Archive newsreel footage - busy streets in 1890s

[ChickenGuy]

I was browsing around YouTube and found the British Pathe site - full of old newsreel footage.

http://www.youtube.com/user/britishpathe

Love the busy 'traffic' scenes - so quaint!

 

[gsdx]

I should think the street sweepers would earn their pay. I should also think that a city in those days would be very aromatic.

 

[bw92116]

That's amazing - thank you.

 

[josher]

I love stuff like this.

Thanks for posting it.

 

[Chip12414]

Thanks! What a lot of fun. I am really going to explore this YouTube channel.

 

[gsdx]

I wonder if they had people working in the city to remove waste that was left in the streets from the animals.

That's what I was talking about 'street sweepers. There's a quick shot of two guys with brooms walking toward the camera. Weren't they the guys who 'cleaned up after'?

 

[pat grimshaw]

^
the sweepers were known as 'sparrow starvers' in my country.

I've seen metal rods in the ground near front doors for people to scrape their boots' soles.

 

[Wilde Oscar]

I watched a great documentary a while ago about a filmmaker who filmed the bustle of London at the turn of the century. They were mundane street scenes for the most part, but at a time when film was such a novelty that people paid to watch them. His forgotten collection was found recently, and after all these years the footage is still pristine. It was quite something to see.

For the life of me, I can't remember what it was called, and it's driving me crazy. If I can remember it, I'll be sure to post back here.

 

[pat grimshaw]

I wonder if Oscar Wilde can be seen in that clip?

 

[Wilde Oscar]

Very clever grimshaw.

So after scratching my head, scouring websites, and the much-needed help of a friend, I finally found it--The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445886/

I had my facts a bit mixed up, as it seems to be a whole series rather than the one film I watched, and it stretches beyond London's streets. There doesn't seem to be much on YouTube. But I believe this was the first part of what I saw.

 

[pat grimshaw]

Very clever grimshaw. …

Thank you wilde

 

[JayHawk]

Oh what a time, none of the people were wearing helmets and the train/trolley ran right through a group of people

It is a wonder we made it to the present. 8P