You know what? It would be interesting to pose these same questions again to people on the street today. Compare and contrast their answers to see how much has and hasn’t changed. Maybe go to the same places and line up the shots.
Some New York girl did this a few months back and posted her link on the previous shorter upload of this. It will be worth your while going through the comments to find it. It was quite interesting.
Does anyone else watch this and almost cry? I'm a 90s guy, but for some reason, there's almost an innocence and sincerity in their responses that will never be replicated ever again. It's like we're time travelling as ghosts.
@63 63 at 8:18 a black male is being interviewed alongside a white male and all is good I'm starting to think the reason everyone stands firmly with zero anxiety is because YOU aren't around them
because ppl today are prideful and full of themselves. They were humble, genuine, and had much more empathy and sincerity. Now ppl are all about themselves, colder, and care about how much better this age is than any other in the past.
@@yoya4766 more or not when someone trys so hard to be unique they end up being the most boring compared to people who just take it easy. Same goes for if everyone is unique then no one is. Most people now a days dont have a personality they all act the same.
Because we had leave it to beaver morales the great tv shows stay at home moms now tv is raising the kids but back then the shows where teaching good morals should of been in reverse really not in reverse just always
@@alangeorge5592 well, I hate to be that person, but 1970 was actually 50 years ago. And this video filmed in 1979 was 41 years ago. It feels like yesterday that it was 2010.
Thanks, but I was actually pointing to the 00’s, the birth of Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, the beginnings of “let’s share everything” movement...as far as I know. But hey, I could be wrong.
I love the guy "dont waste it on me." the idea of camera time being a waste now means nothing with all the storage we have. back then every second counted in your reel and he was too self conscious and nervous to want you to keep rolling. found that kinda neat.
True, same about pictures. If we don't save our digital works in the future we will be missing a big piece of creative works and historical memory. A friend of mine explained to me recently how Serbia Government is trying to avoid it. It is a very interesting topic.
@@franci.f. yeah youd think it would be opposite, its why i shoot film. The cloud is making pictures pass on through better, but physical picture copies in shoe boxes and photo albums are considered a little more sacred.
@@MeatSim5 i don't trust cloud services for privacy issues and i lost lot of pictures when my previous laptops crashed I was working, lot of deadlines and trips and i didn't have time to save all pics and videos and documents. So now i have 3 mac laptops at home, they are all broken with my pics and docs
I agree with that. It’s surprising because you’d think otherwise. A close friend of mine only started public schooling in high school, but I remember us always making him present in group tasks because he was so good at it.
i think thats more of a ny thing. even vids from today show that. also, homeschool kids have the advantage of being taught one on one, making them feel like their thoughts and opinions matter.... more than they really do
mipmipmipmipmip well the modern alternative is carrying a small computer with a camera that we constantly stare at whenever we use our phones and we take photos and record ourselves on social media for anyone to see or use. It’s not smarter it’s simply normalcy to see a camera.
clockguy2 folks ignored the camera before social media as well and before smart phones. At some point, film cameras in the street were no longer novel.
@@topranked5465 yup.....he is just a guy with alot of money.... extravagant lifestyle but not an ounce of class, because even money can't buy that. Plus, he couldn't have had any decency instilled in his upbringing, just greed, disregard and disrespect for people. He's a loathsome person. A real mook.
I used to always give the wrong directions back in the day on purpose and a GPS wont do that, so there's one benefit. I actually still get asked fairly often for directions when I'm working and I usually never know the answer..
77dris Actually i am right infact Sony released the first consumer camcorder in 1983, the Betamovie BMC-100P, so people owning video cameras wasn’t all that popular. And i never said it was a new invention at the time :)
Nadda lol stop. You said the camera was “so new”. People were quite familiar with video cameras by the 1940s. Enough that by 1979 they would not be gathering around one just because it was new.
PalmerWhit people then seemed more modest more honest more innocent. I guess now it’s not quite like that. It’s crazy, there are many hostile people in the world. One time I went to target and a woman was mugging another driver so to move from parking. Also so many entitled arrogant people today. Also rotten kids. Kids are rotten to the bone. Not everyone but the majority.
People On Wall Street Dressed Better Back In 1979? Totally and they were also better looking as well. You can sense there was more humility with the people back then, no emotional outbursts when talking. Far more, cool, calm and collected, when answering questions. Thank you Mr Hoffman.
judgemental society if you fix it we will be good but our society is far far far too judgemental of each other and ourselves we will adapt might take years but im confident in that
@@mandalorian4620 how is that a woosh, if he just said "can yoy move closer" leaving to assume the second part and they just added in "we're not married" then yes that would be a funny time to use your gen alpha memey phrases but if he just quoted a part of the video..then there is nothing to assume or guess wrong.. so do you mean the guy in the video is the one who should be wooshed...? Also I'm sure that guy would roll his eyes if you waltz up to him like a bundle of the 21st century and just wooshed him and then look insane to everyone there.
I think about that all the time...I have been watching re runs of 80 and 90s shows...it was frightening thinking about how many of them are gone. Instead of watching the shows I was reflecting on my own mortality. It has me sleepless
I'm a child of the '60's (born 1962). I was a H.S. senior at the time of this filming. I'm astonished at how dated it now appears in 2020. It's almost as if I'm looking at a broadcast of something I watched as a child.
@@mgd8867 you try answering one word questions in front of a crowd of people while being recorded ( for what you think might be a tv show). It’s hard to answer things with one word, humans naturally want to explain what they are saying.
I love that everyone was fascinated by you interviewing people. I also liked that everyone was acting in a congenial way. I also love that everyone looks well dressed.
leila lalala ppl today are prideful and full of themselves. They were humble, genuine, and had much more empathy and sincerity. Now ppl are all about themselves, colder, and care about how much better this age is than any other in the past.
JimboParadox but even back then the music those hipsters etc, listened too wasn’t full of all the vulgar rap and other music all about dick and pussy. That wasn’t around back then. They were just upset about rock and roll because ozzy and others were biting heads off bats and ppl thought they were devil worshippers. But now I’m sure there’s bands that actually are satanist I forget the name of religion like wicka or something. But ppl like that stuff and vulgar sex rap so I’m not gonna judge. To each there own I guess, like homosexuals everyone’s diff I guess 🤷♀️ . Ppl like there freedom more to express themselves in all sorts of expression gratification
I just absolutely enjoy these what if type looks and so forth from people ask questions about things that are along that line and that one woman nodding her head and smiling widely after the response from the one guy about the Information Society
Back when Americans used to love America instinctively. A guy brandishing an American flag shirt would automatically be labeled a racist today. What have you become USA😭
I was one of those people in that I worked in the Wall Street area in 1979. I had a background in technology and computer programming. The big changes coming were mobile phones and the Internet. But we were far from the stone age. The US had put men on the moon, computer technology was becoming a bigger and bigger part of how we worked, we could send documents electronically, and communications was booming with digital transmissions. I will say that advancements in the medical field has been absolutely huge since then. The other thing is it seems that air travel has degraded since then, LOL. I used to love to fly places, now I won't do it all. What a disaster!
George Sealy Hi George - May I ask what computer technology you used and interacted with in those days? I am curious if Wall Street was using mini computers or early workstations at that point
@@steveg219 In 1978 and 1979, this was just before personal computers started to come into the picture. To use computing power we would go to a room that had a terminal with either a dedicated or dialup connection to a mainframe computer. I would write programs in either Basic or FORTRAN. There were also applications available, such as investment analysis programs, whereby you could enter in data using an interactive session, and then the program would create reports that would print out at the printer next to the work station. We never saw the computers themselves, they could have been anywhere.
