Out of the Past
2010-10-20 15:14:00.844059+00 by petronius 3 comments
An intriguing video from CBS's 60 Minutes, a silent movie ride down Frisco's Market Street on the front of a streetcar. Digitally remastered, you see more commerce on horse wagons than autos, and apparently a total lack of traffic laws. Passing newsboys wave as the trip ends at the old Ferry Terminal. What is remarkable is the recent discovery by a film historian that the footage was shot only a week before the city was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. It probably wouldn't have survived if the filmmakers hadn't shipped the negative to their distributor in New York the day before the disaster. Even more eerie is the way everybody goes about their business unaware of the caastrophe about to befall them.