Melbourne in Colour 1940 and 1942
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Colour films of Melbourne from 1940 and 1942. Sound track is a Melbourne radio program from 1940, the Pepsodent Show presents, Sunday Night at Eight.
The first film was shot around April 1940 as a home movie. It captures the last operating cable car line, which closed around 2 months later. If you look carefully you will see an ad for the Melbourne Aquarium on on of the cable car cars. The old Melbourne Aquarium was located next to the Exhibition buildings, it was closed during the second world war. Melbourne did not get another aquarium until around 10 years ago.
The second film was shot by the U.S. army on ANSCO Color film stock in 1942. Part of this film was used in the opening sequences from the Australian movie, Death of a Soldier. I would imagine that more of this film exists somewhere, it would be great if someone could post the entire film.
The soundtrack is from a 1940 radio program on 3AW, called the Pepsodent Show presents, Sunday Night at Eight. The show was hosted by the very smooth Terry Dear. I remember Terry Dear as judge on New Faces in the early 70s. His vocal style seems to blend British, North American and Australian accents... as often was the the case, using your Australian accent was considered unattractive.
Enjoy travelling to another time.
What a beautiful film of Melbourne. My father was a musician in this era. He was band leader of 'Don Blackwood and his Lido Band". They played at The Lido, Leggett's and The Palais de Dance.
I would love to know if there is anyone who remembers them.
Although I was only born in 1947, my mother always talked about the Cable Trams, so it was lovely to see things she'd have experienced as a young girl.
In those days she lived in Danks St Albert Park, back then the houses weren't much better than slums, they were not the million dollar real estate of today.
She'd have travelled on the Cable Tram to the City on a daily basis, so was most familiar with them.
It's now 2016, and she's on her way to 97 years of age, she lives alone, completely independently in Sale these days.
I've tried to encourage her to use a computer, I just know she'd love seeing things like this, but unfortunately, she's just not interested.
Thanks so much for posting this and enabling me to see into the world of her youth.
Some of my relatives live in Sale or have extended family that live in Sale.
@@denisovanhybrid9610 She's just celebrated 101years on this planet and is doing well, apart from her body being worn out, and being almost deaf and blind.
She's reached a stage where there's no real quality of life, so that she'd just like to go to sleep and not wake up.
@@swagonwheels wow, what a strong mum you have got!
have u managed to show her any of these videos yet?
Wow Danks st was a slum? So hard to believe. They had all the period homes .
@@georgelee229 I lived there in the 40s 50s and early 60s, and believe me, the houses were slums, at least the rented ones were, although further up towards St Kilda, the homes were much better, but back the other way towards Port Melbourne, they went from bad to worse.
I wanted the images from 1940 and the radio from 1940 to help create a sense of being in another time. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Wow this is a historical treasure. It's a time machine where we can look through a window and see exactly what it was like. Thank you for uploading!
Mark, That is brilliant, those trams were better than todays stock, aesthetically. I remember the double decker buses up Bourke St to Fitzroy
Aesthetics don't mean a thing when you have to ride them day after day...all trams up to the Z were bone-rattlers
OMG thats Clifton Hill Maccas and Queens Parade! Thank you for the footage. I grew up in Collingwood/Clifton Hill area and its amazing to see these buildings and history that were here long before I was alive.Hopefully they will still be there long after in gone.....fascinating area!
I grew up here too and feel the same way about it.
@@GlowingTube Thanks for the video, its amazing! Another fascinating piece of History in the area is the Tower Hotel in Alphington. I used to work there and got to see all the nooks and crannies of that building. Its still standing, but for how long? ID also love to see any footage of Dights Falls and that area as my family used to spend a lot of time there. The steam engine building at the end of Gertrude street is fascinating too. I used to get the team to work past it each day and wonder what it was, I want to go in there!....memories....Whens Musk going to invent time travel?!?!?! :) :) How old are you? I was born in 79
I was born in 62 and remember this area as a run down place with cheap housing. The 1940 Melbourne radio show works well as a soundtrack I think. Glad you enjoyed it
i was born in melbourne in 1949, but my mother was born in 1918 and my father in 1920,
so both would have experienced the above. also the said terry dear was a relative of my mother who was a judd.
The art-deco building in the background at 0:25 is now the coolest McDonalds I've ever seen!!
It's still there! :) The exterior at least has retained its art-deco style too.
I bet thats what the architects wanted ... turn it into a Macca's!
I presume it was a movie theater at the time - or should I say, a cinema. That’s what it looks like, since they were usually the modern-looking buildings in their time.
