Los Angeles at this time had probably the best quality of life ever known. It had it all, economy, industry, jobs, affordable housing, great schools, citrus groves right in town, open undeveloped land along the coast, and that near perfect southern California weather. It really was paradise.
@@joshuaalexis8576 My white family was there in 1956 and we didn't have to worry about carjackings, robberies, drive-by shootings, home invasions, drug dealers on the corners and random violence so yes, it was absolutely awesome.
I was born in the late 1940’s in Oakland. When we traveled to Los Angeles in the early 50’s, everything was so glamorous. People acted like respectful grownups. I remember it was my generation that grew up but still had a child inside that refused to grow up. Always enjoying youthful attitudes towards everything in life. Our parents and grandparents were full fledged adults at all times. But my generation remained part kid without ever becoming a complete adult. A kind of spoiledness and non-serious way of facing adulthood. And it’s never gone back to the respectful way that adults lived in the 40’s.
You just practically described the baby boomers in a nutshell. The great gens really sacrificed so much to make sure the boomers never suffered like they did during the Great Depression and 2nd World War. My grandfather was a great gen so I can definitely attest to what you just said in well detailed form. Have a great new year.
@@MarcosElMalo2, it has gotten a hell of a lot worse now as more and more people become slaves to the Analcrat Party. So many professional welfare parasites that know as long as they stay loyal to the Analcrats and keep voting for them the freebies will keep coming. Slavery did NOT end with the Civil War, the Analcrats just changed the way it's done.
My Mother worked behind the counter in a department store like this during exactly that time -- late 1940's when she was in her early 20's before she married my dad. I instantly thought of her when I saw the such-excellent restoration footage within the department store. Such amazing restoration! I think I'll call mom right now to chat. She's 94.
The last clip is from Saugus, CA, the intersection of what now is the east end of Magic Mtn Pkwy, Bouquet Cyn Rd and Railroad Ave, approximately where the Saugus Depot was (now located in Hart Park, a few miles south). The track curving to the left was a spur line west to Ventura, most of which has been removed. The main line runs north from Union Station (LA) north past Lancaster (this part can be travelled by Metrolink), Mojave, Tehachapi, etc. Richard Wood (Wood's Garage, left) and brother Martin also ran the Saugus Cafe across the road, which is still open for business!
Thanks for that info. I guess the garage was the giveaway hint for you. I was mistakenly guessing that they were arriving and departing Glendale Station headed towards LA Union Station. I stand corrected.
@@Notmyrealmame For most of the footage, you may be entirely correct! My reference was only to the final 1:45. Yes, the garage was the giveaway, although I credit local historian John Boston's work for the details on the Woods. Also, the historic wooden RXR crossing sign and 'wig-wag' signal (partly hidden behind a utility pole) remained as they are shown here until the most recent road widening projects.
A lot of footage like this was shot by Second Unit film crews as B roll for various studio films. After the studios were "done" with the film, it was often sold off to stock footage companies who would then license it out by the second. As an Assistant Editor on many films, I spent a lot of time looking through stock footage over the years. My favorites were going through footage of Sunset Blvd. during the 60's.
I wish more film crews had gone out and filmed the citrus, walnut orchards, farms, and open fields before it was all destroyed. I hope someday a game developer will recreate what Southern California use to look like in a high-resolution VR format so we can actually experience what it was like back then.
There is a book out there of photos from the sunset strip from the 60's. And the same photographer has individual pictures side by side to a long panorama picture.
@@robertsamson4610 I bet there are lots of people who did that but then things get sold, destroyed and deteriorated. There are also a lot of things in storage that folks forgot about. I think that footage is probably out there, although not as plentiful as the street scenes.
@@annacatherinesendgikoski1965 They are all steam locomotives. The one at 2:28 is a Southern Pacific GS-4 class "Daylight" 4-8-4. The coloring is incorrect as the colors along the side should be orange and red as opposed to the gray that is showing up. Unfortunately the incorrect coloring is bleaching out the engine's number on the side of the cab but it should be one of the engines numbered 4430-4457. The other two scenes are Southern Pacific AC-10 class "cab forward" Mallet 4-8-8-2 locomotives #4225 (at 5:27) and #4228 (at 9:08). The latter two were built with the cabs in the front to deal with the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges the engines were assigned to which had 39 long tunnels and nearly 40 miles of snow sheds. Such long confined spaces could funnel dangerous exhaust fumes back into the cab of a conventional locomotive. After a number of crews nearly asphyxiated, Southern Pacific commissioned Baldwin to design these. SP was the only domestic US railroad to own them. The overhead wires you see are likely for use by Pacific Electric to allow them to use the same platforms.
Nowadays we work harder for less pay, even though we are more productive than people back then. And thanks to the Reagan Revolution, we don't even get to enjoy the benefits of our productivity, they seem to go only to our employers.
@@gloriaortiz1227 yea like there’s nobody living on the city’s streets and needles and drugs and shit and piss everywhere A lot of things have changed and not for the better!
Fascinated by every second of these. A little window for us here to see a time long gone. Everyone dressed to the nines, and no one even overweight at all. While I'm very glad to be alive in 2021 vs the 1940's, there are many things we have unfortunately lost as a society and species. Thanks for posting these, they are amazing beyond belief...
@@suppylarue220 No, yours is. And it's because you lack education, culture and worldliness. You've substituted it with propaganda, dogma and secular scripture.
I was born in 46. I remember when people dressed up to go places. Shopping or traveling or going to the county fair. Air travel or going to Las Vegas was truly elegant. Ordinary people had class and civility and manners was expected of everyone.
This is absolutely amazing to watch. It feels like you have actually traveled back in time. And notice in the early part filmed inside the store, every single man is wearing a hat. I agree with the person who commented that this was a time when people took pride in their appearance.
Everybody was dressed well because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA. Also, the baby boomers turned fashion into shit.
@@SmithMrCorona Actors ? Like the crimpled lady waliking on the depot platform ? These people were simple passers-by who the movie crew shot while they went their everyday's life. This is stock movie, you won't make any money if you start to pay people for just walking by or taking a train with their children.
I love trains. The first engine was beautiful. In 1965 when I was 9 years old I went with my grandmother from San Jose California to Portland Oregon to visit her friends. We rode on a Southern Pacific train there and back. One of the best memories of my childhood riding that train. Great video.
come to us in Russia to Siberia, we still have long-distance trains with sleeping shelves in which you can see alcoholics, mothers with screaming children, smelly people who go on watch in search of a better life, you can travel by train for a week from one end of the country to the other and at the same time stand in line for the toilet for an hour when it's time, come and enjoy it))))
I'm looking at the palm trees at the rail station wondering how friggin tall those trees must be now. Absolutely amazing seeing video of when those trees were still young.
A relative of ours owned a Shoe repair 1 block from the beach and he did a big business back then. I remember him telling us that the hippies were going to ruin his business and he started making leather sandals just to keep his doors open. He closed in 1981 because the real estate was in much higher demand. A jewelry shop and an art gallery now occupie the building. Laguna beach Sids shoe shop... Estimate time in business 1940 till 1981. I helped them close up shop and move out. I was 21 years old then.
No, it is not just you ;), and you are right: more beautiful and stylish. The women looked fantastic, and so did the men, in smart suits, great ties, hats - and two-tone shoes.
I remember going to downtown Los Angeles as a child in the 1950s. All the men had on suits and Fedora type hats. Sort of a cool time to be a kid growing up in the LA Harbor area. I remember all the open land and farms in LA and Orange Counties back in those days. Now almost everything is crowded all over SoCal, and the traffic is terrible.
Nobody was in a hurry because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
Everything look so clean and neat, I wish today would look as good. Amazing how advanced we’ve comes in imagining technology to improve old films and turns it into as if it was yesterday. I can’t wait what would be like a decade from now as the remastered images technology keeps improving. Fantastic jobs!!!👍
My theory or prediction is that VR(virtual reality) will be the way to venture back in time to view our past... They will gather up all the old films we see here and enter them all into a data bank. And we will or those still alive be able to wander about in these past eras, 30s 40s 50s, etc...
The railroad was really alive. Even the trains seemed to have a spirit of their own. I imagine more than a few of us would like to just walk into that picture.
The sound reconstruction is off, trains in the US always had loud bells. Steam locomotives could be theoretically more efficient once you factor in things such as stopping at stations, but they were labour intensive. Yet, nothing replaces them in the feeling of life and individuality, because locomotives ate coal, drank water, breathed fire and needed daily grooming and stabling. Whenever one was commissioned, they were given the full honours a navy ship would receive, and in Britain every one had its own name like a class of destroyers
I am just amazed that someone had the wherewithal to set up cameras throughout the country just to capture people going about their everyday lives, and it's still available to view! The edit to give it natural flow of movement is "icing on the cake"!
