San Francisco in the 1950s | 4K and Remastered
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- čas přidán 27. 03. 2022
- The video shows several shots of public life in San Francisco, California, in the 1950s. We see the clock tower at the end of Market Street, the Esquire Theater (and the Pix), the Telenews Theater, and the Tonga Room at the Fairmont, which has been in existence since 1945. Many of the shown streets have a street car running past them.
Vivid History is dedicated to restoring old black and white footage and creating high-quality colorized versions to give you an authentic and vivid experience of the past.
The video has been restored and colorized using state-of-the-art machine learning methods.
The restoration steps included:
- motion stabilization
- noise reduction
- colorization
- frame interpolation for increased FPS
- upscaling to 4K
- adding ambient sound
Please subscribe to my channel, if you want to see more videos that bring you back in time and let you experience the past.
The source video is from the internet archive under the creative commons license: archive.org/details/ia3500000... - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I'm watching this, and it makes me really sad... My absolute best friend Al Timmons was born in SF in 1929. He served in the Navy during WW2, and when he got out, he began his education to become a professor, obtaining his PHD in educational psychology. He was a professor at Long Beach State University when it first opened. He retired in 1981, and bought a house at 27th and Noe Sts. Anyhow I met him in 1985, as I was a Marine stationed at Naval Weapons Station Concord. By this time he was a widow, and he showed me around the city, and on my liberty weekends, I would stay with him. He had all these really great out of print books on the City, and he used to take me to the little known historic places. It was because of this that he inspired my love for San Francisco. And when I got out, I ended up renting a room from him... Al was like the Grandpa that I never got to know. I could talk to him about anything, and in the late afternoon we'd sit out on the deck overlooking the city, while having a few beers, and having these really great discussions. I ended up meeting a great girl, and we ended up getting married, and we moved up north. I was really excited, but sad because I was leaving my best friend, and my long-term home. Al passed away in 2009, and it was an incredible loss for me... Something that I'm still feeling. And watching this makes me realize that Al was alive and well....
What an awesome comment, and I’m sure Al was happy to have known you, as you are he.
This is real time traveling, and this is what CZcams should be, quality contents like this. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much :)
@@vividhistory2092 the obnoxious SUBSCRIBE suggestions in the video are a bit much and take away from the viewing experience. Just saying.
@@vividhistory2092 I like you
CZcams is whatever you want it to be. You choose what to watch and whatever people watch a lot, more people will create.
@peterwhitey1992 these types of comments are in every documentary and historical video. These self righteous people think they are superior to everyone because they don't watch just anything in CZcams. I like variety. I enjoyed this video too
Better cars, better architecture, cleaner streets, people dressed better. No one living on the streets. What happen to our dignity?????
You're right except about better cars. They have cool styling, but new cars are better in every way.
@@standupstraight9691 cars are made much better today but he's right about everything else.
Umm it turned into Democrat run hell hole, with the promise utopia by paying people to be homeless and paying government employees to clean up after them… why miss those evil patriarchal racists? For clean streets and decency nah.
Jesus loves you and He died for our sins. Jesus has a plan and a purpose for your life. Once we die, it will be too late to repent. Put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
Mark 1:15 The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.
They've become woke zombies.
Born and raised in the City. Although the standard of dress began to change in the '50s, I still recall in the late '50s and even early '60s having to "dress-up" whenever my mom would take me downtown to go shopping. Memories!
Yes, I remember wearing gloves, hat & coat when shopping downtown with my grandmother during the ‘50s
Look how civilized the city was.
Was. Yep
....goodbye America....
Yes, I notice. It's almost like another planet! Something out of science fiction, almost an unattainable ideal. Things have just become UPSIDE DOWN.
Leftism happened.
Notice who’s missing.
this is UNBELIEVABLE; the clarity. Makes you feel like you stepped back in time....
Clean streets, no shit or trash. It's not the era, it's the people who were different. Raised different.
Pride lots of self pride in everything
@@cynthiafeagin6956 It's not about pride, it's simple logic - don't want to live in trash then don't trash it.
@@incremental_failure Yes it is pride . Pride leads you to care for everything around you and respect your surroundings, Home, people and so on .
