies of real life from way back then throw me for a loop!

[Posteritatis]

29. Stuff like that's why I always love it when older colour images come up

Prokudin-Gorskii's photos from turn-of-the-century Russia are particularly incredible that way.

[Beacool]

23. Wonderful video.

Thank you for posting it.

[colsohlibgal]

24. Love This Kind Of Thing

Somewhere on YOu Tube is someone's color movies of the 1939 world's fair - maybe the same guy did it.

I imagine the lack of obesity can at least partly be explained with hardly anyone having a boob tube, let alone 400 channels, to sit and stare at.

[Posteritatis]

30. That and the rather higher poverty levels, the Depression, poorer health overall, etc.

Around the time those videos were taken the US economy was just beginning to crawl out of the Depression, and the average life expectancy was a full generation less than it is now.

The thirties were not exactly a shining city on a hill.

[Eleanors38]

25. Thank you! My Dad was attending NYU at that time.

[JI7]

28. i would love to go back there and just walk around

and look at everything and everyone.

i love how the video shows different races also.

[chollybocker]

31. Love this footage.

@ 0:17 - 0:20
From Rodgers & Hart's "Manhattan" (1929?)

We'll go to Yonkers
Where true love conquers
In the wilds.
And starve together, dear,
In Childs'.

[Ron Green]

32. Great piece of film; the music is weak.

It's like pseudo-jazz. A better choice would be Coleman Hawkins' Body and Soul, recorded in that same year.