At that was literally just a few miles outside of Los Angeles, places like this were commonly captured by film crews for "background shots" to be inserted into movies. There is another one that is floating around (maybe by this same channel) if I remember right is showing camera crews filming driving down Devonshire. With them pulling over at parts to show a clapper board with the location. The kind of scenes that would have been projected onto a screen behind a vehicle in a studio to replicate a car driving down a road. Think back to almost any old movie of the era (or even a "retro movie" set in the era like the first Indiana Jones movie), and inserting the scene of a train entering or leaving a station was a common thing to insert for a few seconds to help set up the scene to follow. And LA in that era looked almost nothing like it does today. Huge parts of it really were still farmland and rural, even a dozen miles from downtown.
@@chuckfan1 Either that, or as was often done in the era filmed on a city street with a prop or two added. The dead giveaway is the ornate covered subway entrance, which would not have existed in LA. Those were often added to LA city streets when they needed to do some shooting to replicate New York. While there was the "Subway Terminal Building" and a short segment of subway, entry and exit of the terminal was like any other building, with no street level stairways that I am aware of like New York had.
@@michaelmartin4552 possible, but right at .41-.43 that is a backlot. Im familiar with LA , all the nooks and crannies.. there is no area with that type of layout. Yes, things change, etc.. but that is definitely a backlot. Ive been on all of them, the ones still standing, and the ones long gone. As soon as I saw this, it just has that look.. the "plastic" look of it
I always watch for the elderly in these videos, someone in their 70s when this was filmed grew up in a very different world. Life has changed quite a bit in the last 75 years, but I would argue it changed far more in the 75 years prior.
I partially agree, but so much technology has occurred since the 40s. Jet travel, cell phones, laptops, internet, gps, robotics, space exploration, medical advances, air conditioning, interstate highway system, TV (hundreds of channels), birth control pills, many more women in the workforce.
I never got the chance to ask my Grandma about her Grandparents but they probably didn't have electricity and migrated from Ireland to Australia on a sailing ship. What a change a few generations makes.
Back in the days when people thought it was important to dress well and be on their best behavior when out in public, instead of going shopping in their pajamas or underwear.
Everyone looked to be in good shape, too, because there wasn’t fast food everywhere and people actually moved around a lot and did things back then. It’s heartbreaking to see so many sloppy and obese people these days.
Definitely some acting and filming for a movie going on here. Especially that tall elegant woman in the store. It was an enjoyable video to watch. Thanks Nass for all the great video's you put on UA-cam.
@@SmithMrCorona Anyone who thinks someone else should curse themself, should curse themself. Your offspring (if you have the courage to have any) will probably project their own ignorance and curse you anyway. Such are humans...It's always the older people's fault...
The final train sequence was shot at Saugus, up in the Santa Clarita Vally, right across the street from the Saugus Cafe, the oldest restaurant in LA County.
@@alanw2687 Looks like, if only he had a larger object in his hand like a wallet or pack of cigarettes. At least he didn't block the aisle tweeting. It's amazing how everyone was dress to kill back then.
@@dxwallace55 because they wrote letters and went to the post office. @ 8:30 I think that’s how trains picked up the US Mail back then, with that arm thingy.
WOW! This is so cool to watch. Did you notice, there wasn't 1 person that was obese? This was before fast food, so that makes sense. The remaster on the video is done so well that it feels like it could have been taken in the 90s or 00's, but it really is back from the 40s! It almost feels like you really are looking into a time machine.
Considering that most of the footage was from Hollywood films, it makes sense as film studios would typically only cast photogenic (by 1940s standards) people in their films in those days, whereas today film studios are under pressure to show more diverse representation in terms of body types
I was born in so cal and my favorite TV show was Emergency which was filmed in 1970's Los Angeles. I sometimes watch reruns today with my grandkids and find it amazing to look back a mere 50 years to how nice LA was. Even more so with this video. Societal decay sucks.
Not only was that a great show but it almost single-handedly started the paramedic departments around the country and world. The show that saved lives.
@@perisher1976 I THINK NOBODY.... IT'S JUST A FATE THAT THEY HAD TO FACE DURING THAT PERIOD TO DO GOOD AND THINK GOOD ABT THE PEOPLE WHO MIGRATED TO THAT COUNTRY....
John Gage and Roy Desoto! The firehouse pranks! The calls over the speaker! Decades later I watched some unedited 'behind the scenes' or outtake film and was surprised at how filthy their language was with cuss words being expressed almost constantly. So much for childhood heros.
One thing that this doesn't show, is the countless orange groves, lemon groves, avocado and peach groves etc. that were everywhere. The urban areas still had a very rural feel. I grew up in the area, good times.
Wow! Amazing Video! My Mom and Dad were 20 years old in 1944. My Grandparents would have been 48. I remember seeing pictures of my parents young lives and they were dressed like this just a generation ago. I really enjoyed this because my Dad worked for SP for 42 years out of Southern Oregon. Granddad worked for 44 years for L&N out of Indiana. Thank you for sharing this!
This is the best-quality video I've ever seen of actual catcher pouches in action in live historical video footage. (Catcher pouches were used to pick up and drop off mail from moving trains when passing small towns or stops that weren't big or important enough to have the entire train and all its passengers grind to a stop completely just to exchange bags of incoming and outgoing mail.) Operators had to be pretty skilled and coordinated to kick off the mail to be dropped off while catching the outgoing mail without getting injured or missing the pouch completely. Pretty efficient process, though mail delivery has come a long way since then lol
I cried watching this. Los Angeles will never be this great again. Less people, less crime, less pollution. Beautiful clothing/dress styles and beautiful cars !
@@theway3058 there was more "Love for the Lord Jesus", and yet blacks had to sit in the back of the bus, weren't allowed in many of the establishments shown in the video, or allowed to live in any of the neighborhoods, or even own a house unless it was in a crappy area. funny how people had more love for Jesus yet little love for their fellow man.
In the first shot, the cameraman knew the bus would turn at the corner, and followed it; it then stopped right in front of the camera. The people walking by were very poised and did not look at the camera. That shot apparently was for a movie. The next couple of street scenes were clearly on a movie set. The footage inside Rexall is priceless, in my opinion.
Beautiful job! One thing - the locomotive that appears at 2:28 is painted in Southern Pacific Daylight colors. The area shown as white is orange, the light gray is red. The front is painted aluminum but would appear white in the film. One example of this type exists and is painted as described.
Thank you for adding that, it saved me the time of typing that all out to let them know and you are 100% correct. I actually got to blow the whistle on the SP4449 in Portland, OR once, so seeing those incorrect colors bugged me just a little.
Yes, here in Portland we've been lucky enough to see the SP4449 operating as the annual Holiday Express over past last several weekends. What a treasure she is, and the color scheme is very distinctive.
At 5:26 and 9:06 that’s a cab forward locomotive designed for the hills and grades of California. So when the train went through tunnels the engineer could still see out the window. Heard many stories of these trains from my dad who was a kid in NorCal and San Fernando in 40s and 50s.
These videos are gold... What I would give to go back there even if only for one day. I'm watching this thinking somewhere on a studio lot there are 3 very funny guys throwing pies at each other and one of them has a bowl haircut.. Thank you for the work and post..
WOW! The first time that I ever saw the rare Cab-Forward steam locomotive in action. The California State Rail Museum has one on static display #4294. Thanks for sharing this.
Amazing, look at that, no trash on the street, no tents, no homeless, no beggars, no junkies, no sagging pants or skinny jeans. What a beautiful world, wish I could live in it!
These are clips from Hollywood movies. Notice Agnes Moorehead at 1:13 and again at 1:53. I thought that particular clip is from *Government Girl* - 1943, but maybe not, as the slate says Butler-Kelley. The first shot with the bus is from *The Mating of Millie* - 1948. In the movie, Glenn Ford is driving the bus.
There was no trash on the streets because this was filmed on a lot, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It's all on sets and in back lots. You've seen those places a million times in TV and movies. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
Those old style city buses were still around until about 1968 where I grew up in Oceanside. They were yellow and white like the one seen in the video. Their route passed right in front of our house. At around the same time period, there were also a few identical looking Southern Pacific RR passenger cars around like those in this video. They were parked on some side tracks near the old pier on Mission Avenue. They were connected to a couple of old freight boxcars that still had the caboose connected to them! Thanks for the memories, NASS!
I used to drive a city bus. That model was just being fazed out when I started driving. They were great to drive. Fast and responsive. Very easy to drive compared to the newer busses. I also drove English Double deckers circa 40s' and 50's. Terrible things to drive.
Actually they lasted until the 1970s. I used to take the bus to my junior high school and rode my share in those old clunkers. No air conditioning, windows wouldn't open at times so on hot summer days it was miserable.
My grandparents met in LA in the 1940s, so it’s neat to be able to glimpse what they saw. The train at the end is interesting because the locomotive has a relatively modern front end, but is a steam engine.
That's because this had no sound originally, and what you hear was added by the UA-camr. This was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It's not real life, but staged to insert into movies and trade films. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA. Also, the baby boomers turned fashion into shit.
@@SmithMrCorona It's still wild how simply changing the frame rate makes it seem more real. However, there indeed is comparatively little that has been archived from that time showing people in their most natural environment or just having a casual conversation not meant for public display.