There's no such thing as a cool McDonalds. :-)
That maccas was an actual pub back then and it was rough as guts..
0:24
That artdeco building is one of the most famous McDonalds restaurants in the world now.
Queens Pde CH
Shows Clifton Hill in Queens parade, lower Queens parade, Smith Street Collingwood, high street bridge bordering Northcote and Clifton Hill. Wow. Just spectacular images.
I was sure the building at the start of the Clifton hill scenes was the United Kingdom Hotel, later to be recycled as a McDonalds restaurant. I recognised the building which housed the Cinema Italia in the 1960's, showing Italian language films to the Italian community in Melbourne.
This is a part of a documentary called " Commuting by Cable" goes for approx. 50" and it was about the cable cars at the time.
The first part was in black and white and the rest including this part was done in colour.
The DVD well worth buying.
What a fabulous 'Blast from the past'. Thank you for uploading it, it brings back lots of pleasant memories.
They dumped a few of the old cable cars in Notting Hill at the Talbot Sanitarium in the paddocks, as kids we used to play on them in the 50s so had advantage of seeing & feeling them first hand.
@NobHillBorn I'm glad you enjoyed it. Melbourne's cable car network was one of the world's largest at one stage.
Fascinating video of cable car trains in Melbourne! To think that 1880s -style dummy and trailer trains were still running in 1940 was amazing to a San Franciscan who knew nothing about Australian cable car operations.
Past times are fascinating to see and feel.
I used to have Terry Dear's autograph when i was a kid. Got it at channel 9 studio in Qld . He must have worked there for awhile.
He was the host for the popular TV quiz show Concentration, for most of its run. Circa 1959 to 67 on weekday afternoons on 9.
Yes , that's the show. I couldn' t think of it. I must have got it in 1967 in the cafeteria. Had my Mum with me.
So strange to see such a severe lack of traffic on Melbourne streets.
Often filmed on Sundays when nearly all shop's shut. Sundays much quieter back then.
Also wartime petrol rationing as well as much less population.
Not a working day so time available to film as a hobby the last cable trams.
Before the 1950's/60's when we adopted more policies to use cars to consume streets from people...causing traffic of course
could also be because there would be petrol rationing
@@chrisnewman7281 True.
This was clearly pre pandemic lol
Wow, it`s hard to imagine Melbourne looking like this.
Wonderful video and many many thanks :)
a fantastic insight, thanks very much for uploading this. Im going to show it to my grandmother who used to work in the city then
Fantastic clip,really loved it.i was born in the 60's and lived all my life in collingwood,it just really hit me as to how much has changed..I wish things could have stayed the same,but i guess that's the way it goes!! As kids we had so much fun in and around collingwood,so many stories I can go on for hours..
Thankyou for the upload😀😀
Neville Seedsman I grew up in Clifton Hill in the 1960s. Back then it was not too different. Glad you enjoyed it.
A great clip showing parts of Melbourne in the early 1940's. Really nice to see. The building behind the lady at 0:18 is on the corner of Nicholson and Gertrude streets opposite the Exhibition buildings. Its façade is still largely intact today minus the big chimney. From what I've read, at the time this was filmed, it served as the MMTB's main bus depot and workshop. Thank you for the upload Glowing Tube.
I understand that it housed one of the steam engines that pulled the cables for the trams.
Yes. You're right. From the Victorian Heritage Database website:"The Nicholson Street Engine House was one of the biggest engine houses, driving three cables, the longest one extending to 23,880 feet. Out of the six surviving substantially intact engine houses, the Nicholson Street building is the best, most complete example. At its peak (1923), the cable tram system was carrying more than 155 million passengers annually. Between 1925 and 1940 the MMTB, which took responsibility for the lines in 1919, converted the cable tram lines to either electric tramways or bus services.It was the last operating engine house in Melbourne, finally closing on the 26th October 1940".I'm no cable tram expert but this would've been a huge engineering effort for it's time which not many cities around the world would have employed.
It's interesting to spot the buildings but the trees as well. Those Phoenix Palms near the art deco building in Clifton Hill are still there today - only much, much bigger!
Thank you so much for posting this!
As someone who has lived in Clifton Hill all their life, and interested in its history, this is really appreciated. Track is fantastic too!
I also remember Terry Dear on TV in the 70s.
I'm glad you enjoyed it... It really is like time travel.
