Sunday, June 13, 2010

Cable car ride in San Francisco in 1906

What!  A cable car ride on film in 1906 !  WOW.

Recently a friend send this link. Yes,  this is another of those wonderful email ‘goodies.’

So what exactly is it this time?

Well, this is what excerpts from the email said:

Subject: Cable car ride on Market street in San Francisco...1906

... This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot.


From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!).


It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing.




This film was "lost" for many years. It was the first 35mm film ever. It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car.

...The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there.


Interested in seeing this 7 minute 10 second film on You Tube?  Then, HERE’S THE LINK