@@txJoJo55 Not at all. That's a very American thing. Elsewhere it's that people like nice surroundings, they don't really care what others think.
I lived in San Francisco between 1953 and '57; there was shit on the streets (Market St. and around Union Square), but it was of the canine variety, not human like nowadays.
Crazy! Dr. Doane retired from Dentistry at age 87 and passed in 2004. Hope a family member sees this video and his business sign.
I like how people used to jump on and off the cable car while it’s moving!!😎
Do you see the Leeds store at around the 2 minute mark? I worked there as a part-timer during high school and early college. I remember Anne, Duke, Buzz, and Mr. Mac!
Best resolution and high definition ive seen yet! Excellent job "Vivid History"!!!
Yes it's remarkable
I agree...
Judging by the cars at 2:19, this is an older shot mixed in with the rest of the 50's shots. I was born In S.F. in '46 and I remember riding in the old style streetcars as a youngster. I also remember that the Owl Drugstore at Powell and Market, where the Cable car turnaround is, became a Woolworths store. Used to go in and eat at the lunch counter inside. My friends and I used to catch the L streetcar out in the Sunset and go downtown just to walk around and look at stuff, or go to the movies. There were a bunch of movie houses down on Market St.
The good ole days didnt get run over by queers and didnt step in shit from the bums camping on the side walks .
Owl was a block or two down. On California st. I think. Woolworth was on Powell.
This looks like an alternate universe. I can't believe it used to be like this and we changed it... changed everything.
No computers, no internet, no cellphones, etc. Men wore suits and women wore skirts.
Not just skirts; hats, gloves and heels (I lived in S.F. from 1953 through 1957)
@@tonyarioli3979 and also socks! Don't forget about socks!
And not the other way around.
@@dans9463oh no. The horror
This is great. My dad grew up in San Francisco in the 40s and 50s. I'm sure he'll like this. My mom grew up in Denver. It would be nice to find something like this for that city.
I’m jealous of your dad. He experienced the best version of the US. America is still great but post WWII era was something else.
Look how clean the streets are and well dressed the population is!
and how there isnt a single brown person to ruin it
Yes the streets are clean and people are well dressed.
I was born in 1960 but I love the 50's, life looks there so simple and uncomplicated.
You didn't have a wide range of fashion in those days... for men the stores only sold suits.
@@fraser_mr2009 there was already jeans, was invented by a certain person Levis for gold diggers and was used also by farmers.
But yes there was no wide range of fashion for men.
And how white and polite.
Fascinating watching the guys turn the tram around. I love all things 50s, so these vids just bring me joy. Great work 👌🤗
They still do that :)
It is a cable car. It runs on gravity. It has no motor. A tram has a motor.
@@lucianomezzetta4332 That's incorrect. The cable car runs by gripping a running cable under the center slot between the two rails. The cable runs at a constant speed of 9.5 miles per hour and is driven by an electric motor located in the central power house.
Every time I watch these types of videos I’m just glad that someone had the foresight to just film something,no matter how mundane or “boring”
Weirdest thing about this film? 1:00 UPS trucks have not changed in 70 years.
I enjoyed my days in San Francisco, starting in the 1960's through the 70's. I would walk the downtown area, fisherman's wharf, Coit tower, and many other areas, sometimes with my camera. Great fun, and totally different than what it is today. I hope one day to walk safe streets again their one day (although I'm not sure when)
Same here,Market Street was nicer than…👍🏼😷
I don't think ever again😮
California was a beautiful state....long time ago.
Unbelievable
Back when it had very liberal/progressive policy. Scumservatives have tried to destroy it
You must not get out of your house very often. Touch grass
@@FeelMyBirdie I’m from there
It’s a shithole now
It wasn’t that bad growing up but now it’s terrible
still is
I lived at the Navy Base at Hunters Point. Loved to hop on the Bus and go into the city. A wonderful department store was the Emporium. Great sboppin. Going to Golden Gate Park was always a day well spent. This was in 1952.
I am younger than you obviously, but I was stationed at Hunters Point in 1977. Pretty ratty place. I am sure it was much nicer back then.