...back when we had a 90% wealth tax on the super rich in this country....plenty of money for hospitals, schools, free college, roads and all of that good old social stuff :) :) :)
@@k.t.5405 it worked then because we didn’t have the amount of people that exploited this system. That happened when we opened the flood gates to the world in the 60’s and also started demonizing white people.
@@julesbailey6770 something does seem off in these types of films. As if they are all acting and nobody looks at the camera that would be very large and hard to miss. The body language the stiffness, not acting casually, even for the 1940's.
A Southern Pacific daylighter in all it’s glory at 2:25. I can’t catch the engine number but a similar steamer, SP 4449 is still used for excursions out of Portland Oregon and was the “freedom train” for the USA bicentennial. Also at 5:28 is the very rare and unique SP 4225. This was a cab forward design so that when it entered Sierra Nevada tunnels and snow sheds the crew didn’t have to suffer with the locomotive smoke. The only one remaining SP 4294, is in the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA. A similar locomotive at 9:07 and the unusual sight of a message pick up system so the train did not have to stop. For a rail fan a unique treat and in color!!
@@johnd8892 I certainly was happy with the overall film and I enjoy colonization. I’m not sure how the process works or the costs involved so I’m not going to be critical
That was a partly empty mailbag picked up by one of the baggage cars, marked United States Mail, Railway Post Office. If it was a message packet it probably would have been picked up by the engine, and been much smaller. Interesting to see almost all the men wearing hats. Some of the old ladies had hats, but the young women displayed their nice looking hair. Its hard to guess at some of the automobile colors, as well as the suits and dresses, and houses, also the interiors of the shops might have been more brightly colored. Not as muted in color. But I suppose its better to err on the side of earthtones and such rather than yellows, reds and blues.
So calm and quiet, truly a model of what a good life should have been at the time. What we wouldn't give to go back and preserve this way of life if we could.
Thanks for the posting. Today, perhaps more than ever folks need to see such footage to grasp that once upon a time there really was a time that was not our day and time. The moments captured here are gone forever except tor the fact there was this video record of it. What we really don't know is what living life on that day was really like. We did not and cannot experience that day. The same is true of every moment we exist. Such footage can be powerful if one believes.
Wow this is REALLY crisp, it looks like a Hollywood movie from the time! (better - in color!) And look how beautiful and CLEAN California looks! This is really fantastic, thank you!
They *are* clips from Hollywood movies. The first shot with the bus is from *The Mating of Millie* - 1948. In the movie, Glenn Ford is driving the bus.
👍👍 It was so cool to see the AC-10! SP was one of the few systems to use them. They were needed so the engineer/driver wouldn't be blinded and/or asphyxiated by smoke when going through long tunnels.
except for maybe that one time they found that girl out at that park chopped in half. Elizabeth Short I think was her name but people liked to call her the black dahlia. that was a little shocking too
@@shaherrazam Ok sure there's less war today and better healthcare, meanwhile every other facet of existence is 10x worse. Life in the years is what I prefer over years in the life.
What a great compilation. You did a very fine job colorizing! Could you please share more movies like this, with beautiful women and smart men in their 1940s attire? I love the 1940s fashion so very much, and this movie shows how it was; not stills, not a modern movie-set-in-the-1940s (although they can look awesome at times) but the real people, wearing their stylish clothes in a time that this was ... just how it was. Thanks!!
It is so realistic looking, much more that a period Hollywood movie could do, that I sense I'm really there, live, as if I just walked out of a time machine that transported me back 80 years or so. Such an amazingly good and technical job that I feel like I could just step into the screen and actually be there.
No you wouldn't, it was WW2 all the streets were empty of young men, food was rationed, times were tough, there was no TV or entertainment even, it was a very dark depressing time!
The good old days. Stylish, well-dressed and well-mannered people, a nice absence of drugged out homeless on the streets. Before the country was overpopulated.
OVERPOPULATED IN THE SENSE THAT..... MAKING GOOD AND THINKING GOOD ABT THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD MADE SOME KIND OF BAD THINGS TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA WHO LIVED IN THAT ERA TO THIS ERA.....
Absolutely beautiful. Everyone's well dressed, just going about their business. No blurred out faces. No one seems concerned about being on film. I didn't know Southern Pacific cab forwards were used in passenger service. I thought they were a freight engine. And What do these neighborhoods look like today?
Nobody was in a hurry because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
I love how everyone truly cared what they looked like. Everyone wearing makeup, suits and have an overall look of elegance. Now days you can walk into a shop and most people dress in super casual clothes and I've seen some wear PJs and slippers. Sad.
@@MonstersNotUnderTheBed They didn't exercise (like going to the gym), that was pretty rare then. They probably walked more than most people today, though. The nature of food was very different then. Very little fast food, people mostly cooked at home. No cheap subsidized sugar. Little hyper-processed fake food. Obesity is from wrong diet, not lack of exercise.
What an absolute corker ! Fascinating, I loved the department store sequence with beautiful classy ladies, how times have changed. Being a railway enthusiast superb sequences even watching the passengers inside their compartments, now wheres my tardis .......................................................! Thanks so much for all your work its greatly appreciated, Stewart
If anyone is interested, there's a single operational steam locomotive just like the first one shown still in existence. It's the famous Southern Pacific "Daylight" #4449 and resides in Portland Organ. It is truly a national treasure and incredible to see in action! As you will see in photos/videos these daylight locomotives were originally bright orange, red, and black. As such the were called "the most beautiful train in the world." The second and third locomotives shown are examples of Southern Pacific's giant and unique (for their orientation having the engineer and fireman operate the locomotive from the front) "Cab Forwards." These massive steam locomotives which were unique to the Southern Pacific and were oriented as such so the crews were not suffocated by the smoke and gases produced from the exhaust in the railroad's extensive network of snow sheds and tunnels in the Sierras. There's only one SP Cab Forward left in existence and while not operational, Southern Pacific #4294 has been beautifully cosmetically restored and is on public display at the California State Railroad Museum.
It's mind-blowingly fascinating to me to think that these people actually lived here. The baby at 7:38 is likely still alive. It's a blessing to be able to take part in this world and to see how it has progressed. It's just a shame that not everyone realizes that.
I can watch this again and again for both entertainment and sentimental reasons. Thanks for allowing us to go back to a simpler, kinder time, even if it's only virtually. Masterful work!
At the beginning, there is a sign that says "Athena," which was an exclusive women's dress store in Beverly Hills in the 1940s. If someone has access to an old Beverly Hills directory, they could find the address and locate this scene.
Just remember no matter how wonderful this feels, it is a limited point of view. Nostalgia forget the horrible, terrifying things that were also happening at that time. We only remember the good things.
that was the whole point, we suppressed the bad and ugly, and celebrated the shiny, new and clean. It was a positive push for humanity, and those who desired to be in the position to enjoy this life, WORKED for it, and didn't play victim. And if they played victim, they didn't have anyone's attention, except those that hated the country, and actively worked to get to the point to where were at now. Fact.
That's the beauty of these videos. They're not movies, written by writers, directed by directors, acted by actors and costumed by costumers. These videos are not staged or scripted There's no agenda. This is how people dressed and walked. This is what streets looked like. Take from it what you will but leave your pre-conceptions behind. Have the courage to change if you're shown something new.
Exactly. All these comments talking about how people dressed nice and walked upright- pretty sure I’ll take ‘segregation and lynchings being illegal’ over guys wearing their hats.
I still live simple while seeing myself advance through our society in this day in age. Instead of wishing it was the 1940s again, *YOU* can take the living habits from that era and apply them to your daily routine in the 2020s. The 1940s had there share of issues just like we do today.
I agree. People are talking as if hats and nice clothes have become extinct. The funny thing is SoCal has a vibrant scene of people who dress that way and drive those cars still today. When history is studied accurately, it is understood that human beings always have issues and cultures always have tension, problems, and strife. So thank you for your comment.
@@Thom-jj7yr Really do you need to be told?? you mean there were no crimes , killings, wars, poverty, discrimination back then? Man has not changed over the centuries
I was born in 1961 in Pasadena and raised in California until about 1984. The time was amazing. An amazing place. I came back in approximately 1995 and the change was underway and has changed immensely ever since. For the first time I feel like I cannot live in California. In other words, it is unlivable. Breaks my heart because I don't know where to go, but I can't live in the home I grew up in. Everybody is quite well versed on the current situation in California and some other states, so I won't go into that. Nice to see my grandparents time in living color!
BEAUTIFUL WORK !! I've been stuck in 80's mode (I arrived in the southland in 1980) and that's been my general frame of reference. So I'm still about 40 years too late.
At a time where there was class and sophistication and even if you didn't like someone or something, you still showed respect. So clean and pristine and people cared about what they looked like before they left the house, you respected and knew your neighbors and cared about your neighborhood. Over the last several decades it's turned for the worse... robberies, gangs, no care at all for public surroundings, trashy, drugs and classless people, destructive to public properties, people wanting to fight you for looking at them, people that dress like they're going to Walmart in pajamas and baggy clothes, now it's right into the urban decay that it is now. Very sad.