I am almost 60, I showed it to my niece who is in her mid 20's. She said she can sense the element of openness and innocent in people back then. She also said they did not seem to live in fear of politically in correctness and they want to be individually unique. Internet has robbed the youth today of innocence and true happiness.
he's a pup, lol his mind is mostly about what music he is going to play later that evening, using the brand new stereo device he got with the money from the fancy job he has. he most likely has a tape collection (my uncle had about 100 tapes of music, and that was the 90's when the tapes were on their way out, to make room for the CD, he had about 40 CD's too)
Excellent. Thanks for posting this. I worked in the Wall Street area from 1978 to 1983. I would be out walking at lunch every day, so maybe I saw you shooting this film. When I worked in NYC I had 15 suits all of them 100% wool. My shoes were perfectly shined as I would stop in the basement of the WTC to get them done. I had tons of white shirts and pure silk ties too. And that is how everybody dressed. If you wanted to move up, then you should be looking like the guy you wanted to replace.
The lustre of a strangers camera lens and questions has dimmed after 30 yrs. Plus people would be fired or cancelled today for engaging . That's not the peoples fault that's the corporation.
Because we had decent teachers who were dignified, ethical, and properly educated. Not like the ones today who dress like carnival freaks, tattooed, blue hair and use such slang that I can't even understand them! TRAGIC HOW FAR WE AS A SOCIETY HAVE FALLEN. 😔
This is a great video. It's cool to see that even as "recently" as 41 years ago, so many people found a live TV/film interview interesting enough to break from their routine to watch. Today, everyone's cell phone is a mobile TV/film studio, and as a result, passers-by largely ignore a live 'man-on-the-street' interview.
1979 was my year! It was a watershed year for me-graduated high school, entered nursing school, turned 18,; it was the beginning of what I call my “halcyon years.” The girl in the thumbnail, and at 8:28, one of the ppl you interviewed, her style, reminds me of myself back then. Thanks, David, for shining the spotlight on this significant year for me! 😊Stay well-and safe!
The year our middle Daughter was born. My husband was in computer systems analysis for 44 years. He wore those suits and ties, member jackets... smilexoxo
I’m old enough to remember those days and knew traders back then and people who owned seats on all the exchanges including the new defunct American Stock Exchange. People were a lot nicer back then, less condenscending, more innocent and more hopeful. They dressed much better with most men in tie and jacket(today as I take the train to Wall Street I’m one of the few who wears a tie and jacket and carry’s a briefcase, not a backpack). The other thing that has changed is that the Wall Street guys didn’t make an obscene amount of money...yet. They were middle to upper middle class and the guy who was working at the GM plant in Tarrytown could almost keep up with them. No cell phones, very few computers, people had to communicate face to face or using Ma Bell. I miss those days mostly because of my youth, but I do miss how much more genteel and polite society was.
D William I agree that people were more innocent and more helpful back then, but less condescending, I disagree...”dummy”, “ knucklehead”, “ don’t have any sense” were all smartass terms that came out of those days. It was just as much a sport to put others down, back then, as it is now. One thing I did notice about this video was the lack of people of color being interviewed.
@@ella-quent7923 It was nothing like today. The anonymity of the internet and the popularization of vulgarity in the pop culture have made this name calling factor much worse. And in that time America was 90% caucasian and he was interviewing stock brokers.
Ella-quent I actually said hopeful but yes they were also more helpful too. In terms of “put downs” it was more friends calling each others names(my father called me knucklehead many a time) and it was less vicious and vulgar than what is going on today. I saw an upset women in her 30’s tell another woman to “suck her d*ck” the other day on the train. Needles to say I was shock and somewhat confused. In terms of people of color being interviewed you’d have to ask the OP.
"Who do you think has the power in society" "Who do I think has the power in society? The rich" "Why so? "Why? They have so much influence over the laws - the regulations - that they impose upon us"
When he said “computer tape”, I thought of the old computers that had reels of tape, like an old film projector. The 70’s in some ways doesn’t seem so long ago, but watching this, it feels like a VERY long time ago, because people are so vastly different compared with today. Wow, I’m blown away.
Yes cause they had natural foods an peoples were very active nobody wasn’t stuck too social media’s platforms all day an eaten all bad process food like we do now everybody Dammn near overweighting
I would love to see these same people today. I graduated high school in 1979 and am 58 years old. These people would most likely be 60-80 years old. Interested to see how things worked out for them
I graduated in 1978 and was thinking the same thing. Most of those interview are probably in the 60s and are either retired or getting close to it. Time goes by scary fast.
This video gives me the strangest sensation. I don't know if I'm just being blindly covetous over an inflated idealization, but I wish I was an adult before technology hit exponential growth. I was born in 97 so it's a world far stranger to me than any fictional tale. Thanks for the upload David. These films really stir something unique inside the soul.
People used to say "I'll call you when I get there". If you were driving in the middle of nowhere, there was no way to call someone if you broke down. When you walked out the front door, you were off the map; incommunicado and invisible. There weren't security cameras everywhere. People could do things in secret right out in the open and never get caught. In public places, everyone was engaged with the world. If you heard about something or wanted to know something, you had to go to the library and "look it up". Information books, like Guinness Book of World Records, was one of the sources of obscure information. If you told someone your address, they couldn't Google your house to see if you were poor. You could make up stuff about yourself and no one could search for information. People were generally nicer to you unless they wanted to get their ass kicked. There wasn't this constant, ceaseless arguing, ad infinitum. People had discussions! We'd go to coffee shops or other places and talk, talk, talk. People LISTENED.
Joseph Dockemeyer I know what you mean but, at the time, we didn't miss it. Now not having wifi means a mental breakdown . There are more depressions nowadays and more emotionally impaired kids. I work this field.
I was born in '61, but have that weird "sensation" (yearning/aching) of different time periods/lives that I believe I lived. I felt I never fit into the time period it was. The last 20-30yrs, more a feeling of not being where (doing what) I should be. :/ I miss the more "innocent" times, pre-computer days.
David I found your youtube about 4 months back and it has be wonderful my mother is so thankful you saved so many videos from the year she was born (1955) and the years she grew up in it has made her so happy to see the past again
Well, except for the videos that a certain group administrating this website doesn't like. Luckily the few of us who were quick enough could download them before they got forcefully removed.
I'm somehow put in mind of my life in 1979 when I was 19. If I had car trouble or a flat tire, I'd knock on the door of the nearest house and politely ask to use the phone. So much easy social interaction then. Thank you for posting this.
Dear Mr. Hoffman thank you for this nice and pure insight of the past. I'm really curious to know how those people would have react if someone told them that 42 years later there will be a girl sitting in a small town of Germany and watch their answers while enjoying her morning coffee... moments like this somehow always make me wistful
Andy You should read True Names by Vernor Vinge. Written in 1979, it’s a story about hackers and the dangers of exposing your identity online. It’s also really good. Man was an MIT professor so he had early exposure to the intranet they had there. People clearly had an idea of where things were going, but only a very particular and privileged few with access to the tech.
naw nowadays it's just the fact that depression is becoming more and more recognized by the world and people are becoming more and more aware of their emotions, people back in the past just didn't have that kind of information back then so they dealt with it silently :(
most of these people are younger than you'd think, because of fashion, so you're like 'these guys look fit' but in your mind you're comparing them to people 10 years older. not that you're wrong, the food is bad now and people are fatter because of it.
Take a look at union/worker photos today and worker/union photos from the 1920's (roaring 20's). The photos of today will have all sorts of fatness in stark contrast to near-zero fatties in the 20's.
There are some very good looking people in this movie. And now in 2020 many of them are senior citizens. A few probably passed away. If youre a millenial like me or Gen Z or even alpha watching this, this is a reminder that time keeps going on. Nobody is immune to it. Enjoy every moment and live life with no regrets!
David Hoffman, you were far ahead of your time. This was genius. The older man that was alone and bald with the glasses. That man saw A LOT in his day. His eyes said it all.
French Viking - It was very nice, freeing, calmer, more grounded to not be connected 24/7. A guy called you on Tuesday to ask you out. It rang 10 times, no machine took a message. He called back again Weds. night to try again. Like that.
