An Armchair Time Traveller

Watching early film footage

Early this morning I was idling my time watching some of the earliest film footage, courtesy of YouTube. Some amazing shots of London from the 1890s. Some of best stuff was shot by Thomas Edison. There’s a piece almost ten minutes long taken in Market Street San Francisco, in 1906, about four days before the earthquake. Almost 80 % of the city was destroyed by the quake and consequent fires, the latter having the greatest catastrophic effect. The human loss was over 3000, with thousands more becoming homeless. Knowing this is all about to happen, it makes it doubly weird and poignant, seeing this moment captured in time. The film is taken from the front of a slow moving tram (going by the tracks) so it’s a constantly evolving, kinetic scene opening up for twenty-first century eyes. There is a mixture of early motor vehicles alongside horses and carts, people on bicycles, trams and horse drawn omnibuses, advertising Liptons Tea on the side, as well as many pedestrians, rushing hither and thither.

All the men are wearing hats, quite a few bowlers. The women hats are still quite ornate, with a 19th century hangover. The dresses, also, seem from the previous century. Unsurprising really, since we are only six years into a new century…