There’s nothing wrong with steam punk , shit the people before these wore hide skins and feathers oh that’s rite we called them savages and drove them from there land , but hey if you look snazzy who gives a f¥{k right.
Southern Pacific was still using those cars in 1981 on the commuter train from San Francisco to San Jose, I remember the paint inside was an inch thick, also they still had the ornate lampshades, and you could go to the front or rear of the car and stand on a platform to get some fresh air.
![1940s - Views of California in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eMFRJqddlqc/mqdefault.jpg)
![1940s - Views of California in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/tr.png)
![Residential area of Los Angeles 1940s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gRS1LGvI8Lk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Wonderful California 1940s in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/n.gif)
Would you like to visit the 1940's? Which city would you like to visit?
Who wouldn't ???
Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you!
Muncie indiana
Santa Monica Ca!
Blue Ridge, Georgia
Los Angeles at this time had probably the best quality of life ever known. It had it all, economy, industry, jobs, affordable housing, great schools, citrus groves right in town, open undeveloped land along the coast, and that near perfect southern California weather. It really was paradise.
For whites it really was paradise lol
True. Not anymore. Far from it!
@@joshuaalexis8576 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, about 15 years later.
@@joshuaalexis8576 My white family was there in 1956 and we didn't have to worry about carjackings, robberies, drive-by shootings, home invasions, drug dealers on the corners and random violence so yes, it was absolutely awesome.
@Joshua Alexis Well, I guess you can rejoice now, since it's become miserable for just about everybody.
I was born in the late 1940’s in Oakland. When we traveled to Los Angeles in the early 50’s, everything was so glamorous. People acted like respectful grownups. I remember it was my generation that grew up but still had a child inside that refused to grow up. Always enjoying youthful attitudes towards everything in life. Our parents and grandparents were full fledged adults at all times. But my generation remained part kid without ever becoming a complete adult. A kind of spoiledness and non-serious way of facing adulthood. And it’s never gone back to the respectful way that adults lived in the 40’s.
You just practically described the baby boomers in a nutshell. The great gens really sacrificed so much to make sure the boomers never suffered like they did during the Great Depression and 2nd World War. My grandfather was a great gen so I can definitely attest to what you just said in well detailed form. Have a great new year.
Yeah,i guess this is the reason for all the snowflakes today
@@bryanitza-chulopez1658 In the seventies, the boomers were also known as the “Me Generation”, a nod to their self-indulgence and selfishness.
@@MarcosElMalo2, it has gotten a hell of a lot worse now as more and more people become slaves to the Analcrat Party. So many professional welfare parasites that know as long as they stay loyal to the Analcrats and keep voting for them the freebies will keep coming. Slavery did NOT end with the Civil War, the Analcrats just changed the way it's done.
Boomers ruined the world
My Mother worked behind the counter in a department store like this during exactly that time -- late 1940's when she was in her early 20's before she married my dad. I instantly thought of her when I saw the such-excellent restoration footage within the department store. Such amazing restoration! I think I'll call mom right now to chat. She's 94.
I will give you 🥛🍫🍕
Excelent ..😊 your mom live 🙏
Interesting....I just called my 93 year old mom. She said it was the best decade of her life and was a blessing to be part of it.
@@domenicv7962 After the war there was a deep economic recession. Certainly it was only fun for children.
@@switch12345678 You don't get it. That's ok
The last clip is from Saugus, CA, the intersection of what now is the east end of Magic Mtn Pkwy, Bouquet Cyn Rd and Railroad Ave, approximately where the Saugus Depot was (now located in Hart Park, a few miles south). The track curving to the left was a spur line west to Ventura, most of which has been removed. The main line runs north from Union Station (LA) north past Lancaster (this part can be travelled by Metrolink), Mojave, Tehachapi, etc. Richard Wood (Wood's Garage, left) and brother Martin also ran the Saugus Cafe across the road, which is still open for business!
Thanks for that info. I guess the garage was the giveaway hint for you. I was mistakenly guessing that they were arriving and departing Glendale Station headed towards LA Union Station. I stand corrected.
@@Notmyrealmame For most of the footage, you may be entirely correct! My reference was only to the final 1:45. Yes, the garage was the giveaway, although I credit local historian John Boston's work for the details on the Woods. Also, the historic wooden RXR crossing sign and 'wig-wag' signal (partly hidden behind a utility pole) remained as they are shown here until the most recent road widening projects.
A lot of footage like this was shot by Second Unit film crews as B roll for various studio films. After the studios were "done" with the film, it was often sold off to stock footage companies who would then license it out by the second. As an Assistant Editor on many films, I spent a lot of time looking through stock footage over the years. My favorites were going through footage of Sunset Blvd. during the 60's.
Interesting way to see the culture change!
I wish more film crews had gone out and filmed the citrus, walnut orchards, farms, and open fields before it was all destroyed. I hope someday a game developer will recreate what Southern California use to look like in a high-resolution VR format so we can actually experience what it was like back then.
There is a book out there of photos from the sunset strip from the 60's. And the same photographer has individual pictures side by side to a long panorama picture.
@@robertsamson4610 I bet there are lots of people who did that but then things get sold, destroyed and deteriorated. There are also a lot of things in storage that folks forgot about. I think that footage is probably out there, although not as plentiful as the street scenes.
This is what I wanted to know. Thanks for the info. Yea makes sense.
All these steam locomotives. People dressed nicely, always wearing hats. Just beautiful.
They aren't steam, they are electric, notice the electric lines overhead.
@@annacatherinesendgikoski1965 OK, thanks for pointing it out.
@@annacatherinesendgikoski1965 There are at least three steam locomotives
@@paulluchter137 nope, only the last one is. The first is all electric, and I realized later that the second one is a diesel.
@@annacatherinesendgikoski1965 They are all steam locomotives. The one at 2:28 is a Southern Pacific GS-4 class "Daylight" 4-8-4. The coloring is incorrect as the colors along the side should be orange and red as opposed to the gray that is showing up. Unfortunately the incorrect coloring is bleaching out the engine's number on the side of the cab but it should be one of the engines numbered 4430-4457. The other two scenes are Southern Pacific AC-10 class "cab forward" Mallet 4-8-8-2 locomotives #4225 (at 5:27) and #4228 (at 9:08). The latter two were built with the cabs in the front to deal with the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges the engines were assigned to which had 39 long tunnels and nearly 40 miles of snow sheds. Such long confined spaces could funnel dangerous exhaust fumes back into the cab of a conventional locomotive. After a number of crews nearly asphyxiated, Southern Pacific commissioned Baldwin to design these. SP was the only domestic US railroad to own them. The overhead wires you see are likely for use by Pacific Electric to allow them to use the same platforms.
Anyone notice how slow paced everyone is ? No one is in a hurry, no rushing no pushing just a relaxed crowd .
Like they're drugged.
Nowadays we work harder for less pay, even though we are more productive than people back then. And thanks to the Reagan Revolution, we don't even get to enjoy the benefits of our productivity, they seem to go only to our employers.
@@gregwike2105 now they're drugged and are always on a rush, panic, anxiety driven. Lmfao.
I think the video is a bit slow. At 1.25 speed it looks much more natural.
The video has been slowed down.
I love that you're doing this, it transports us right back to the time!
What a completely different world and not all that long ago. This is why I love history.
I also. And I would love to be able to travel back in time!
@@marcf8636 I was just thinking that very same thing!
Was it all THAT different? Or merely ...under the radar?
that is the secret why america is great. It allows itself to change without imploding... I hope that persists
we could have it back, if we voted for the right man.
Really hard to believe that this time ever existed. Truly wonderful.
Diversity is our strength.
Well I was born in 1949 so this was just a few years earlier.
The only thing that has changed is the fashion and cars.
@@gloriaortiz1227 ROFLMFAO!!!! Yeah, OK, whatever you say!! HA HA HA!!!
@@gloriaortiz1227 yea like there’s nobody living on the city’s streets and needles and drugs and shit and piss everywhere
A lot of things have changed and not for the better!
Fascinated by every second of these. A little window for us here to see a time long gone. Everyone dressed to the nines, and no one even overweight at all. While I'm very glad to be alive in 2021 vs the 1940's, there are many things we have unfortunately lost as a society and species. Thanks for posting these, they are amazing beyond belief...
Agreed 👍
Find a video of the field workers. Different conditions.
@@franksmith9692 They also dressed and behaved in a dignified way.
As did factory workers.
Even construction workers often wore a tie.
you only see what you want to see. your vision of the past is distorted.
@@suppylarue220 No, yours is. And it's because you lack education, culture and worldliness. You've substituted it with propaganda, dogma and secular scripture.
Oh my goodness ,even their posture and walk was different ,tall, upright and dignified ! ❤️
These were all actors. This was b-reel footage for movies and trade films. This was all sets and back lot work. This was not the real world.
@@SmithMrCorona how do you know that?
@@Brian.001 one of those everything is a hoax people I guess, but better to be skeptical of everything than accepting of anything, I guess.