Thanks for the upload, fascinating
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
a friend of mine asked me if there was any old film of Australia in the 1940s This is amazing. And in colour as well. Thanks so much
craigd426 I'm glad you enjoyed it, seeing this in colour and listening to the radio of the era helps to transport you there.
Incredible footage - thanks for the post
Yes, I remember the building when it was the United Kingdom Hotel. When I grew up in Clifton Hill in the mid 1960s I remembered the Gassometer, that you can briefly see in this film. I also think your old ads are great... Memories of growing up in the 60s and 70s come flooding back.
The art deco pub at ~0:23 is the former Union Hotel, on the corner of Queens Parade and Heidelberg Road. It's now an art deco Macca's hehehe
I thought the same.
Wonderful old footage.
Love the cable trams! Being born in the early 70s myself I soo missed out! They look like they are enjoying life alot more in this footage as well!
This is just mindblowing if youve grown up in Melbourne
Thank you this. A day trip to the Merri Creek :-). Queens Parade hasn't changed at all :-)
Lucky to live in such a wonderful time/era.....
I lived in Clifton Hill for 18 months all the gigs I did blowing the sax was so close to all the venues. I moved 2 weeks before the onslaught Hoddle St I use to travel home around that time from my grandparents for dinner. I lived in South Terrace next to the park.
Love this. Thank you for sharing !
Thank you for your comment, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this very much,only I wished you didn't cropp the picture to fit the 16 x 9 HD aspect ratio. Show the whole frame the way it was framed and shot,
Wonderful!
Fascinating stuff indeed, thanks for uploading it. I'm guessing that someone set out to record the last of the cable trams before this final line was closed in 1940. They kept the system intact for some years due to the possible need to reactivate it due to wartime fuel and rubber rationing. Interesting that the double-deck buses which replaced the trams were themselves replaced by electric trams in 1955. A rare event in the 1950s when tram systems worldwidewere being replaced by buses. Thanks!
I want to go back there :)
Brilliant video, wish we still had the dummy trams still running in Melbourne, they appear faster! than what we have now. The people in the film would not recognise Melbourne today. I was a tram driver and conductress on the old green trams in the early 80's with Melbourne Metropolitan Tramways Board. It was the best system and run efficiently, if you didn't buy a ticket it was simple you were kicked off. The Tramways looked after their staff at Kew we had a library, and a brass band.
@PixieVonTramp I was a connie and a driver too at that time but at South Melbourne. It was not the done thing to kick a none paying passeger off unless they were obviously evading paying a fare. We carried unpaid fare forms which allowed for a passenger to pay later. An honor system that worked for many years. Sadly, like the connies and the W class trams themselves, all is now gone. Our beautiful city has lost its soul. All the fabulous old time Aussies are now passed. No woke bullshit those days. The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board provided Melbourne with a first class public transport system. The current operators of Melbourne's tramway could benefit well by revisiting past practice and restoring pride among its workers!
Classic and classy 😊
Fantsatic ! Hadnt seen colour footage of cable trams in operation ! So elegant. And it all seems to be the Bourke St / Clifton Hill line, which was the last to close, with the final cable tram in Melbourne running on 6 October 1940.
Thanks for posting, It is much appreciated.
This is fantastic. I wish I was there. So much open space, beautiful environment and lovely ladies, unlike today, overcrowded and choked with people, cars, monstrously bulky trams and skyscrapers, ugly tattooed women with piercings and pathetic drug pushers. Where the hell are we these days, what have we done to ourselves? 😢
We have become a big city of 5+ Million, not unsurprising we have these issues. I should also point out the dark side of those days, poverty, wars, inner city gangs. I personally prefer the older and smaller Melbourne too.
Melbourne used to be simple and uncomplicated not like today, everything is so fast paced now. There is so much crime, my grand - parents lived in Richmond in the 40's and left their front door keys under the mat, imagine that today, you would come home to an empty house everything would be cleaned out......
Congratolations for u find this video and made a upload for us.
Wow... Amazing footage here
For those interested there is a short 15 minute black and white documentary on the cable trams on You Tube.Thanks for this.
Fantastic to see. Thank you!
amazing
@Conniptions886 Yes, I remember the building when it was the United Kingdom Hotel. When I grew up in Clifton Hill in the mid 1960s I remembered the Gassometer, that you can briefly see in this film. I also think your old ads are great... Memories of growing up in the 60s and 70s come flooding back.
People smiling and dressed so well goes to show how friendly and respectful
Imagine if we had those cable trams in 2021!! How cool would they look going through the Bourke Street Mall !!! Jump on, swipe your Myki and hang on!! The Asians and Indians would love it!? Great footage! Bourke Street hasn't really changed that much, you can still recognise it here when they're all on the tram flying along approaching Russell Street I think it is...