Nice little slice of life clip about NYC 1979. Not only the speakers (working NYers always seem like an ethnic group all onto their own), but also the onlookers standing behind them, half blank stares, curiously trying to figure out what the rolling camera's trying to capture. And the cute young woman with the thick as pastrami BBQ accent, equating computers with "numba's" and "tackses". LOL. Yes, everybody wore suits back then, and the term "casual Friday" hadn't even been invented yet.
I was in the 11th grade in 1979 and this video brought back memories. Back then, just about everybody was raised with a certain set of morals. Example, don't be rude and never interrupt someone while their talking. If you notice, everyone was pretty quiet in the background. They'd just relax and allow the individual answer the question. Today, everyone in the background would try and answer the question. I smiled when I saw the paper cups ☺️. Plastic wasn't a thing then like it is today. And because money didn't flow as easily, we walked just about everywhere we had to go. Sometimes you caught the bus, but walking a mile or two was nothing. You just did it. And when it came to dressing, no matter your income, hands down, we were all pretty much well groomed. People weren't a slave to fashion like they are today. You pretty much wore what you liked. Às long as you were clean you were okay. Nowadays, it's Gucci this and Gucci that. And what I really miss seeing is the feminity of the women and how men pursued us. Today, it's the other way around. Women are aggressive toward men and men are full of play. The Feminist movement is to blame for that. Trust me, this Black woman knows what's she talking about because I saw it coming together in my early years. Peace2U 💓
I should add, that that's not to say everyone who's slow to respond or pause a lot are deep thinkers. However I would say that not enough people these days take time to articulate their thoughts or ponder a question before giving a meaningful answer. I think there's more pressure to be informed or at least be perceived as "Woke" these days, hence why so many people look so moronic when someone is doing a modern day " man on the street" interview. Just my two cents.
The whole "like" thing started in the 80s with the valley girls. And he is interviewing professionals in their work wear/putting out their best. Of course they're gonna be a better yet small representation of the American people. Every gen has its pros and cons trust me.
The old NY accent is so interesting. I associate it with older NYers, our accent has changed in a way I can't put my finger on. I think it's become more "California", a lot more sing song-y and uptalk-y.
This looks like such a nice time the people all look happy and aware I’m only 16 but it’s nice too see people off their phones I love seeing people’s faces and expressions not the blank robotic look so many of us have stuck in our own world
Just shows how society has been dumbed down ,better days ,better clothes better film better most things ,the internet is wonderful when used intelligently,great footage Mr Hoffman 👌
Look how curious everybody is in the background, now everybody’s so used to cameras nobody would even notice a street interview or they would thinks it was going to be a prank or something🤣
Back then we had a dress code and had to dress well. That was expected from the employer. I started having to wear a tie and dress clothes and retired wearing blue jeans. The workplace got more informal.
When I was in school we had to dress nice. Girls wore dresses and the guys wore nice pants and shirts. I was in 8th grade when they changed the dress code to "casual". The behavior changed IMMEDIATELY with it. The kids were louder, more raucus, they didn't calm down as easy, and acted like how they dressed, more like "I don't give a crap". It really did change dramatically. And I can remember thinking, "It's really sad it turned out like this", abd "Why do the kids have to act less respectfully because they're wearing jeans and t-shirts instead of dress clothes?" , vut it happened, and I watched it happen. How aad for everyone. Less learning went in as well, because it took more time to get contril of classes because of the "casual and laid back attitude", instead of "I need to behave and be respectful in thus place of learning, so that everyobe has a better chance to learn if people act respectful". And this was in a middle school, the high s hool was worse, and it went downhill from there.
@@AndreaWanting Casual Friday was created so , a person that wanted to dress casual would donate money to charity . It puts me in mind of self serve gas , it was created for people to save money.
@@Orf Please🤦 my great Grandmother was a farmer's wife and during the depression she had 10 kids and my grandfather worked out of town to help pay the bills sometimes. She still dressed better than most people now days who have 3x or more amounts of clothes than she did!
Wow! everyone in these interviews seem so much more open and less anxious around strangers. I wish people in my generation were approachable like this, its very difficult since most of us talk through apps. Interesting to hear all of their answers.
Wasn't this the same year Porky's came out? We have always been on a sliding behavioral spectrum, in public and private. Don't believe the "tape bureaucracy", people are still good and clean. The film tells you more about the filmmaker than the people. Remember that next time someone is shoveling human %$&@ in your face. Why?
I see the same thing. I think that sense of decency you're talking about comes from being well socialized and decent. Many people today are decent, yet poorly socialized. So instead of seeming "decent", they seem awkward. Also people can't look up from their phones long enough to look any particular way except for looking involved in their phone. Sorry for the long reply but this comment spoke to me.
@@josephrobinson9318 there definitely some awkward folks in these segments, but I do like how many of these people really wanted and generally liked the interaction of conversation
It’s was great, in those days, had live bands we all got dressed on weekends at disco clubs. Then disco Demolition night in Comiskey park changed everything. A rebellion to spandex and spiked hair.
Amazing how people in the background had the time to stop and listen to some random person answer some random questions. I can't imagine people nowadays stopping and having time for that, everyone is so busy nowadays.
People would use their iphones to film those filming. Everyone would be pointing cameras at each other. I've seen it happen in city centres, especially when there's trouble.
Brilliant, David. "Where are you now, people of NY's past? Did you earn enough money, enough of it to last ? Laboring in the urban canyons , on streets with names like Water and Gold, Did you think back then, you'd become the people of old"?
My division moved to the suburbs of New Jersey. Instead of a 90 minute commute involving 2 trains, I had a 30 minute trip and could park my car next to my office. Nirvana. I am now retired and living the good life in Arizona. But I am thankful that I was able to experience working in NYC for 5 years. Unforgettable.
Bell Telephone Company was a government-granted monopoly. It was not a case of a market-created single seller, it was a coercive monopoly because nobody could legally enter the market until the government controls were removed.
@Leandro Aude Wrong! Nobody had the internet in 1984! Only the military and scientists. I graduated high school in '94 and there was NO Internet there yet. That was all about to come right then... but not in 1984. No sir.
It's strange to see a crowd gather for interviews with non famous people. People back then weren't used to seeing a camera crew (cameras and sound were much bigger then) like they are now. Frankly, it make the interview appear artificial, too. If I were filming this I wouldn't want to see the gathered crowed behind them.
Before video cameras and of course now "phones" became ubiquitous, a film camera was a novelty. A big deal. A fire truck. Also, in this instance, people were being solicited, so bystanders would be, consciously or unconsciously, hoping for their turn. I took a film course where we were shown footage from a pioneering film camera showing factory workers leaving their shift. Not one was aware of, or acknowledged the camera. A year or two later, a group disembarking from a boat were waving, tipping their hats and generally carrying on. Full circle to ambivalence?
This was the most interesting street interviews I have ever seen. I love seeing how everyone responded and wonder how those questions would be answered today.
Here is what Wall Street trading looked like back then -
ruclips.net/video/QbbW8SO08XQ/видео.html
You know what? It would be interesting to pose these same questions again to people on the street today. Compare and contrast their answers to see how much has and hasn’t changed. Maybe go to the same places and line up the shots.
Some New York girl did this a few months back and posted her link on the previous shorter upload of this. It will be worth your while going through the comments to find it. It was quite interesting.
@@gary1961 Thank you!
@@mcrazza were you able to find it?
I thought at first that is what this video was going to do!
Please please please do this
There’s an element of innocence and openness in these clips that no longer exist today.... I’m glad you had the where with all to keep these videos!
I've been saying that too. It was way better than today.
@Transcendental Outcast couldn't agree more.
less defensive.
It's all the porn people watch these days that messes them up, sorry if too explicit
I am glad I grew up in that era.
Does anyone else watch this and almost cry? I'm a 90s guy, but for some reason, there's almost an innocence and sincerity in their responses that will never be replicated ever again. It's like we're time travelling as ghosts.
born in 1984, never been to the States....and it also happened to me.