@@-xnnybimb-9398 really?
@@Brian.001 Reading it again…probably not, maybe what they are saying is factual, idk, but they also could just be mad af.
I was born in 46. I remember when people dressed up to go places. Shopping or traveling or going to the county fair. Air travel or going to Las Vegas was truly elegant. Ordinary people had class and civility and manners was expected of everyone.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I love hearing about stuff like this.
Now you're lucky if people put pants on going to Walmart 🤣 but the pantless will have their Carona mask on. 😷
And the liberals ruined it
@@Mike-jv4rz That's the exact opposite of what I have seen.
Also racism
This is absolutely amazing to watch. It feels like you have actually traveled back in time. And notice in the early part filmed inside the store, every single man is wearing a hat. I agree with the person who commented that this was a time when people took pride in their appearance.
Mind-blowing to me. I can seriously get lost in these old videos.
Everybody was dressed well because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA. Also, the baby boomers turned fashion into shit.
@@SmithMrCorona Actors ? Like the crimpled lady waliking on the depot platform ? These people were simple passers-by who the movie crew shot while they went their everyday's life. This is stock movie, you won't make any money if you start to pay people for just walking by or taking a train with their children.
I love trains. The first engine was beautiful. In 1965 when I was 9 years old I went with my grandmother from San Jose California to Portland Oregon to visit her friends. We rode on a Southern Pacific train there and back. One of the best memories of my childhood riding that train. Great video.
SP's GS-4s were considered some of the most beautiful locomotives in the world for good reason. Glad one survives in operation today.
come to us in Russia to Siberia, we still have long-distance trains with sleeping shelves in which you can see alcoholics, mothers with screaming children, smelly people who go on watch in search of a better life, you can travel by train for a week from one end of the country to the other and at the same time stand in line for the toilet for an hour when it's time, come and enjoy it))))
Yeah...1965 also. San Bernardino to Topeka Kansas.....I was 10 years old.
That wasn't just any train, it was the Southern Pacific Daylight.
do you still live in san jose?
This is the closest we'll get to go back in time, without a time machine 💔
As a SoCal native, this is incredible! It’s crazy because the architecture looks like it hasn’t changed much
I'm looking at the palm trees at the rail station wondering how friggin tall those trees must be now. Absolutely amazing seeing video of when those trees were still young.
Unfortunately the people have.
That is SO WEIRD!
I was just thinking that Impracticable Jokers would not work in this era... I'm dead serious too. Crazy Funny
A relative of ours owned a Shoe repair 1 block from the beach and he did a big business back then. I remember him telling us that the hippies were going to ruin his business and he started making leather sandals just to keep his doors open. He closed in 1981 because the real estate was in much higher demand. A jewelry shop and an art gallery now occupie the building. Laguna beach Sids shoe shop... Estimate time in business 1940 till 1981. I helped them close up shop and move out. I was 21 years old then.
Yep///
Is it only me or everything back then looks like it was more beautiful, elegant and smart and with style like the trains, the cars, the women...
No...it's not just you.
Usted lo dijo muy bien ESTILO, no solo la infraestructura si no también y muy importante las mujeres. No como ahora que son FEMINISTAS 🤭
@@iamlimitless7543 Well we did have a war a brewing a continent away so a lot of anxiety was probably being felt by all.
No, it is not just you ;), and you are right: more beautiful and stylish. The women looked fantastic, and so did the men, in smart suits, great ties, hats - and two-tone shoes.
back when we had a 90% wealth tax in this country....plenty of money for hospitals, schools, free college, roads and all the good social stuff :)
I remember going to downtown Los Angeles as a child in the 1950s. All the men had on suits and Fedora type hats. Sort of a cool time to be a kid growing up in the LA Harbor area. I remember all the open land and farms in LA and Orange Counties back in those days. Now almost everything is crowded all over SoCal, and the traffic is terrible.
You hit the nail on the head; it's crowded now.
Yeah, amazing to think there was once open land all over SoCal. I saw it with my own eyes. It was a hell of a place back in the day.
Don't forget Corona and Riverside alot of oranges and lemon groves as well grapes in Rancho Cucamonga
Late fall chill
Those were different and better times.
And they want to pack in even more people!!!!
Great clip of times we will never see again. Everything seemed so peaceful, calm and well maintained.
it was a beautiful time in america.
Nobody was in a hurry because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
Everything look so clean and neat, I wish today would look as good. Amazing how advanced we’ve comes in imagining technology to improve old films and turns it into as if it was yesterday. I can’t wait what would be like a decade from now as the remastered images technology keeps improving. Fantastic jobs!!!👍
I agree. Now tell us what you did to your Dog's hair, you fiend.
Gotta love diversity....
@@thereluctantgearhead4544 Not yet, but soon, they will pass a law that requires it.
My theory or prediction is that VR(virtual reality) will be the way to venture back in time to view our past... They will gather up all the old films we see here and enter them all into a data bank. And we will or those still alive be able to wander about in these past eras, 30s 40s 50s, etc...
Now mostly everyone is fat and unhealthy.
Fascinating to watch. How things have changed in under a century.
Fascinating? More like heart breaking. We used to be able to have nice things.
@@nuthin4sumpthin You can only have nice things when people are expected to act nicely AND they live up to those expectations.
"progress" isn't looking so great.
Imagine how they feel about the century before them.
"Diversity is out strength, war is peace....."
Closest thing to time travel I’ve ever seen. They changed the speed to make it look modern and that changes everything. Wow truly incredible.
The railroad was really alive. Even the trains seemed to have a spirit of their own. I imagine more than a few of us would like to just walk into that picture.
The sound reconstruction is off, trains in the US always had loud bells. Steam locomotives could be theoretically more efficient once you factor in things such as stopping at stations, but they were labour intensive. Yet, nothing replaces them in the feeling of life and individuality, because locomotives ate coal, drank water, breathed fire and needed daily grooming and stabling. Whenever one was commissioned, they were given the full honours a navy ship would receive, and in Britain every one had its own name like a class of destroyers
you mean 'run'....!!!
I am just amazed that someone had the wherewithal to set up cameras throughout the country just to capture people going about their everyday lives, and it's still available to view! The edit to give it natural flow of movement is "icing on the cake"!
At that was literally just a few miles outside of Los Angeles, places like this were commonly captured by film crews for "background shots" to be inserted into movies. There is another one that is floating around (maybe by this same channel) if I remember right is showing camera crews filming driving down Devonshire. With them pulling over at parts to show a clapper board with the location. The kind of scenes that would have been projected onto a screen behind a vehicle in a studio to replicate a car driving down a road.
Think back to almost any old movie of the era (or even a "retro movie" set in the era like the first Indiana Jones movie), and inserting the scene of a train entering or leaving a station was a common thing to insert for a few seconds to help set up the scene to follow.
And LA in that era looked almost nothing like it does today. Huge parts of it really were still farmland and rural, even a dozen miles from downtown.
@@michaelmartin4552 Makes good sense! Thanks for that!
@@michaelmartin4552 .41-.57 seconds is definitely a back lot, somewhere.
@@chuckfan1 Either that, or as was often done in the era filmed on a city street with a prop or two added. The dead giveaway is the ornate covered subway entrance, which would not have existed in LA. Those were often added to LA city streets when they needed to do some shooting to replicate New York.
While there was the "Subway Terminal Building" and a short segment of subway, entry and exit of the terminal was like any other building, with no street level stairways that I am aware of like New York had.
@@michaelmartin4552 possible, but right at .41-.43 that is a backlot. Im familiar with LA , all the nooks and crannies.. there is no area with that type of layout. Yes, things change, etc.. but that is definitely a backlot. Ive been on all of them, the ones still standing, and the ones long gone. As soon as I saw this, it just has that look.. the "plastic" look of it
I always watch for the elderly in these videos, someone in their 70s when this was filmed grew up in a very different world. Life has changed quite a bit in the last 75 years, but I would argue it changed far more in the 75 years prior.
Such people would have been born in the 1800s and could have possibly been alive during the Civil War
I partially agree, but so much technology has occurred since the 40s. Jet travel, cell phones, laptops, internet, gps, robotics, space exploration, medical advances, air conditioning, interstate highway system, TV (hundreds of channels), birth control pills, many more women in the workforce.
@@GUITARTIME2024 I agree.
I never got the chance to ask my Grandma about her Grandparents but they probably didn't have electricity and migrated from Ireland to Australia on a sailing ship. What a change a few generations makes.
@@GUITARTIME2024 Reverse technology, space money, Big PHARMA, TV programming the people, the freeways were already there.
Back in the days when people thought it was important to dress well and be on their best behavior when out in public, instead of going shopping in their pajamas or underwear.
My thoughts exactly.
it would have been nice to create a country just for people with good taste......
Everyone looked to be in good shape, too, because there wasn’t fast food everywhere and people actually moved around a lot and did things back then. It’s heartbreaking to see so many sloppy and obese people these days.
@@EYE_GOTCHA - today, emotionally, physically and psychologically lazy. Why ? Because EVERYTHING IS EASY ! Women don’t need men anymore.