@@markrichmond2168 Yes, it was a nice base. I was there twice. Lived in a quanset and later in Navy housing outside the gate. Great . My son was born in Oakland Navy Hospital. Great Doctors. Loved our time in the Navy.
Better dressed, better educated, cleaner streets. It was not just a different time, it was a better time. In every way. Yes, medical care has advanced but if you can’t afford it, what difference does it make? This is what drugs does to society. We have failed as Americans, there is simple no candy coating it. Our country has turned into a cesspool.
“A better time” for white people you mean
😂” in every way”.
@@mitchconner403 I mean, just from a visual standpoint. Just not as much traffic, no graffiti, no trash, no homeless tent cities filled with filthy meth heads, etc. Just well-dressed people, clean streets, and palm trees. I’ll bet LA was truly a great place to live back in the day. Look at it.
My language is not quite so gentile as yours, so forgive me: Our country has turned into a shit hole.
It was turned into it by the Globalists....not the people's fault they were brainwashed....the system is not designed by the people it is designed by the maniacs who run the world...
Yeah and you didnt have to worry about being butt slammed from some queer when you bent over and there were no shit all over the side walks to step in from all the bums world def gone to shit
The UPS truck at the 1:00 minute mark…those things haven’t changed in 70 years…lol
People dressed so nicely back then. So much class.
SF was my home for 20 years, it was beautiful, vibrant, and bohemian. I left in 2017, just before it began its true decay. Sad state of affairs in SF right now 😞
SF is a dying city, and it's a crying shame.
Amazing high quality of films and coloring makes time traveling even better - THANKS
Thanks so much for posting the video of my favorite city. Its like going back in time.
I remember getting a kick out of watching the cable car turnaround! Makes me very nostalgic.
It's just so sad seeing what has happened to this once so beautiful city 😭
This video appears to have been taken at several different times during the first half of the 1950s; the vehicles on much of it looks to have been around 1950 or '51 (possibly 1952); and at 3:24, there is a large black and white "SP" sign (Southern Pacific) - that sign was constructed in March,1954 and stood until Sept.1961; the sign in this video indicates that this part of the film was most likely taken in 1954 - by 1956, the background of it had faded to a gray color.
I'm not American and I've never been to San Francisco but I agree with you. The fashions, the cars and the architecture all say it's early 1950s.
I've always wondered when that big "S P" sign was there - great info, thanks!
That sign stood atop the (then) Southern Pacific Building - I can remember people complaining about what an eyesore it was (and it was!).@@jackallen6562
This is fabulous!! It really is like time travel. Thank you!
Love the "air conditioned" 1952 Ford at 3:25. Wow!
So sad to see what a wonderful city San Francisco used to be.
Div-ersity isn't a strength. Who knew?
@@dudebro3250 it's still one of the most desirable cities in the world
Desirable for connoisseurs of human feces
@@octobersun221 desirable for people all over the world
I live here and used to work a block from union square. I saw a dead person on the street just last year on 6th street. They pick up the bodies of homeless people who overdose downtown daily.
With all those 50s cars, I don't see how anybody could think this is the 40s.
You're right its early 50s as @ the start of the video there is a shot of a theater showing the movie "Bend Of The River" that came out in 1952 & no big deal as I love watching these videos its like looking out a window back thru time
@@jamesfarley8356 It IS a big deal, because many people under a certain age don't know what cars of a certain era looked like, but take everything they see on the internet as gospel. Therefore, it should be ACCURATE.
Definitely early 1950's. The low and wide fin stuff wouldn't begin until around 55-57 I think.
Jesus loves you and He died for our sins. Jesus has a plan and a purpose for your life. Once we die, it will be too late to repent. Put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
Mark 1:15 The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.
Yeah but look the vintage of the streetcars
AMAZING !!! Thank You for posting this 👍👍👍
The streets were so clean!
It's amazing that these videos were made in the first place, and that somehow they survived(in a box in someone's attic?) and then restored for us to marvel at!
Great work, wonderful images, thanks a lot.
Thank you :)
How People were able to parallel park those huge cars is beyond me!
If they were building buildings like the Chrysler Tower. Then yes. They could easily parallel park!
Imagine the cars manufactured with the huge tail fins in 1959 and 1960! My mother used to say "I don't understand how people can walk behind one of those things when the driver backs up - they'd get skewered!"