I agree. Cried yesterday because of it. I just want to go back
Curb your nostalgia and try to improve your present, in a few years you gonna miss it too.
Gathering No Moss yeah looks optimistic and people are being real and being themselves
Am a 24year old girl who just wanna go back in 2006s .. ...life was simple yet we lived it to the fullest. From Africa Uganda
One thing I notice is how firm everyone stands and how patient people are when talking , 0 anxiety
wow. well noticed.
@63 63 okay racist 🤨
@63 63 12:37 black girl comfortably standing next to two white men who also seem very comfortable
@63 63 at 8:18 a black male is being interviewed alongside a white male and all is good
I'm starting to think the reason everyone stands firmly with zero anxiety is because YOU aren't around them
@63 63 yeah one of the most harmful organization out there to blacks. You sounds like a white liberal racist trying to cover it up.
Interesting how privacy made them think of “alone” and “loneliness”. Today it’s more along the lines of “safety” “secure” “protection”.
I was thinking the exact same !...
euh.. alone was my first thought too?
And families were big. One bathroom, six kids, what privacy? Besides me, I don't know of anyone with over two kids today.
I would have said peaceful.
because ppl today are prideful and full of themselves. They were humble, genuine, and had much more empathy and sincerity. Now ppl are all about themselves, colder, and care about how much better this age is than any other in the past.
Everyone seems so humble. These days everyone wants to make themselves seem epic, awesome, kick-ass, something special...
they look normal to me, now everyone looks like a freak.
@@yoya4766 more or not when someone trys so hard to be unique they end up being the most boring compared to people who just take it easy. Same goes for if everyone is unique then no one is. Most people now a days dont have a personality they all act the same.
Because we had leave it to beaver morales the great tv shows stay at home moms now tv is raising the kids but back then the shows where teaching good morals should of been in reverse really not in reverse just always
Back then no one had the technology to show off their pointless garbage
That’s because their mommys told them they’re better than others.
"How do I feel about my job? Well, if it paid a little more, I think I'd like it better." Same....
Yep, the struggle is real.
Yes. To some degree, life is a grind no matter what generation you live in.
That's the universal answer isn't it? 😆
it either pimp, a salary worker or just unifrom.. nothing new there...
That answer never get old!
“There’s no more privacy”
-just wait 30 years buddy.
40*
@@Greyskies-te7fn please stop reminding me that 1970s is not 30 years ago anymore
@@alangeorge5592 well, I hate to be that person, but 1970 was actually 50 years ago. And this video filmed in 1979 was 41 years ago. It feels like yesterday that it was 2010.
Thanks, but I was actually pointing to the 00’s, the birth of Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, the beginnings of “let’s share everything” movement...as far as I know. But hey, I could be wrong.
@@jasondownsnet I did understand but some are living in this moment. And some forget that they are already 10 years addicted
The city was much quieter back then. Now all you hear is construction all day and night... great video
I love the guy "dont waste it on me." the idea of camera time being a waste now means nothing with all the storage we have. back then every second counted in your reel and he was too self conscious and nervous to want you to keep rolling. found that kinda neat.
True, same about pictures. If we don't save our digital works in the future we will be missing a big piece of creative works and historical memory. A friend of mine explained to me recently how Serbia Government is trying to avoid it. It is a very interesting topic.
@@franci.f. yeah youd think it would be opposite, its why i shoot film. The cloud is making pictures pass on through better, but physical picture copies in shoe boxes and photo albums are considered a little more sacred.
@@MeatSim5 i don't trust cloud services for privacy issues and i lost lot of pictures when my previous laptops crashed I was working, lot of deadlines and trips and i didn't have time to save all pics and videos and documents. So now i have 3 mac laptops at home, they are all broken with my pics and docs
@@MeatSim5 There was a recent news account of a sucessful hack into the cloud.
@@franci.f. portable media?
People speaking whole sentences without saying „like“, „umm“ all the time is really something refreshing.
..best comment...
To be fair, there were plenty of other filler words they used. I do think they were far more articulate though anyway.
Highly doubt it. Some of those ppl still exist today. And some of those ppl r still sucking. Stfu about your made up bs
6:41 time frame she says “um”
lot of people pausing and saying filler words in these very videos
People back then weren't afraid about the video getting out and being seen by their employers, that's why they could honestly talk about their jobs.
"Privacy- I like it."
The man in the hat did have one moment of genius.
The direct eye contact and confidence from everyone is amazing. I see it in homeschoolers but not from the general public.
I agree with that. It’s surprising because you’d think otherwise. A close friend of mine only started public schooling in high school, but I remember us always making him present in group tasks because he was so good at it.
It sounds nuts but I just told a customer service position that I can look folks in the eye
It’s surprisingly easy to learn. These people just put the time in.
i think thats more of a ny thing. even vids from today show that. also, homeschool kids have the advantage of being taught one on one, making them feel like their thoughts and opinions matter.... more than they really do
Get out. Homeschoolers are awkward as hell.
I'm amazed at how they crowded around you. Now they'd just walk by trying to avoid you. Life before social media and the internet.
mipmipmipmipmip well the modern alternative is carrying a small computer with a camera that we constantly stare at whenever we use our phones and we take photos and record ourselves on social media for anyone to see or use.
It’s not smarter it’s simply normalcy to see a camera.
@@Southforthewinter
Ooo nice come back
clockguy2 folks ignored the camera before social media as well and before smart phones. At some point, film cameras in the street were no longer novel.
Nowadays it's because of Corona you take your distance;)!
@@Lauren_Fields u cute
Notice how people in general spoke very succinctly as compared to now. Plus, I didn’t hear any profanity. Very refreshing.
Bleek culture hadn't infiltrated.
@Leandro Aude That's just as bad, he probably felt the taboo because it wasn't mentioned.
@Joan In Florida Trump is the perfect example of howuch society has been dumbed down
@@topranked5465 yup.....he is just a guy with alot of money.... extravagant lifestyle but not an ounce of class, because even money can't buy that. Plus, he couldn't have had any decency instilled in his upbringing, just greed, disregard and disrespect for people. He's a loathsome person. A real mook.
I think they all sounded like idiots,
Everyone looked soooo much more open and approachable. No Phones and better dressed, honest and open.
These days we can't even ask directions
not quite true. i m a foreigner thinking New Yorkers were unfriendly when i visited. but ppl are helpful enough.
I used to always give the wrong directions back in the day on purpose and a GPS wont do that, so there's one benefit. I actually still get asked fairly often for directions when I'm working and I usually never know the answer..
@@bigcrackrock Oh that’s wicked lol
I visited NYC as a tourist a few years ago. People were friendly and helpful.
wE caNt eveN aSk feR diRecTioNs
It’s really cute how people gather around the camera because it was so new.
Edit: stop being so pressed
Nadda yeah I thought same
Cameras weren't new in 1979 LOL. I recently watched video taken in England in 1900. Now that was new.
How new do you think cameras were in 1979 lol
77dris Actually i am right infact Sony released the first consumer camcorder in 1983, the Betamovie BMC-100P, so people owning video cameras wasn’t all that popular. And i never said it was a new invention at the time :)
Nadda lol stop. You said the camera was “so new”. People were quite familiar with video cameras by the 1940s. Enough that by 1979 they would not be gathering around one just because it was new.
Once upon a time, New Yorkers had an accent.
They still do but its changed and is probably different than in 1979. Even now it's still different than the Californian accent.
Yep, back in 2020
@@sal2975 Canadian Accent* :)) , or Californian same thing
Many still do
PalmerWhit people then seemed more modest more honest more innocent. I guess now it’s not quite like that. It’s crazy, there are many hostile people in the world. One time I went to target and a woman was mugging another driver so to move from parking. Also so many entitled arrogant people today. Also rotten kids. Kids are rotten to the bone. Not everyone but the majority.
The questions addressed were so ahead of time, power, privacy, and communication is what has predominantly shaped society from 1979 - 2020.