@@JimJones-gd2jy
IMO, yes we do, but too many of them think that we don’t. 😟
This is amazing! Great work and I know it’s a tedious process so THANK YOU for taking the time.
Definitely some acting and filming for a movie going on here. Especially that tall elegant woman in the store. It was an enjoyable video to watch. Thanks Nass for all the great video's you put on UA-cam.
Tall elegant lady deserves a 👍.
She was gorgeous. Statuesque for sure.
Yes, I noticed that the second time she came into view, she wasn't wearing a coat.
Yes, that scene seemed a little staged. Still cool though.
1:17 yes she towered over those dudes!
A time of No TV's, No smart phones and No internet. Outdoor playing was king for kids and people went to the library for information.
What a time ... A lot less hectic.
@@GeritDriessen Sure, if you discount the Great Depression and 2 World Wars!
@Jami Nova Those were before this.
They had tvs
Before you dog the internet without it you wouldn't be able to make whinny comments.
you can really see how in-tune everyone was with the world. I wish people would get off their phones an experience the world more.
Now I understand why my grandma who grew up in that era shakes her head at this one.
If your grandma is a boomer, she should curse herself. Her generation fucked it up.
@@SmithMrCorona Anyone who thinks someone else should curse themself, should curse themself. Your offspring (if you have the courage to have any) will probably project their own ignorance and curse you anyway. Such are humans...It's always the older people's fault...
The final train sequence was shot at Saugus, up in the Santa Clarita Vally, right across the street from the Saugus Cafe, the oldest restaurant in LA County.
Thought this was Saugus..thanks for clarifying.
Thanks! I though that patch of tan on the hill looked familiar!
I have to agree. I lived in SCV for 50 years, and over 20 up Seco cyn. which is where the camera is pointed.
@@motochris5459 so would "WOODS GARAGE" be at the corner of present day Magic Mt Parkway x Railroad Ave, with camera pointing north?
Is that where it is? I thought it was shot at Beverly Hill’s Station. OK, thanks for the deets!
Wow, this is stepping back into another age. It looks like live action. Interesting how no one dresses down and I didn’t see anyone over-weight.
my father was raised during the great depredation period in Colorado moved to California in later years sorry for any misspells.
And I didn't see one person texting or on the cellphone......
@@dxwallace55 idk. At 2:13 it almost looked liked the older dude was holding a phone a quickly glancing at it
@@alanw2687 Looks like, if only he had a larger object in his hand like a wallet or pack of cigarettes. At least he didn't block the aisle tweeting. It's amazing how everyone was dress to kill back then.
@@dxwallace55 because they wrote letters and went to the post office. @ 8:30 I think that’s how trains picked up the US Mail back then, with that arm thingy.
Outstanding! The visual quality is superb! I love watching this kind of old enhanced film.
WOW! This is so cool to watch. Did you notice, there wasn't 1 person that was obese? This was before fast food, so that makes sense. The remaster on the video is done so well that it feels like it could have been taken in the 90s or 00's, but it really is back from the 40s! It almost feels like you really are looking into a time machine.
They still had hamburger and hotdog shops, ice cream and candy, etc. The food was better and people walked more. ....and didn't eat as much !!!!
@@domenicv7962 This. People were more active too.
@@cefb8923 tell me about it !!! I just ate a pizza and can't move, not kidding...
Considering that most of the footage was from Hollywood films, it makes sense as film studios would typically only cast photogenic (by 1940s standards) people in their films in those days, whereas today film studios are under pressure to show more diverse representation in terms of body types
I was born in so cal and my favorite TV show was Emergency which was filmed in 1970's Los Angeles. I sometimes watch reruns today with my grandkids and find it amazing to look back a mere 50 years to how nice LA was. Even more so with this video. Societal decay sucks.
А кто виноват в отстое? Негры, латиносы, демократы!!!
Not only was that a great show but it almost single-handedly started the paramedic departments around the country and world. The show that saved lives.
@@perisher1976 I THINK NOBODY.... IT'S JUST A FATE THAT THEY HAD TO FACE DURING THAT PERIOD TO DO GOOD AND THINK GOOD ABT THE PEOPLE WHO MIGRATED TO THAT COUNTRY....
John Gage and Roy Desoto! The firehouse pranks! The calls over the speaker! Decades later I watched some unedited 'behind the scenes' or outtake film and was surprised at how filthy their language was with cuss words being expressed almost constantly. So much for childhood heros.
My favorite show during the'70's, too!
It inspired me to want to become a doctor.
One thing that this doesn't show, is the countless orange groves, lemon groves, avocado and peach groves etc.
that were everywhere. The urban areas still had a very rural feel. I grew up in the area, good times.
Wow! Amazing Video! My Mom and Dad were 20 years old in 1944. My Grandparents would have been 48. I remember seeing pictures of my parents young lives and they were dressed like this just a generation ago. I really enjoyed this because my Dad worked for SP for 42 years out of Southern Oregon. Granddad worked for 44 years for L&N out of Indiana. Thank you for sharing this!
а чо ты сделал для процветания Америки? Или можешь только на коленях перед неграми стоять и прощения просить???
Thank YOU for sharing this!!
This is the best-quality video I've ever seen of actual catcher pouches in action in live historical video footage. (Catcher pouches were used to pick up and drop off mail from moving trains when passing small towns or stops that weren't big or important enough to have the entire train and all its passengers grind to a stop completely just to exchange bags of incoming and outgoing mail.) Operators had to be pretty skilled and coordinated to kick off the mail to be dropped off while catching the outgoing mail without getting injured or missing the pouch completely. Pretty efficient process, though mail delivery has come a long way since then lol
I cried watching this. Los Angeles will never be this great again. Less people, less crime, less pollution. Beautiful clothing/dress styles and beautiful cars !
There was a TON of crime in LA back then too.
@@GeorgeMonet organized crime, not like how it is now though
There were a lot of things idyllic there in the past, however the smog was quite horrific at times by the 50's. That is one thing that has improved
There was more Love for the Lord Jesus. It’s an awful place now. It’s like we can see the change that’s happened to our country.
@@theway3058 there was more "Love for the Lord Jesus", and yet blacks had to sit in the back of the bus, weren't allowed in many of the establishments shown in the video, or allowed to live in any of the neighborhoods, or even own a house unless it was in a crappy area. funny how people had more love for Jesus yet little love for their fellow man.
In the first shot, the cameraman knew the bus would turn at the corner, and followed it; it then stopped right in front of the camera. The people walking by were very poised and did not look at the camera. That shot apparently was for a movie. The next couple of street scenes were clearly on a movie set. The footage inside Rexall is priceless, in my opinion.
Def for a movie. Agreed.
Everyone walking at the same pace and no one is smoking. Definitely staged.
Immediately what I thought. Early views of the finest drugstores and department stores, even if it was a movie shoot. This was peak America.
and the tall dame with the hat in the store, she stood out, no pun, but she's in it twice, once with a coat, where did the coat go?
Yes these people were staged like extras, but it was done for archival purposes.
Beautiful job! One thing - the locomotive that appears at 2:28 is painted in Southern Pacific Daylight colors. The area shown as white is orange, the light gray is red. The front is painted aluminum but would appear white in the film. One example of this type exists and is painted as described.
Thank you for adding that, it saved me the time of typing that all out to let them know and you are 100% correct. I actually got to blow the whistle on the SP4449 in Portland, OR once, so seeing those incorrect colors bugged me just a little.
Yes, here in Portland we've been lucky enough to see the SP4449 operating as the annual Holiday Express over past last several weekends. What a treasure she is, and the color scheme is very distinctive.
Another fantastic restoration!! I particularly like this one because of the department store interior shots.
At 5:26 and 9:06 that’s a cab forward locomotive designed for the hills and grades of California. So when the train went through tunnels the engineer could still see out the window. Heard many stories of these trains from my dad who was a kid in NorCal and San Fernando in 40s and 50s.
I've watched many of your videos, but this was my favorite. I especially enjoyed seeing the trains.
These videos are gold...
What I would give to go back there even if only for one day.
I'm watching this thinking somewhere on a studio lot there are 3 very funny guys throwing pies at each other and one of them has a bowl haircut..
Thank you for the work and post..
thank you so much
I also noticed one of the scenes look like the back lot of Warner Bros. So blended in perfectly, Hollywood at its best.
Don't forget to see the old Hall of Records.
@Zua Cole as you can clearly see from this video .... you didn't need to be.
@Zua Cole Its cool to watch , but yeah I wouldn't wanna live in that era myself.
WOW! The first time that I ever saw the rare Cab-Forward steam locomotive in action. The California State Rail Museum has one on static display #4294.
Thanks for sharing this.
Amazing, look at that, no trash on the street, no tents, no homeless, no beggars, no junkies, no sagging pants or skinny jeans. What a beautiful world, wish I could live in it!
Move to Russia or Belarus, very similar...sorry about the jeans' part though.😀
Look at all of those palm trees !!.