Terry Dear hosted some sort of quiz program on in the afternoon on weekdays on one of the TV channels in the early 1960's. I cannot remember the name of the program, but I certaily remember him.
He was also a judge on New Faces. I think the show was Concentration
@@GlowingTube I couldn't remember the name of the program, but now I do. You are correct. The name was Concentration.
Excellent time capsule in to the past. Fun to watch!
Marvellous Melbourne!
As a kid, my pa (born 1903) would grab an empty jam tin, tie a string to it, tie a rag to the end of the string and dangle it down to the moving underground cable which drove the cable cars. The cable was well greased and would grab the rag, the jam tin with it, rattling down the street! The imaginations kids had back then!
Toby Fraser How wonderful, good to know kids were cheeky back then too.
Thanks for posting amazing footage haven't the times change
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
When ever I feel down and depressed about current crap melbourne (and that's alot!), it's always nice to veiw a throwback footage of the way it used to be! Thank you!
@connextro rubbish. it's a complete shithole. people had it much better
It's a lot better now than it's been in almost a century
Imagine those open trams on a cold morning. Nice to see bridges etc not covered in graffiti
Life has obviously changed so much.
Some things for the better. Some not.
Terry Dear also hosted a tv game show called "Concentration" in the 1960's.
@VSLocoGroup Thanks for the insights. Apparently, when the cable car line in North Melbourne was shut down in 1935 the patrons complained loudly as the cable cars ran frequently... the electric trams where far and few in comparison. Incidentally, roadworks uncovered intact cable car tracks in Abbotsford St around 4 years ago. They still looked perfect... good workmanship.
Ironically, the title 'Melbourne 1942' appears just when the footage shows that it was filmed in 1940 (or earlier). For that was the year that the building visible on the south-eastern corner of the Collins Street / Elizabeth Street intersection was replaced with that which currently still stands.
The last part was filmed in colour by the US army in 1942.
There is a cable tram at the Melbourne Tram museum in Hawthorn.
and 2 or 3 sets in operation over 2 or 3 miles of track along the Portland foreshore. Just not propelled by cabel anymore.
Great stuff, thanks for posting
this was so amazing to watch.. i wish they also showed smith street and also the city at night time but it was good enough to see.. clifton hill i recognized in the start was pretty much obvious and im sure many of them buildings are still there.. the view down bourke street in the tram looked so wonderful and also towards the end from elizabeth street looking towards flinders seeing it was so busy and lively as ever.. real cool film id love to see more...
There is a colour film of Melbourne shot by the U.S. military in 1942 (a small part is shown at the end of my clip). It would be great if someone could post the whole thing, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
IF ONLY WE COULD GO BACK IN TIME
I can imagine an 80 year old at the time bemoaning the over development wondering where all the horses have gone and wishing it was 1880 again!
Exactly!
Nice use of radio from the time also
I remember when they put in the electric line in 1955. The old tracks were set in red gum blocks and you used to burn them in the fireplace. Covered in tar they burnt for hours.
Great looking back. I was in the city on Sunday just gone. Caught a train to Southern Cross station (Old Spencer st station), a new modern fandangled tram (Not one of the cool looking ones in the video) along Burke st to Elizabeth st, another new fandangled tram to the Victoria Market. Walked back to the Burke st Mall after doing the market thing, then a new fandangled tram back to Southern Cross station (Still having trouble getting my head around calling it that), then a train home again.
I was doing the sight seeing thing showing some friends from Korea around.
WOW the city looks so cluttered compared to in that video. It would be awesome to have those trams doing the city loop again.
Great video Glowing Tube. :)
+Adrian R nobody cares adriaaaaaan
+Adrian R Adrian whinges way too much. Times change. Get used to it. Melbourne is one of the most liveable cities in the World, thanks to a modern and efficient tram network, aside from a few changes in South Yarra tram tracks in the coming months.
You have no idea what real life is about mate. Back pre 1970s Melb was a liveable city; easy to get around friendlier people and an excellent public transport system for the time. Now Melb is a crap hole, but i'm not being prejudice, Sydney and Brisbane are the same.