People On Wall Street Dressed Better Back In 1979? Totally and they were also better looking as well. You can sense there was more humility with the people back then, no emotional outbursts when talking. Far more, cool, calm and collected, when answering questions. Thank you Mr Hoffman.
judgemental society if you fix it we will be good but our society is far far far too judgemental of each other and ourselves we will adapt might take years but im confident in that
yes, education changed last 40 years, and the results is what you see now. created on purpose.
What stands out to me is that how most of them barely use filler word "like". It's so good to hear
ydr ydr - We weren’t allowed to use that word. I’m not joking.
This is the generation that started that shit.. lmao..
@@BrownSugarBaby1992 Like is just an in-between word, similar to "uh".
@@rndmusrnm2763 and also similar to umm...you know...and so on and tbh it sounds terrible
That is such a good point.
Can you move closer
“We’re not married “
😆👍
Probably for the micrphone.
@@deuteriummeridian8998 woosh, flew right over your head
@@mandalorian4620 how is that a woosh, if he just said "can yoy move closer" leaving to assume the second part and they just added in "we're not married" then yes that would be a funny time to use your gen alpha memey phrases but if he just quoted a part of the video..then there is nothing to assume or guess wrong.. so do you mean the guy in the video is the one who should be wooshed...? Also I'm sure that guy would roll his eyes if you waltz up to him like a bundle of the 21st century and just wooshed him and then look insane to everyone there.
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar gen alpha memy fazes, thats wild
@@ryabm1404 phrases*, and I mean the reddit personality shit
In 1979 I was 5 years old... That was 41 years ago... There are a few souls in this film that you know are gone. Its an odd feeling to know that.
In 1979 I was
_16 year old I mean substrate
This looks like spring / summer, so I was about 6/7 months old.
It seems odd but in fact, it is the most natural thing. Same as being born.
I think about that all the time...I have been watching re runs of 80 and 90s shows...it was frightening thinking about how many of them are gone. Instead of watching the shows I was reflecting on my own mortality. It has me sleepless
@@OBSZIDIAN548 Accept Jesus as your Savior...and you will live in the next life forever in peace.... fact
I'm a child of the '60's (born 1962). I was a H.S. senior at the time of this filming. I'm astonished at how dated it now appears in 2020. It's almost as if I'm looking at a broadcast of something I watched as a child.
Amazing how that works, huh?
To me it looks like the present and post 2001 seems like a nightmare. And Im your age.
Another point worth considering, many of these people interviewed, even those with professional jobs, "only" had a high school dilpoma.
Probably why half of the ones interviewed were fucking dumb and couldn't understand "Answer with the first word that comes into your head."
@@mgd8867 you try answering one word questions in front of a crowd of people while being recorded ( for what you think might be a tv show). It’s hard to answer things with one word, humans naturally want to explain what they are saying.
imagine a college antifa from the present there, lol
@@mgd8867 lol i think u r my type keyboard warrior
@@itsMe_TheHerpes .....what
I love that everyone was fascinated by you interviewing people. I also liked that everyone was acting in a congenial way. I also love that everyone looks well dressed.
They seemed so innocent. Even for New Yorkers.
leila lalala ppl today are prideful and full of themselves. They were humble, genuine, and had much more empathy and sincerity. Now ppl are all about themselves, colder, and care about how much better this age is than any other in the past.
JimboParadox but even back then the music those hipsters etc, listened too wasn’t full of all the vulgar rap and other music all about dick and pussy. That wasn’t around back then. They were just upset about rock and roll because ozzy and others were biting heads off bats and ppl thought they were devil worshippers. But now I’m sure there’s bands that actually are satanist I forget the name of religion like wicka or something. But ppl like that stuff and vulgar sex rap so I’m not gonna judge. To each there own I guess, like homosexuals everyone’s diff I guess 🤷♀️ . Ppl like there freedom more to express themselves in all sorts of expression gratification
leila lalala yeah but like I said in my comment above. I still think that’s true. u make a good point tho 👍
@JimboParadox Hip Hop is dope. If you equate all modern mainstream rap and trap to hip hop, then that's a you problem.
This almost sounds like they are being interviewed by people from the future!
I just absolutely enjoy these what if type looks and so forth from people ask questions about things that are along that line and that one woman nodding her head and smiling widely after the response from the one guy about the Information Society
Thats a great insight.
Just goes to show not much has changed in 40 yrs.
Ironically, the future would make us less formal and more casual.
seen by people of the future stuck in a matrix. let me out.
Thank you for this. Glad it popped in my recommendation 😃
mto
Literally ! First vid I’ve seen on this channel instant subscribe :)
Yep, me too
Back when Americans used to love America instinctively. A guy brandishing an American flag shirt would automatically be labeled a racist today. What have you become USA😭
If these people only knew how much was going to change in the next 40 years...
I was one of those people in that I worked in the Wall Street area in 1979. I had a background in technology and computer programming. The big changes coming were mobile phones and the Internet. But we were far from the stone age. The US had put men on the moon, computer technology was becoming a bigger and bigger part of how we worked, we could send documents electronically, and communications was booming with digital transmissions. I will say that advancements in the medical field has been absolutely huge since then. The other thing is it seems that air travel has degraded since then, LOL. I used to love to fly places, now I won't do it all. What a disaster!
George Sealy Hi George - May I ask what computer technology you used and interacted with in those days? I am curious if Wall Street was using mini computers or early workstations at that point
Imagine how much had changed from the prior 40 years, in 1939.
@@steveg219 In 1978 and 1979, this was just before personal computers started to come into the picture. To use computing power we would go to a room that had a terminal with either a dedicated or dialup connection to a mainframe computer. I would write programs in either Basic or FORTRAN. There were also applications available, such as investment analysis programs, whereby you could enter in data using an interactive session, and then the program would create reports that would print out at the printer next to the work station. We never saw the computers themselves, they could have been anywhere.
George Sealy very interesting- thank you
I am almost 60, I showed it to my niece who is in her mid 20's. She said she can sense the element of openness and innocent in people back then. She also said they did not seem to live in fear of politically in correctness and they want to be individually unique. Internet has robbed the youth today of innocence and true happiness.
@JimboParadox a few videos from this channel.
You're niece is very smart, I'm right in between you and you're niece's age and I said relatively the same thing.
Funny how you're using the Internet to complain about the Internet.
@Susan S which it does far too much
Jomzi01 can’t complain about something you know nothing about
The People seemed so pure and healthy back then.
@Sal Altieri What why
@Sal Altieri I see.
I think the headline comment is they might of had a better diet and more connected as people but still devilish 😈
@Salvatore gerard Altieri lol
They were hardworking real men. They knew at that time what was important for them to do at each moment to keep moving forward.
Everyone knew their role. Nowadays no one is satisfied or can come to terms with their role in society.
“Computer? Tape.
Bureaucracy? Red tape.”
That guy in the striped tie loves tape.
he's a pup, lol his mind is mostly about what music he is going to play later that evening, using the brand new stereo device he got with the money from the fancy job he has.
he most likely has a tape collection (my uncle had about 100 tapes of music, and that was the 90's when the tapes were on their way out, to make room for the CD, he had about 40 CD's too)
I thought for sure he was gonna say the people in power are the ones with tape
@@zufu35 😂 🤣 ha ha ha
@@zufu35 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@Tom BEvery man has his tape.
Q: Who has the power in society?
Some Guy Off Camera: The mafia.
*sensible chuckle*
Not anymore. Now it's the Russian Bratva.
still accurate
Timestamp
ncls.13 10:24
"The working class has the power". Not today.
Excellent. Thanks for posting this. I worked in the Wall Street area from 1978 to 1983. I would be out walking at lunch every day, so maybe I saw you shooting this film. When I worked in NYC I had 15 suits all of them 100% wool. My shoes were perfectly shined as I would stop in the basement of the WTC to get them done. I had tons of white shirts and pure silk ties too. And that is how everybody dressed. If you wanted to move up, then you should be looking like the guy you wanted to replace.
