Tuesday, September 15, 2020

New York City in 1911 in Color

Flatiron Building in 1911 randommusings.filminspector.com
The Flatiron Building in 1911.
Swedish company Svenska Biografteatern visited New York City in 1911 and took some footage that has survived. While it was not color film, modern technology can supply that well enough. What you see on this page are original images from 1911 that have been processed to bring them up as close as possible to modern standards.
In 1911, the film industry was just beginning to transition from the neighborhoods shown in this film to Hollywood, California. A good cross-section of Manhattan is shown, including the Williamsburgh and Brooklyn Bridges, the Flatiron Building, the docks down near the South Street Seaport, cars, and horse-drawn wagons jostling for position on crowded city streets, Greenwich Village, Herald Square, elevated subways (which were just about to be sent underground), Times Square, paddlewheel steamer Rosedale (sunk on 16 July 1912 off Rockaway Beach), and many other sites.
Elevated trains in 1911 randommusings.filminspector.com
If you love history as I do, you may find this film quite evocative of a time long gone.
Steamer Rosedale, sunk on 16 July 1912 randommusings.filminspector.com
The paddle-wheel steamer Rosedale, which appears briefly in the film, was a regular passage between Manhattan and Rockaway. It sank about a year after this film was taken in a collision with a larger ship.
Steamer Rosedale, sunk on 16 July 1912 randommusings.filminspector.com
Kingston Daily Freeman, Volume XLI, Number 231, 16 July 1912.
If you enjoy history as much as I do, you may find this film to be quite evocative of an age long gone by. I also have some classic footage of:


2021

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