Because people were far more skilled & able to undertake tasks in everyday life!!!
Now they can't even define what a woman is FFS!!! 🤔🤨🧐🙄🤡
@@keithdukes5990 yep world gone mad😩🤮
@@tonyarioli3979 the purpose of the tailfin was to help the driver park. They are essentially chrome markers for the position of the bumpers in the rear corner and are easily visible in the mirror.
It's 1952. "Bend of the River" with James Stewart appears on a marquis early into this clip.
However, at 3:24, there's a large black and white "SP" sign - that was constructed in March,1954.
@@tonyarioli3979 got any evidence for that?
Very heart-warming, thank you for sharing.
Remember all those shops on Market at Powell that were replaced by Nordstrom and the Mall that are now closed. In my youth, I lived on the cable car line and used to commute on it. Would run onto the turntable when it was moving so I could get the seat I wanted. The fare was 15 cents and I could sometimes get a free ride by smiling at the conductor.
Most of the views towards The bridge and the bay have now been obscured by highrises. Love these old films.
The shot at 00:31 and the stuff with the trolley after 4:00 hurt because that architecture was still around in my city when I was a young kid, but by the time I was old enough to appreciate it everything had been torn down and replaced with modern buildings.
How sad
Absolutely Fantastic
Clean streets, well dressed people.
When we were civilized.
🌎🌎🌎perfectly remastered ! 🌎🌎🌎
The quality of image is amzing
Thank you :)
This is a new hobby for me to watch.
Excelent! Greetings from MX 🇲🇽
I’m 71. I miss the San Francisco of my youth. My great aunt lived near 19th and Judah. Just up from Golden Gate Park. I loved visiting her.
Город какой чистый.красивый
A would love to live back in that time ❤
It is so amazing how people were so elegant clothed...especially, women...I am really sorry that nowadays almost all women lost their elegance and wear only pants...
Most of the reason for people not dressing up in the city is because nowadays, it would be akin to raising both your arms up and shouting: "Rob Me!"
Astonishing quality footage
Wow! San Francisco used to be beautiful!
Where all all the homeless and obese people. Someone should do a side by side comparison of then and now, filming from identical vantage points.
Yea… 60 years I mean 70 years on it’s a whole different scene and not nearly as idyllic
Read the book wheat belly and that will partially explain the obese people
Thank You!
No homeless no drugs no trash clean streets and well dressed people
Nice restoration work, but it really needs the purple toned down, especially in the shadows.
Thank you for the feedback :)
Lady getting on tram at 4:49. Looking at us. What a great place , would of been nice to see a bit of Alcatraz , what a great place to live in the 50s. USA at its best
wow, I see the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel. Did not know it's been in existence for that long but I think they closed now. I also saw Woolworth Dept. Store next to the Cable Car Turn Table. Used to go there for breakfast at their Resto downstairs with my Uncle in the early 80's.
No, Tonga still open.
Fantastic work! At least part of this gem can be dated to about the first week of 1953: Note the Streetcar ad (e.g. at 2:16 ) promoting a story on the Hotel St. Francis, to appear in the Saturday Evening Post "on sale Jan 7." Almost surely that's the Jan. 10, 1953 edition, which included the article, "Dan London and his St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco - the Magnificent Innkeeper".
I arrived in California in 1952, when I was born.
I was a young child and remember being on Market St. on New Year's Eve, welcoming in 1953. Lots of funny hats, streamers and horns.
It's frustrating to see what downtown SF used to be, when I've only been able to experience today's comparatively anemic version (though, the same could be said of any modern city...)
Superb video though!
Amazing quality.
That world is gone forever…so sad 😞
My parents lived in SF in the 50s and my mother has memories of that time - Dad was stationed at the Presidio Amy Base. Mum has images from their apartment window, which looked over the bay to Alcatraz
I was born in 1958. I want to teleport myself into that environment right now and leave this hellish modern day society behind. But only if I could bring my beloved parrots.
Hi: there's a video of the city taken in 1958 on CZcams titled "Downtown San Francisco 1950s in color" that runs for eight minutes and nine seconds if you're interested.
i could sit here watching all day...maybe i will...i dont want to be in our present day mess...