Nowadays people wear ball hats and pro sport team jerseys to funerals! 😏
Sad isn’t it?
"What do you think about corporations?"
-They are devious.
Like he was foreshadowing
People looked healthier, were articulate and had more decorum.
Yardley J true
I mean this is Wall Street so of course they would be. Can’t compare them to the average Joe of today
The lustre of a strangers camera lens and questions has dimmed after 30 yrs. Plus people would be fired or cancelled today for engaging . That's not the peoples fault that's the corporation.
Plus check out the kid at 8:13. Pretty sure he wouldn't be yelling out decorum if the cameras weren't there.
Because we had decent teachers who were dignified, ethical, and properly educated. Not like the ones today who dress like carnival freaks, tattooed, blue hair and use such slang that I can't even understand them! TRAGIC HOW FAR WE AS A SOCIETY HAVE FALLEN. 😔
This is a great video. It's cool to see that even as "recently" as 41 years ago, so many people found a live TV/film interview interesting enough to break from their routine to watch. Today, everyone's cell phone is a mobile TV/film studio, and as a result, passers-by largely ignore a live 'man-on-the-street' interview.
Also so many vloggers being around.
1979 was my year! It was a watershed year for me-graduated high school, entered nursing school, turned 18,; it was the beginning of what I call my “halcyon years.” The girl in the thumbnail, and at 8:28, one of the ppl you interviewed, her style, reminds me of myself back then. Thanks, David, for shining the spotlight on this significant year for me! 😊Stay well-and safe!
The year our middle Daughter was born. My husband was in computer systems analysis for 44 years. He wore those suits and ties, member jackets... smilexoxo
@Mice Elf your right dearxoxo I was wrong
@Mice Elf & Mice Elf I was at work smilexo
I had a members only jacket. I think I was like the last member
Mice Elf I have one, size 42 regular, in maroon. Original owner, single bullet hole, torso area. Thank you for letting me be myself, again.
Before social media, people had more active souls.
Well said!
True indeed
More active brains too
glad all of you could come together to share this opinion/idea with each other
here on this social media sight
Ok boomer
I’m old enough to remember those days and knew traders back then and people who owned seats on all the exchanges including the new defunct American Stock Exchange. People were a lot nicer back then, less condenscending, more innocent and more hopeful. They dressed much better with most men in tie and jacket(today as I take the train to Wall Street I’m one of the few who wears a tie and jacket and carry’s a briefcase, not a backpack). The other thing that has changed is that the Wall Street guys didn’t make an obscene amount of money...yet. They were middle to upper middle class and the guy who was working at the GM plant in Tarrytown could almost keep up with them. No cell phones, very few computers, people had to communicate face to face or using Ma Bell. I miss those days mostly because of my youth, but I do miss how much more genteel and polite society was.
The business attitude wasn't cut throat as it has become.
it would change only a few years later when Reagan drastically lowered taxes and the consumer 1980s began lol
D William I agree that people were more innocent and more helpful back then, but less condescending, I disagree...”dummy”, “ knucklehead”, “ don’t have any sense” were all smartass terms that came out of those days. It was just as much a sport to put others down, back then, as it is now. One thing I did notice about this video was the lack of people of color being interviewed.
@@ella-quent7923 It was nothing like today. The anonymity of the internet and the popularization of vulgarity in the pop culture have made this name calling factor much worse. And in that time America was 90% caucasian and he was interviewing stock brokers.
Ella-quent I actually said hopeful but yes they were also more helpful too. In terms of “put downs” it was more friends calling each others names(my father called me knucklehead many a time) and it was less vicious and vulgar than what is going on today. I saw an upset women in her 30’s tell another woman to “suck her d*ck” the other day on the train. Needles to say I was shock and somewhat confused.
In terms of people of color being interviewed you’d have to ask the OP.
"Who do you think has the power in society"
"Who do I think has the power in society? The rich"
"Why so?
"Why? They have so much influence over the laws - the regulations - that they impose upon us"
Still very accurate today!
Man know how the world works.
Boom
If you would have asked that question to someone 500 year a ago the answer woykd have been the same. Nothing new under the sun
K....
The guy who said "computer tape" reminded me that there used to be video games that came on cassette tapes. Crazy times.
When he said “computer tape”, I thought of the old computers that had reels of tape, like an old film projector. The 70’s in some ways doesn’t seem so long ago, but watching this, it feels like a VERY long time ago, because people are so vastly different compared with today. Wow, I’m blown away.
And he looks like Robert Sean Leonard.
Folks not only dressed well , most folk back then were actually thin .
Yes cause they had natural foods an peoples were very active nobody wasn’t stuck too social media’s platforms all day an eaten all bad process food like we do now everybody Dammn near overweighting
I still dress classy and an slim and I'm 50 years old
This is just Manhattan doesn't speak to the whole era.
Yep puts the lie to obesity just being something some ppl are born being likely to have.
@@StarzzyJJASD Good for you! I'm sure your advanced age will be healthier and more comfortable.
I would love to see these same people today. I graduated high school in 1979 and am 58 years old. These people would most likely be 60-80 years old. Interested to see how things worked out for them
I graduated in 1978 and was thinking the same thing. Most of those interview are probably in the 60s and are either retired or getting close to it. Time goes by scary fast.
I’m 58 too, I remember 1979 as a sort of coming of age year.
@@jeffmorse645 not everyone retires
People looked happier, healthier, and the women gorgeous.
Tony That's the thing I noticed, they're all slim.
Tony Pre Fast food age, but beware McDonald’s is just around the corner. They also dressed nicer .
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Lol there was already fast food in 1979. McDonald's started in 1950.
Tony And the young men had heads full of hair unlike the guys my age nowadays lol
Tony and stop romanticizing the past, NY was so filthy and violent back then
“People dress better” also one dude was shirtless and was putting his shirt on while looking at the camara in the middle of someone’s interview! Lol
But he played it cool so it’s aight.
The 70's weren't exactly known as being a great era for fashion anyway..😅
He was sexy 😍
When you realize that’s somebody grandpa....
Robyn MARKOW ....better than the 80s
This video gives me the strangest sensation. I don't know if I'm just being blindly covetous over an inflated idealization, but I wish I was an adult before technology hit exponential growth. I was born in 97 so it's a world far stranger to me than any fictional tale. Thanks for the upload David. These films really stir something unique inside the soul.
People used to say "I'll call you when I get there". If you were driving in the middle of nowhere, there was no way to call someone if you broke down. When you walked out the front door, you were off the map; incommunicado and invisible.
There weren't security cameras everywhere. People could do things in secret right out in the open and never get caught. In public places, everyone was engaged with the world.
If you heard about something or wanted to know something, you had to go to the library and "look it up". Information books, like Guinness Book of World Records, was one of the sources of obscure information.
If you told someone your address, they couldn't Google your house to see if you were poor. You could make up stuff about yourself and no one could search for information.
People were generally nicer to you unless they wanted to get their ass kicked. There wasn't this constant, ceaseless arguing, ad infinitum. People had discussions! We'd go to coffee shops or other places and talk, talk, talk. People LISTENED.
RecklessRelapse let me tell you, I did, and, yes, it was a better quality of life
Joseph Dockemeyer I know what you mean but, at the time, we didn't miss it. Now not having wifi means a mental breakdown . There are more depressions nowadays and more emotionally impaired kids. I work this field.
I'm so grateful to have been born a decade earlier in 87, though actually experiencing the pre cellphone world just makes me sad to look back now..
I was born in '61, but have that weird "sensation" (yearning/aching) of different time periods/lives that I believe I lived. I felt I never fit into the time period it was. The last 20-30yrs, more a feeling of not being where (doing what) I should be. :/ I miss the more "innocent" times, pre-computer days.
