Film of the week: A trip through New York City (1911)
This amazing 8-minute film documented New York City at the end of the Vanderbilt Cup Races era (1904-1910).
The film is in amazing condition with added sound. It was shot by a Swedish company Svenska Biografeatern on a trip to America. The film is from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) which restored it.
How many observations about 1911 life can you make in the Comments?
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Internet detectives are determined to identify the people in this automobile.
GeneaVlogger has identified the automobile and its owners: An E.M.F. owned the Lochowicz family.
Comments
An amazing movie, with almost too much to see! The EMF is a 1911 model, so must have been almost new. The car is followed by a Darracq cab, which was omnipresent in New York. Interesting is the Maxwell cab, which passes the Flatiron Building at 3:03. I didn’t know that Maxwell had built taxis.
A remarkable film. My observations about 1911 life in NYC:
Everyone is wearing a hat (observed in a previous post).
All men are wearing suits, and all women are wearing long dresses and, presumably, corsets underneath.
A lot of the women are carrying umbrellas, even though it doesn’t appear to be raining. To keep their faces pure white?
The only Black person in the video is the chauffeur.
Lots of motorcars, but no motor trucks - those are still horse-drawn.
All the cars have right-hand drive, even though the rule of the road is to drive on the right. I think it was Henry Ford who switched the driving position to the left, in the Model T.
This is amazing Howard, thank you for forwarding. We’re witnessing every mode of transportation at once. Sam III would love this one.