These are clips from Hollywood movies. Notice Agnes Moorehead at 1:13 and again at 1:53. I thought that particular clip is from *Government Girl* - 1943, but maybe not, as the slate says Butler-Kelley. The first shot with the bus is from *The Mating of Millie* - 1948. In the movie, Glenn Ford is driving the bus.
Just white folks. Glorious era. Btw, I’m Asian.
There was no trash on the streets because this was filmed on a lot, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It's all on sets and in back lots. You've seen those places a million times in TV and movies. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
Those old style city buses were still around until about 1968 where I grew up in Oceanside. They were yellow and white like the one seen in the video. Their route passed right in front of our house. At around the same time period, there were also a few identical looking Southern Pacific RR passenger cars around like those in this video. They were parked on some side tracks near the old pier on Mission Avenue. They were connected to a couple of old freight boxcars that still had the caboose connected to them! Thanks for the memories, NASS!
I used to drive a city bus. That model was just being fazed out when I started driving. They were great to drive. Fast and responsive. Very easy to drive compared to the newer busses. I also drove English Double deckers circa 40s' and 50's. Terrible things to drive.
Actually they lasted until the 1970s. I used to take the bus to my junior high school and rode my share in those old clunkers. No air conditioning, windows wouldn't open at times so on hot summer days it was miserable.
My grandparents met in LA in the 1940s, so it’s neat to be able to glimpse what they saw. The train at the end is interesting because the locomotive has a relatively modern front end, but is a steam engine.
Yeah, I believe those were the last of the steam-engine locomotives. Diesel trains would soon debut in the early 50s.
What I love is how quiet it is inside the store; only voices can be heard. No loud music.
I guess record film doesn't have sound. Sound added after resoration, soon.
That's because this had no sound originally, and what you hear was added by the UA-camr. This was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It's not real life, but staged to insert into movies and trade films. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA. Also, the baby boomers turned fashion into shit.
and no zillion tv screens. As Curt Cobain famously crooned; " here we are now, ENTERTAIN us", has been taken to unrecognizable heights.
@@remmymafia3889The nation had radio, movies, newspapers, and magazines; television really didn't get rolling until the late 1940's and early '50's.
@@SmithMrCorona It's still wild how simply changing the frame rate makes it seem more real. However, there indeed is comparatively little that has been archived from that time showing people in their most natural environment or just having a casual conversation not meant for public display.
Men wearing suits and ties, women wearing dresses. No sweat pants no spandex no baggy saggy pants on young men no graffiti what a time.
and no non-Whites
@@trevor9066 besides Hispanics. Even we were well dressed.
@@trevor9066 Zoot suits
...back when we had a 90% wealth tax on the super rich in this country....plenty of money for hospitals, schools, free college, roads and all of that good old social stuff :) :) :)
@@k.t.5405 it worked then because we didn’t have the amount of people that exploited this system. That happened when we opened the flood gates to the world in the 60’s and also started demonizing white people.
I’m impressed someone actually went around with a camera a recorded various day to day life activities!
There are many videos like this. I believe this to be an A.I. creation.
@@julesbailey6770 I figured it was b-roll. It s L.A. after all.
@@julesbailey6770 something does seem off in these types of films. As if they are all acting and nobody looks at the camera that would be very large and hard to miss. The body language the stiffness, not acting casually, even for the 1940's.
Background footage with extras
@@kkfoto Yup, B roll.
A Southern Pacific daylighter in all it’s glory at 2:25. I can’t catch the engine number but a similar steamer, SP 4449 is still used for excursions out of Portland Oregon and was the “freedom train” for the USA bicentennial. Also at 5:28 is the very rare and unique SP 4225. This was a cab forward design so that when it entered Sierra Nevada tunnels and snow sheds the crew didn’t have to suffer with the locomotive smoke. The only one remaining SP 4294, is in the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA. A similar locomotive at 9:07 and the unusual sight of a message pick up system so the train did not have to stop. For a rail fan a unique treat and in color!!
I love 4449. Ive visited it at tbe museum in portland. 😁
So you are happy with the made up colour. Easily could have got right with some simple research.
@@johnd8892 well, not really but engines are often given new schemes.
@@johnd8892 I certainly was happy with the overall film and I enjoy colonization. I’m not sure how the process works or the costs involved so I’m not going to be critical
That was a partly empty mailbag picked up by one of the baggage cars, marked United States Mail, Railway Post Office. If it was a message packet it probably would have been picked up by the engine, and been much smaller. Interesting to see almost all the men wearing hats. Some of the old ladies had hats, but the young women displayed their nice looking hair. Its hard to guess at some of the automobile colors, as well as the suits and dresses, and houses, also the interiors of the shops might have been more brightly colored. Not as muted in color. But I suppose its better to err on the side of earthtones and such rather than yellows, reds and blues.
So calm and quiet, truly a model of what a good life should have been at the time. What we wouldn't give to go back and preserve this way of life if we could.
@@steve0504 LOL What the-?
You wanna preserve Jim Crow? Good to know.
being separate from white folks? this was a 95% white state
@@thecrimsoncure8201 Yes
@@thecrimsoncure8201 There was no Jim Crow in California.
Love ❤ the sound on this. No crappy music to numb us out. Beautiful!!
Thanks for the posting. Today, perhaps more than ever folks need to see such footage to grasp that once upon a time there really was a time that was not our day and time. The moments captured here are gone forever except tor the fact there was this video record of it. What we really don't know is what living life on that day was really like. We did not and cannot experience that day. The same is true of every moment we exist. Such footage can be powerful if one believes.
Well, we can still get dressed up when we go out. I like to look a bit better than the average Joe and it shows. It pays too, people treat you nicer.
Wow this is REALLY crisp, it looks like a Hollywood movie from the time! (better - in color!) And look how beautiful and CLEAN California looks! This is really fantastic, thank you!
They *are* clips from Hollywood movies. The first shot with the bus is from *The Mating of Millie* - 1948. In the movie, Glenn Ford is driving the bus.
Nice video. Had to look up that crazy AC-10 cab-forward loco toward the end... never knew about those, but cool to see one was preserved.
👍👍 It was so cool to see the AC-10! SP was one of the few systems to use them. They were needed so the engineer/driver wouldn't be blinded and/or asphyxiated by smoke when going through long tunnels.
My mom was in high school at LA high. Years later she went back home. My sister said she cried at what became of LA
The most shocking footage are the trains with not one bit of graffiti on them. Such beautiful times these people lived in.
except for maybe that one time they found that girl out at that park chopped in half. Elizabeth Short I think was her name but people liked to call her the black dahlia. that was a little shocking too
back when society/culture/people were still European...
Yeah, beautiful times, if you ignore the whole World War thing.
The graffiti makes the trains look better in my opinion
@@shaherrazam Ok sure there's less war today and better healthcare, meanwhile every other facet of existence is 10x worse. Life in the years is what I prefer over years in the life.
What a great compilation. You did a very fine job colorizing! Could you please share more movies like this, with beautiful women and smart men in their 1940s attire? I love the 1940s fashion so very much, and this movie shows how it was; not stills, not a modern movie-set-in-the-1940s (although they can look awesome at times) but the real people, wearing their stylish clothes in a time that this was ... just how it was. Thanks!!
It is so realistic looking, much more that a period Hollywood movie could do, that I sense I'm really there, live, as if I just walked out of a time machine that transported me back 80 years or so. Such an amazingly good and technical job that I feel like I could just step into the screen and actually be there.
I think I would have been extremely happy and pleased to live in this era. So beautiful.
Probably not, people were scared of Germany's world domination plans...
All I can think of when I see this is how nicely they were all dressed but how horrible it would be to have to wear all those clothes in such heat.
@@jenniferloftus2363 Their clothing was made with light and breathable material.
No you wouldn't, it was WW2 all the streets were empty of young men, food was rationed, times were tough, there was no TV or entertainment even, it was a very dark depressing time!
@@jenniferloftus2363 What heat?, it was winter
The good old days. Stylish, well-dressed and well-mannered people, a nice absence of drugged out homeless on the streets. Before the country was overpopulated.
Before leftists took over.
Overpopulation ? That’s why crack babies exist? Must be a Femacrat
Overpopulation of certain demographics...
OVERPOPULATED IN THE SENSE THAT..... MAKING GOOD AND THINKING GOOD ABT THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD MADE SOME KIND OF BAD THINGS TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA WHO LIVED IN THAT ERA TO THIS ERA.....
Amazing. People seem so peaceful and relaxed. I wished I'd lived in this era!
Like and Share Please!
Hopefully you do some of Pasadena eventually (Colorado Blvd). My father would love to see that...
is this real? how in the hell do you guys even get footage like this from this long ago and make it so clear. Is this really real footage ?
The last segment..with the SP cab forward..leading appears to be on the SP Coastline at Chatsworth CA
What impressed me the most as a native of Southern California, was the pace of life though busy, was so much more slow and enjoyed.
The first part was filmed at Warner Brother's NY Street on their back lot. The fake subway entrance is a dead giveaway.
I was wondering about that!