David I found your youtube about 4 months back and it has be wonderful my mother is so thankful you saved so many videos from the year she was born (1955) and the years she grew up in it has made her so happy to see the past again
Well, except for the videos that a certain group administrating this website doesn't like. Luckily the few of us who were quick enough could download them before they got forcefully removed.
I'm somehow put in mind of my life in 1979 when I was 19. If I had car trouble or a flat tire, I'd knock on the door of the nearest house and politely ask to use the phone. So much easy social interaction then. Thank you for posting this.
Dear Mr. Hoffman thank you for this nice and pure insight of the past. I'm really curious to know how those people would have react if someone told them that 42 years later there will be a girl sitting in a small town of Germany and watch their answers while enjoying her morning coffee...
moments like this somehow always make me wistful
And next to Germany, in Holland, there is a girl with Moroccan roots also enjoying these people and their answers. Love this footage!
Im from Pakistan way on the other side of the world and this video fascinates me so much
It's so interesting to see how uncomfortable they are on camera. That just isn't the case now.
People in general seemed more well adjusted & socially knew how to behave back then.
It is for me lol
A time when everyone thought the government was too big. Look at where we are now.
Shin Bi The government is being controlled by rich people
@L Vader we could stop the Government If we United.
if voting made a difference we wouldn't be allowed to do so.
@El Jay You're rich or communist, you can't be the both.
Shin Bi Yup. Now young, supposedly educated people, are voluntarily submitting autonomy to the government.
Holy cow, the guy knew about cyber-security before it was even called that!
Andy You should read True Names by Vernor Vinge. Written in 1979, it’s a story about hackers and the dangers of exposing your identity online. It’s also really good. Man was an MIT professor so he had early exposure to the intranet they had there. People clearly had an idea of where things were going, but only a very particular and privileged few with access to the tech.
I will definitely read it, thanks.
Oliver Cuenca now this comment is why I like RUclips.
does anyone else think the background looks and feels like a set? I know it's not but it feels like one.
No
nope
if you fixate on the blue sky as a background, then yeah
Yes
Nope I don't, but I can understand why. NYC was used as a setting for many movies.
Nowadays people seem more depressed
Dino Seneca im one of them😔 so much anxiety & depression & im only 22
most people are “depressed” because it’s officially a “personality trait”
Bratz Girl not everyone. Some are really not okay and need help
naw nowadays it's just the fact that depression is becoming more and more recognized by the world and people are becoming more and more aware of their emotions, people back in the past just didn't have that kind of information back then so they dealt with it silently :(
Because everyone then was on drugs.😂🤣😆 jk
Love the guy who goes “computer ? I’m not really understanding this so you better just cancel it” hahaha
People weren’t fat then. This is due to the horrible foods they sell and we eat along with sitting on computers and watching tv.
most of these people are younger than you'd think, because of fashion, so you're like 'these guys look fit' but in your mind you're comparing them to people 10 years older. not that you're wrong, the food is bad now and people are fatter because of it.
Take a look at union/worker photos today and worker/union photos from the 1920's (roaring 20's). The photos of today will have all sorts of fatness in stark contrast to near-zero fatties in the 20's.
Torc Handsomeson look at children from back then and then now
Not a fat person in sight could it be people dressed better and where healtier back then!
Now people get that beautiful GMO soy glyphosate EMF ridden Monsanto Body
There are some very good looking people in this movie. And now in 2020 many of them are senior citizens. A few probably passed away. If youre a millenial like me or Gen Z or even alpha watching this, this is a reminder that time keeps going on. Nobody is immune to it.
Enjoy every moment and live life with no regrets!
All the people here look very intelligent... great demeanors. They all look like great people.
why dont you go back to wallstreet today and do your interviews with the same camera.
THAT would be something!
Nobody’s there now
that would be crazyyyyy
@@michaelmische1433 you would need to bring cases of kleenex before starting the interview
yes please
David, your channel is some kind of a museum! For me it is very inetersting!
Growing up in NYC in the 90s, looking at the background and changes of familiar streets, this even makes me nostalgic!
David Hoffman, you were far ahead of your time. This was genius. The older man that was alone and bald with the glasses. That man saw A LOT in his day. His eyes said it all.
Their eyes radiated much more happiness and peace of mind.
French Viking - It was very nice, freeing, calmer, more grounded to not be connected 24/7. A guy called you on Tuesday to ask you out. It rang 10 times, no machine took a message. He called back again Weds. night to try again. Like that.
My job? Typing I Dont Know?
charmed.
LSD
Theyre on camera, of course theyre all smiles. Who gets on camera and frowns? And how can you tell the inner workings of their mind from a short clip?
@@brett6905 ..terrorism etc wasn't on their minds for a start ,definitely more innocent times
Nice little slice of life clip about NYC 1979. Not only the speakers (working NYers always seem like an ethnic group all onto their own), but also the onlookers standing behind them, half blank stares, curiously trying to figure out what the rolling camera's trying to capture. And the cute young woman with the thick as pastrami BBQ accent, equating computers with "numba's" and "tackses". LOL. Yes, everybody wore suits back then, and the term "casual Friday" hadn't even been invented yet.
I was in the 11th grade in 1979 and this video brought back memories. Back then, just about everybody was raised with a certain set of morals. Example, don't be rude and never interrupt someone while their talking. If you notice, everyone was pretty quiet in the background. They'd just relax and allow the individual answer the question. Today, everyone in the background would try and answer the question. I smiled when I saw the paper cups ☺️. Plastic wasn't a thing then like it is today. And because money didn't flow as easily, we walked just about everywhere we had to go. Sometimes you caught the bus, but walking a mile or two was nothing. You just did it. And when it came to dressing, no matter your income, hands down, we were all pretty much well groomed. People weren't a slave to fashion like they are today. You pretty much wore what you liked. Às long as you were clean you were okay. Nowadays, it's Gucci this and Gucci that. And what I really miss seeing is the feminity of the women and how men pursued us. Today, it's the other way around. Women are aggressive toward men and men are full of play. The Feminist movement is to blame for that. Trust me, this Black woman knows what's she talking about because I saw it coming together in my early years. Peace2U 💓
A time when people were more thoughtful.. they engaged their brains before they opened their mouths ... & and every second word wasn't "like"... 🙄😏
yeah instead it was just silence or why
People were in the dark by in large and they still are, this video just shows practically no one knew what was coming.
@JimboParadox Have you even seen an interview with Elon Musk? lol I assure you he's not "slow witted" or "dull of mind".
I should add, that that's not to say everyone who's slow to respond or pause a lot are deep thinkers. However I would say that not enough people these days take time to articulate their thoughts or ponder a question before giving a meaningful answer. I think there's more pressure to be informed or at least be perceived as "Woke" these days, hence why so many people look so moronic when someone is doing a modern day " man on the street" interview. Just my two cents.
The whole "like" thing started in the 80s with the valley girls. And he is interviewing professionals in their work wear/putting out their best. Of course they're gonna be a better yet small representation of the American people. Every gen has its pros and cons trust me.
They seemed a lot more genuine back then.
you too can be that genuine, you have to ignore what society wants you to be and be yourself
The old NY accent is so interesting. I associate it with older NYers, our accent has changed in a way I can't put my finger on. I think it's become more "California", a lot more sing song-y and uptalk-y.
The last guy has a quintessential New York accent like Mario Cuomo.
Yeah i miss it😕
Purity, clarity and honesty in every answer!
A genuine slice of the American way of life that people all over the world loved!
What a great feeling seeing so many optimistic people instead of doom and gloom. Thank you David 😊.
9:43 "OD on information" Boy did she call that one!
This looks like such a nice time the people all look happy and aware I’m only 16 but it’s nice too see people off their phones I love seeing people’s faces and expressions not the blank robotic look so many of us have stuck in our own world
I was born in 84 and man I don't envy your generation one bit.