”Bourke Street” (Not Burke Street). Time Travel, I really do hope that one day, it would become a reality. I really would love to become a ”time traveller” and go back in time in order to try to change things for the better and meet many interesting people who live in different time zones and find out from them exactly as to how their lives are (or were). I really do hope that one day that would be possible and seeing these documentaries actually is somewhat feels as though I am ”time travelling” already. (-:
Loved this
But makes u question how far buildings have come. Seems more better quality and grand back then. I feel like new buildings and new homes these days are cheap and crap compared to nearly 100 years ago
Seems odd to witness it hasn’t advanced to quickly but this is a awesome footage and thanks for posting
The old buildings were substantial but also lacked air conditioning and decent heating. I agree the old buildings had a great look to them. Interestingly around 1910 Spanish artists and architects were envisioning glass towers as the buildings of the future.
The trolley museum near Pittsburgh has a dusted collection of old trolleys that they are trying to restore. I thought I saw one of them.
It's possible that an old Melbourne cable car made it to the States
AT .30 to .33 they show a building that used to be a Greek and subsequently an Italian theatre. I remember being taken there in the very early 70's by my parents
As well as Australia having far less population in 1940 these were often filmed on Sundays when nearly all shop's shut. Sundays much quieter back then.
Especially wartime with petrol rationing.
Not a working day so time available to film as a hobby and to record the last year of cable trams.
Melbourne back then seems so much better than the Melbourne of today. In-fact, Australia back then looks so much better than the Australia today!.
What building is at 1:58 ?
Parliament house at the top of Spring St.
It was undoubtedly better. The people were better too. Now it's mini China, and the city evokes phantasmagorical imagery with selfish busybodies in a desperate hurry to nowhere.
Thanks Jellyrocket1... I must of had Friday on my mind. Now, corrected
i cant help but look at all the happy people getting on board the tram without paying to the tram conductor..
We Visited The Dispatch Escape Room By Breakout Games In Boston MA!
One day, we may see this restored to full HD with A.I....
I was here to just see the trams
i wonder if any of my ancestors are in this video.. so eery watching this as well.. all of these people except the young kids have probably all died now..
Thanks for this GT. Does anyone have any idea who the two ladies are? I suspect they may be my relatives.
Yes, this is something I want to fix also. I was learning iMovie at the time and should have used the 4:3 aspect ratio template. I'll see if I can update the video file.
I was impressed by your unexpected conversion to undistorted 16:9 ratio. It's great as it is. Fancy sitting in an open-sided tram today. Oh, horror!
My mum was featured on this show - she was the eldest of the Parker Sister singing trio they are singing the opening song - where did you find the recording?
How wonderful! The Parker sisters sound great, very talented. The recording is from the following link: www.bluehaze.com.au/mmedia/index.htm
GlowingTube Hi back to you again. Went into the link and can't access the soundtracks. Have you a downloaded copy I could get from you?
Marianne, please email me and I can provide you the recordings. I'm delighted that I can send you recording of your mum singing.
0:23 now a mcdonalds at clifton hill
A cable tram still exists at Melbourne tram museum in Hawthorn
also 2 or 3 sets are in use in Portland for the tourists, although driven by internal combustion engines these days
Crowded back then . I wonder what became of them .
56 seconds that car was booking past that tram
0:24 - What a wonderful place and it is sad to see this is now a Maccas.
Almost all these people at that time have past. It would have been very interesting to live among them and experience what they experience that time. This video can never reproduce ed to what our very eyes would be able to see back then. But it's all there is.
They all had a past, and probably most have now passed, euphemistically speaking
No one sounds like this in 2019
Terry Dear is putting on a strong mid Atlantic accent which was fashionable to do if you were from one of the Empire's former colonies. The Americans used this accent a lot too, listen to 1930s radio or movies, it was pretty common.
Australia had a pretty high rate of private car ownership then - I think third in the world, after the USA and Canada - but there certainly aren’t many driving around in these scenes.
Wartime petrol rationing
Often filmed on Sundays when nearly all shop's shut. Sundays much quieter back then.
Not a working day so time available to film as a hobby.
Wow, nearly more trams than cars!
A quiet wartime Sunday with petrol rationing and his purpose was to film the soon to be gone cable trams.
Some of it was of Queen's Parade Clifton Hill. The United Kingdom pub is now a Maccas
I'm impressed
hey this is really beautiful footage. I was wondering if I could please contact you and ask for your permission to use it if it's yours? Thanks!
its not my footage. It appeared in a DVD commuting by cable. the audio is not copyrighted to be best of my knowledge. good luck.
thanks so much for the help! I'll look into it! :)
NICE VIDEO!
ARE THERE ANY OF SYDNEY???
0:57 Car comes within inches of pedestrians, doesn't bother to slow down.