OT - Great footage of traffic in the mid thirties

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: OT - Great footage of traffic in the mid thirties
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Nevin Gough on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 04:48 am:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkkjpDmf7zw


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chris Cook on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 05:02 am:

Anyone know what the tow truck is?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John McGinnis in San Jose area, CA. on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 07:15 am:

Looks like Model Ts were pretty much *run off the road* by mid '30s. That was only a few years after production. Even obsolete then, except for the farm.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Will Copeland - Trenton, New Jersey on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 08:08 am:

The first thing I noticed is that there is no movement from the camera. Not even so much as a slight bump or car vibration in the road. Very smooth shot, I have to wonder how they did that with the camera technology they had back in the 30's in the back of a moving car.


One thing that hasn't changed since the very first car is as the advancement in technology for speed and control. Todays car can round a corner so much faster and safer than yesterdays cars


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 10:13 am:

John, probably depends on the part of the country and traffic conditions, I can remember T's on the road here up into the late fifties. Several little old ladies kept driving them for years. KGB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill Everett on Tuesday, December 03, 2013 - 10:15 am:

I believe there were no traffic lights or stop signs encountered; those were the days!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aaron Griffey, Hayward Ca. on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 12:04 am:

Sounds like it was filmed from a T with a Ruckstel and a high speed rear end. Notice how they seem to put it into underdrive for a very short time to accelerate or when the traffic gets slow.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aaron Griffey, Hayward Ca. on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 12:07 am:

Sounds like it was filmed from a T with a Ruckstel and a high speed rear end. Notice how they seem to put it into underdrive for a very short time to accelerate or when the traffic gets slow.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 12:26 am:

I don't think that soundtrack is original to the film. It was probably added recently. It also sounds like an audio loop - the same thing played over and over again in succession. In certain parts of soundtrack, I hear the audio splice.

My guess is that it is stock footage that was used as a backdrop in the studio when filming driving scenes involving actors sitting in stationary, prop cars.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 01:15 am:

After almost eighty years the buildings have changed so much that it's hard to locate this, but the camera is looking west on Wilshire Boulevard. I think the clip starts just east of Normandie Avenue and ends a couple of blocks east of Hoover. And yes, if you look closely, there are traffic signals at the major intersections.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Martin Vowell, Sylmar, CA on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 02:06 am:

Yes, the sound track was added and Wilshire Blvd. came to my mind too I kind of recognize a couple of the buildings on the left that are still there today. Did you also notice nobody seemed to have any clear idea what a "lane" is? Also gas was 9 cents a gallon at the 76 station...oh how I wish it was 9 cents today, or even 35 cents that it was when I was a kid, lol.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill Severn - SE Texas on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 11:50 am:

Same piece of film from an earlier thread with a sound track added. I would guess it was Hollywood made for use by the film industry.

Bill


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 12:55 pm:

My early memories of the 30's were about 1939. Even by then most of the cars you see in this film were off the road. You would see the more rounded cars from the 30's such as the 35 Ford in this picture and many others, almost all of them would be American built cars. There were still some Model T's and other older cars, but only about half of them were pre 30's cars. By the way, I grew up in L.A. and am familiar with Wilshire Blvd.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 10:14 pm:

The relatively good picture quality is because this is 35mm, not a 16mm home movie. Probably background for a process shot where you see actors in a car interior with this footage behind them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 - 10:48 pm:

Excellent video/film quality. I watched it in 1080P on my 42 inch plasma and it looked fantastic. What a great piece of old film. Loved the 9 cents at the filling station.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 12:07 am:

Somehow this thing grabbed me and I've wasted the evening playing detective. My guess on streets was based on the curve near the end of the clip. That wasn't at Hoover, as I thought. It was at Robertson Boulevard. At :27 you see Thompson Motor Company, Packard dealer, at the corner of Maple and Wilshire. At :41 you can catch a glimpse of the Packard sign on the top of the building. The Union Oil station is at the southwest corner of Oakhurst and Wilshire. The next intersection, with traffic signals, is at Doheny Drive. The truck making a left turn at 1:31 is heading south on Swall Drive. The tow truck hides Clark Drive, so the next intersection you see is Robertson Boulevard, at the curve, where there are traffic signals. Unfortunately, all the buildings you see in the film are gone.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Thode Chehalis Washington on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 02:28 am:

Interesting. I see a few buildings that are still there. A few taller ones in the background at the start are still there. Also looks like there in one on the north and south sides just at the bend in Wilshire. The one on the north has been remodeled but the roof matches the old film. The one on the south you can just see a glimpse in the old film.

Then posted by the same entity there is the "Transportation History in the USA - "The American Road" - 1953 " movie at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FcuVtX_bXs
that is quite interesting too.

Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff V on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 08:26 am:

It's always fascinating to me that up until about the 1960's, pictures or movies of cars seldom if ever had cars more than 10 years old and usually nothing less than 5 years old. I'm not sure if its just that cars didn't last or that technology was progressing so rapidly that older cars just got left behind that fast. It's always a treat to find a picture of a T on the road in the 1930's or 40's


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 09:00 am:

What we modern day Americans often forget is that when that film was made the majority of Americans lived in rural areas where people were more affluent and more new cars existed. Movies and photos exist more often showing urban scenes, because that is where the folks with the cameras lived and worked.

Meanwhile the folks out in the country would drive a car until it wouldn't drive any more.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Cascisa - Poulsbo, Washington on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 04:30 pm:

Did anyone notice that there are no Lanes painted on the road. Cars just floated around on their side of the road.

Be_Zero_Be


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Paddison (Vancouver Washington) on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 04:38 pm:

Center frame in the first 13 sec is a really nice looking 1921 - 1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost sedan...and a clean looking 1930 Packard 8 sedan.

This must have been filmed after 1935.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 07:59 pm:

Royce...good thoughts on that. And, I'm like one of those country folks, we literally do not own a vehicle built in this century, unless the Cub Cadet Yanmar ('09) counts. The F150 is a '97 with not a speck of rust on it as I keep the salt off of it religiously, and the T-bird is a '94 and it's not even ALLOWED on the salt. Parked in the pole barn from November until May. So I'm working on running them until the wheels fall off! And, side benefit, I'm adding to my "classic" car collection!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 09:17 pm:

I got interrupted by a phone call when posting that and garbled it badly. Here's what I meant to say:

What we modern day Americans often forget is that when that film was made the majority of Americans lived in rural areas.

Urban areas were places where people were more affluent and more new cars existed. Movies and photos exist more often showing urban scenes, because that is where the folks with the cameras lived and worked.

Meanwhile the folks out in the country would drive a car until it wouldn't drive any more.


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