Decency, law & order, beauty Please Come Back!
2:33 I was expecting a crash and whew it did not. I used to drive streetcars.
The car beeping sounded like a 1970s Toyota!😂😂
It looks like it might have been stock footage for a movie or something. Notice the couple at 3:09 they are both just standing there facing each other, then seem to start walking on cue.
yes
Wtf how did i not notice that
This is unbelievable
Wow... I've never seen SF so clean
Nice to see it so clean compared to s hole it is now
I left my heart in San Francisco ❤❤❤ i was 5 times in San Francisco. Good Collage Film..Greetings from Germany Cologne......
Looks like SFO has a parking problem from 50's itself and Great Video.
Notice everyone is well dressed, no one is obese, everyone is respectful of each other, no shouting, clean sidewalks, no destruction of anything, amazing how lean people looked and how well they moved. Even middle-aged people moved so well and had great postures, Note the lack of diversity, Makes me sad about what we've become
there was plenty of diversity, just not skin deep diversity.
You will find very similar watching videos from London, Paris, Berlin in thd 30's .I agree wih your sentiment
amazing what good progressive tax brackets and high government investment can do. Around this time any money a person made above 500,000$ was taxed at 90% federally which decentivized greed and made rich folks more likely to spread the wealth
And the reason is people where raised to respect you f d up you got your ass smoked with a paddle or a belt you were accountable for your actions. No days oh no the little darlin didnt shoot somebody my little darling wouldnt do that
Love those street cars. You can get off here, but we're not stopping. Yikes! Subscribed.
Thank you :)
Great resolution and mesmerizing! Nicely done.
Good quality video
Linda e bem desenvolvida.
I remember going with my brother and my parents driving onto the ferry from Oakland to San Francisco
Beautiful
Thank you :)
At the 2:34 mark the sign on the back of the municipal railway streetcar on Market street says Chutes at the Beach. If this video is from the 40's or 50's muni never updated their signs on their streetcars. Chutes at the Beach became Whitney's Playland at the Beach in 1923, when George & brother Leo Whitney bought the land and the amusement park. They also bought the Cliff House in the 40's. What a fantastic city San Francisco was in the 40's & 50's!!!!!!!! ❤️
Notice how little anxiety there seems to exist among the public. Before the Internet, before social media and before sugar was added to every food item on the market.
I lived the best of San Francisco from 1986 to 2012.
'95 - '07...GOOD TIMES!!!
When normal people were in office
I never thought I will ever be able to see such old videos in colour as well as in such high frame rate. All thanks to AI for this!
I'm 36 years old. I was born at the end of 1986. What I miss the most from this era is how everyone dressed with class and self respect. Imagine that being the norm today instead of the garbage you typically see in metro areas. Modern day society has really taken a massive dump in a disgusting toilet in a public restroom. Shameful.
"Miss"
You talked like youve experienced it.
@@harukrentz435 Yeah. Idiotic thing to say. Nostalgia is silly enough, without not even being from the era you’re nostalgic for. The person is obviously glossing over the fact that in those days, black people were treated horrifically, men could beat their wives with impunity and did, anti-communist propaganda and spying on your neighbour were acceptable, the USA had not long since dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan just to test it out - I could go on. Nah, but the ‘good old days’. 🙄
Ok
Chill out grandad
@@Bubbaburp quiet hillbilly. How many tattoos do you have and how many Bud Lights do you drink? Are you a Dylan fan when you're sipping that drink?
Wonderful ❤.
Thank you :)
My hometown. Born there April 18th, 1950.
muhteşem olmuş.. thanks
Stunning!
When regular folks used the cable cars not just tourists. well, there were more lines back then. buses and the muni underground replaced them.
No gun violence or drug violence on the streets! Enjoyed this video.
This should not be possible. There's no way a person could watch life in the streets that occured seventy years ago. It's inhuman, and illogical. These moments were totally dull, insignificant at this time. It's the fact that we should never see this that makes these images precious and fascinating. Thanks, George Eastman.
.....you and your feet...stink.
I work in san fran and damn is it dirty I'm here as I speak!!!
@1:14 24 hour parking for 1.50. Crazy