Absolutely beautiful. Everyone's well dressed, just going about their business. No blurred out faces. No one seems concerned about being on film. I didn't know Southern Pacific cab forwards were used in passenger service. I thought they were a freight engine. And What do these neighborhoods look like today?
The neighborhoods today are 3rd world shit holes. Thanks, Obama.
It was really obvious to me how no one was in a hurry. This is so unreal to watch. How could everyone have been so well dressed?
People dressed up more in the mid-1980's, too.
Beverly Hills, that's why everyone was so well dressed inside that store.
Nobody was in a hurry because they were actors, and this was second unit b-reel stuff. Stock footage. It was filmed on sets and in back lots. That's why there was a NYC street in LA.
NASS once again is doing a fabulous job of preserving the old history. It's very nostalgic for me.
Ah yes, a time when people took pride in their appearance.
I saw 3 men without hats....about of at least 100, even 95% of the women wore hats. Imagine if that was still normal now.
Yes, they chose style over comfort for sure, im kind of glad i didnt live back then
I remember just my mother dressing me up just to go shopping downtown Los Angeles. Gone are the days.
I was just thinking, "nowadays we have 'People of Walmart'"
Back when people took pride in their country and their fellow countrymen too.
I never tire of these time machine gems!❤
I love how everyone truly cared what they looked like. Everyone wearing makeup, suits and have an overall look of elegance. Now days you can walk into a shop and most people dress in super casual clothes and I've seen some wear PJs and slippers. Sad.
What a totally different world. That’s stunning.
I love the fact that men and ladies dressed in their best to go to town. Classy. Oh, and they all looked fit.
All fit because they exercised, and didn't have Soylent Green fake food slowly killing them.
@@MonstersNotUnderTheBed They didn't exercise (like going to the gym), that was pretty rare then. They probably walked more than most people today, though. The nature of food was very different then. Very little fast food, people mostly cooked at home. No cheap subsidized sugar. Little hyper-processed fake food. Obesity is from wrong diet, not lack of exercise.
They ate home cooked meals. And smoked instead of snacking.
I'm really into TIME TRAVEL and this makes me want it even more
What an absolute corker ! Fascinating, I loved the department store sequence with beautiful classy ladies, how times have changed. Being a railway enthusiast superb sequences even watching the passengers inside their compartments, now wheres my tardis .......................................................! Thanks so much for all your work its greatly appreciated,
Stewart
thank you so much
The department store sequence is staged Hollywood. That 's why it's perfect.
Excellent recolor. People walked slower and more relaxed then.
This was all staged
No. The speed is wrong here. I increased it to 1.25 and everything began to look normal.
@@screenplayhouse4932 Yeh..you are right. I just tried it.
Excellent would have got a the locomotive colours correct. Fairly simple research not done.
@@screenplayhouse4932 Slower speed + longer watch times = increased monetization.
If anyone is interested, there's a single operational steam locomotive just like the first one shown still in existence. It's the famous Southern Pacific "Daylight" #4449 and resides in Portland Organ. It is truly a national treasure and incredible to see in action! As you will see in photos/videos these daylight locomotives were originally bright orange, red, and black. As such the were called "the most beautiful train in the world."
The second and third locomotives shown are examples of Southern Pacific's giant and unique (for their orientation having the engineer and fireman operate the locomotive from the front) "Cab Forwards." These massive steam locomotives which were unique to the Southern Pacific and were oriented as such so the crews were not suffocated by the smoke and gases produced from the exhaust in the railroad's extensive network of snow sheds and tunnels in the Sierras. There's only one SP Cab Forward left in existence and while not operational, Southern Pacific #4294 has been beautifully cosmetically restored and is on public display at the California State Railroad Museum.
Thank u cameraman for recording this 80 years ago and uploading it on UA-cam now for the world to see. You must be very old now.
This is incredible! Thank you so much for what you do!!
Thx!!
The depot scenes are at the Southern Pacific depot in Glendale, while the final scene with the train picking up a mail sack is at Saugus.
Thank you for identifying the two locations!
It's mind-blowingly fascinating to me to think that these people actually lived here. The baby at 7:38 is likely still alive. It's a blessing to be able to take part in this world and to see how it has progressed. It's just a shame that not everyone realizes that.
That baby is at least 80 years old now
That baby could be me. I think I’m still alive. Some days more than others. Still, 99% of the people in the video are no longer with us. Vita brevis.
@@richardcoughlin8931 vita brevis indeed, Richard. Stay golden.
Guys- this isn’t the actual people from back then.
@@Mylo12321 I'm a believer
I can watch this again and again for both entertainment and sentimental reasons. Thanks for allowing us to go back to a simpler, kinder time, even if it's only virtually. Masterful work!
At the beginning, there is a sign that says "Athena," which was an exclusive women's dress store in Beverly Hills in the 1940s. If someone has access to an old Beverly Hills directory, they could find the address and locate this scene.
Athena Custom Clothes (Athena C Kelso) 108 & 185 N. ROBERTSON BLVD,
Beverly Hills.
Amazingly well dressed people, orderly, prosperous and well behaved. Truly the golden age.
Just remember no matter how wonderful this feels, it is a limited point of view. Nostalgia forget the horrible, terrifying things that were also happening at that time. We only remember the good things.
There was nothing “happening.” It was all good. The state was 95% white.
that was the whole point, we suppressed the bad and ugly, and celebrated the shiny, new and clean. It was a positive push for humanity, and those who desired to be in the position to enjoy this life, WORKED for it, and didn't play victim. And if they played victim, they didn't have anyone's attention, except those that hated the country, and actively worked to get to the point to where were at now. Fact.
That's the beauty of these videos. They're not movies, written by writers, directed by directors, acted by actors and costumed by costumers. These videos are not staged or scripted There's no agenda. This is how people dressed and walked. This is what streets looked like. Take from it what you will but leave your pre-conceptions behind. Have the courage to change if you're shown something new.
Cope
Exactly. All these comments talking about how people dressed nice and walked upright- pretty sure I’ll take ‘segregation and lynchings being illegal’ over guys wearing their hats.
Beautiful. I especially liked the indoor store shots. Thank you.
Ah the good ole days of trains. I remember them well. Excellent work as always. 👌
I still live simple while seeing myself advance through our society in this day in age. Instead of wishing it was the 1940s again, *YOU* can take the living habits from that era and apply them to your daily routine in the 2020s. The 1940s had there share of issues just like we do today.
Oh pur-lease name one?
I agree. People are talking as if hats and nice clothes have become extinct. The funny thing is SoCal has a vibrant scene of people who dress that way and drive those cars still today.
When history is studied accurately, it is understood that human beings always have issues and cultures always have tension, problems, and strife. So thank you for your comment.
@@Thom-jj7yr: Feminism and high drug addiction rates.
@@Thom-jj7yr Really do you need to be told?? you mean there were no crimes , killings, wars, poverty, discrimination back then? Man has not changed over the centuries
Yes! There was a World War going on! Two cities in Japan got nuked! In the 40s people dressed better, but it wasn’t paradise. Only in our minds.
I was born in 1961 in Pasadena and raised in California until about 1984.
The time was amazing. An amazing place.
I came back in approximately 1995 and the change was underway and has changed immensely ever since.
For the first time I feel like I cannot live in California. In other words, it is unlivable.
Breaks my heart because I don't know where to go, but I can't live in the home I grew up in.
Everybody is quite well versed on the current situation in California and some other states, so I won't go into that.
Nice to see my grandparents time in living color!
These videos are as close as I will ever get to time travel. Thanks for posting!!
BEAUTIFUL WORK !! I've been stuck in 80's mode (I arrived in the southland in 1980) and that's been my general frame of reference. So I'm still about 40 years too late.
80ies was crazy LA no? Way more going on and Rock Roll than now? The absolute Glory Days?
Whoa I feel like I went back in time that was so cool. Everyone seemed to be walking so slow no rush.
At a time where there was class and sophistication and even if you didn't like someone or something, you still showed respect.
So clean and pristine and people cared about what they looked like before they left the house, you respected and knew your neighbors and cared about your neighborhood.
Over the last several decades it's turned for the worse... robberies, gangs, no care at all for public surroundings, trashy, drugs and classless people, destructive to public properties, people wanting to fight you for looking at them, people that dress like they're going to Walmart in pajamas and baggy clothes, now it's right into the urban decay that it is now.
Very sad.
There’s nothing wrong with steam punk , shit the people before these wore hide skins and feathers oh that’s rite we called them savages and drove them from there land , but hey if you look snazzy who gives a f¥{k right.
@@wabberjacky9951 seek a therapist my friend😂😂😂
@@walktheline6731 how do I seed a therapist , ooh I get it see 👀, lol you should see a grammar teacher.
Lol, this was the height of american mafia and you are talking about no gangs.
@@ratulxy
Yeah, because the mafia conducted smash & grabs and the knock out game on the daily, right?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Southern Pacific was still using those cars in 1981 on the commuter train from San Francisco to San Jose, I remember the paint inside was an inch thick, also they still had the ornate lampshades, and you could go to the front or rear of the car and stand on a platform to get some fresh air.