Just shows how society has been dumbed down ,better days ,better clothes better film better most things ,the internet is wonderful when used intelligently,great footage Mr Hoffman 👌
Look how curious everybody is in the background, now everybody’s so used to cameras nobody would even notice a street interview or they would thinks it was going to be a prank or something🤣
Third world countries still does that
@@thequarrymen58 I live in a third world country and we don't do that. Everywhere you go there's at least one person vlogging. It's annoying IMO
@@user-ov2fc5sd1e
I live in one and goddamn, whip out a 4k Camera and you'll have a crowd like a Fly on Shit.
Back then we had a dress code and had to dress well. That was expected from the employer. I started having to wear a tie and dress clothes and retired wearing blue jeans. The workplace got more informal.
Maybe because people started getting paid less. Less money for fancy clothes. At least that was the case in my industry.
When I was in school we had to dress nice. Girls wore dresses and the guys wore nice pants and shirts. I was in 8th grade when they changed the dress code to "casual". The behavior changed IMMEDIATELY with it. The kids were louder, more raucus, they didn't calm down as easy, and acted like how they dressed, more like "I don't give a crap". It really did change dramatically.
And I can remember thinking, "It's really sad it turned out like this", abd "Why do the kids have to act less respectfully because they're wearing jeans and t-shirts instead of dress clothes?" , vut it happened, and I watched it happen. How aad for everyone. Less learning went in as well, because it took more time to get contril of classes because of the "casual and laid back attitude", instead of "I need to behave and be respectful in thus place of learning, so that everyobe has a better chance to learn if people act respectful".
And this was in a middle school, the high s hool was worse, and it went downhill from there.
It started with casual Fridays,
@@AndreaWanting Casual Friday was created so , a person that wanted to dress casual would donate money to charity . It puts me in mind of self serve gas , it was created for people to save money.
@@Orf Please🤦 my great Grandmother was a farmer's wife and during the depression she had 10 kids and my grandfather worked out of town to help pay the bills sometimes. She still dressed better than most people now days who have 3x or more amounts of clothes than she did!
This was interesting, the crowd is absorbed in the moment.
Wow! everyone in these interviews seem so much more open and less anxious around strangers. I wish people in my generation were approachable like this, its very difficult since most of us talk through apps. Interesting to hear all of their answers.
It was quite eerie when the bell tolled when asked about his optimism regarding the future. Hmmmm
Articulate. Clean. Well mannered. Geez take me back.
Wasn't this the same year Porky's came out? We have always been on a sliding behavioral spectrum, in public and private. Don't believe the "tape bureaucracy", people are still good and clean. The film tells you more about the filmmaker than the people. Remember that next time someone is shoveling human %$&@ in your face. Why?
Im screaming GO GET MY MOTHER OUT OF 6th GRADE AND TELL HER TO INVEST IN GOOGLE
Creep.
😆😆😆
Google didn't exist back then. You should have screamed for your mom to invest in Microsoft and Apple instead.
@@Sovnarkom noone cares lmao.
Damn, everyone is so calm and unexcitable.
Wild.
Is it just me, or did people look healthier, happier and more vibrant back then?
They also smoked a lot of cigarettes
It's just you. -shoulder pat-
@@Rkenichi Cigarettes are bad yes, but there are way worse bad habits nowadays, compared to back then.
Statistically, yes.
Cigarettes are filled with flame retardant and fire safe glues now.
There’s a sense of decency on everyone’s faces
I see the same thing. I think that sense of decency you're talking about comes from being well socialized and decent. Many people today are decent, yet poorly socialized. So instead of seeming "decent", they seem awkward. Also people can't look up from their phones long enough to look any particular way except for looking involved in their phone. Sorry for the long reply but this comment spoke to me.
@@josephrobinson9318 there definitely some awkward folks in these segments, but I do like how many of these people really wanted and generally liked the interaction of conversation
@49jubilee I was nine then. I thought about it.
People had money to spend back then!
Sebastian Garcia true, they had savings
It’s was great, in those days, had live bands we all got dressed on weekends at disco clubs. Then disco Demolition night in Comiskey park changed everything. A rebellion to spandex and spiked hair.
Amazing how people in the background had the time to stop and listen to some random person answer some random questions. I can't imagine people nowadays stopping and having time for that, everyone is so busy nowadays.
People would use their iphones to film those filming. Everyone would be pointing cameras at each other. I've seen it happen in city centres, especially when there's trouble.
Busy doing nothing.
It’s call respect towards other an morals that’s what the future don’t got no more an that’s sad
Brilliant, David.
"Where are you now, people of NY's past?
Did you earn enough money, enough of it to last ?
Laboring in the urban canyons , on streets with names like Water and Gold,
Did you think back then,
you'd become the people of old"?
Adeodatus They moved to Florida when NYC moved from liberal to leftist.
My division moved to the suburbs of New Jersey. Instead of a 90 minute commute involving 2 trains, I had a 30 minute trip and could park my car next to my office. Nirvana. I am now retired and living the good life in Arizona. But I am thankful that I was able to experience working in NYC for 5 years. Unforgettable.
@@georgesealy4706
Thank you for your answer.
No one is holding up a cell phone. The crowds seem more genuine and real. It’s hard to explain
It's not as detached
NO oNe hOldIng a pHone wow its almost like smartphones werent a thing back then huh?
Probably because cell phones didn’t exist ...
Cell phones didn’t exist back then? That’s just wild
I think he’s talking about how people seemed more genuine because they didn’t have cell phones
I wonder what happened to these people, where are they now?? Where did life take them 🤔🤔
Me too
Somewhere good.
The grave
Amane is my baby most of them were really young and this wasn’t that long ago, so lol, they are probably alive.
BOOMERS
I wonder where these people are today. Interesting how the last guy talked about oil and synthetic technology
Me too
Probably the people that get called "ok boomer" on social media.
Dead!?
@@stormy7192 OK boomer
6:00 The bell truck behind him...used to be a monopoly. The only phone company. Bell... until 1984. When antitrust laws still mattered.
Bell Telephone Company was a government-granted monopoly. It was not a case of a market-created single seller, it was a coercive monopoly because nobody could legally enter the market until the government controls were removed.
@Leandro Aude Wrong! Nobody had the internet in 1984! Only the military and scientists. I graduated high school in '94 and there was NO Internet there yet. That was all about to come right then... but not in 1984. No sir.
@@alexanderscott2456 true.
The expressions of the onlookers in the background are hilarious!😂
8:10 is hilarious
Cool seeing the automobiles of that era. Men actually combed/brushed their hair back then. Reminds me of being a young kid back in '79 Thanks!!
Miss those classic NY accents....they’re dying out.
Yeah they are
Local accents all over US are fading. All media has Hollywood accent so the kids watch and so they speak
Gentrification destroys authentic city culture, language and even style.
@@dcchavez97 same with the country
@@dcchavez97 Truth
The guy that was interviewed first is handsome.
yees
😐
*CHAD*
guy a 3:50 on maroon or purple
god his suit is literal art
what’s his instagram @
It's strange to see a crowd gather for interviews with non famous people. People back then weren't used to seeing a camera crew (cameras and sound were much bigger then) like they are now. Frankly, it make the interview appear artificial, too. If I were filming this I wouldn't want to see the gathered crowed behind them.
Just wonderful.That was my dream to see New York?Now No.
Before video cameras and of course now "phones" became ubiquitous, a film camera was a novelty. A big deal. A fire truck.
Also, in this instance, people were being solicited, so bystanders would be, consciously or unconsciously, hoping for their turn. I took a film course where we were shown footage from a pioneering film camera showing factory workers leaving their shift. Not one was aware of, or acknowledged the camera. A year or two later, a group disembarking from a boat were waving, tipping their hats and generally carrying on. Full circle to ambivalence?
It’s great that the people were back there because that’s only time you would have seen a black person in this video.
@@infinitedreaming222 A black man was interviewed though...
The woman in your thumbnail is absolutely a beauty. She looks very timeless. I’m glad you recorded what you did. I enjoy these.
This was the most interesting street interviews I have ever seen. I love seeing how everyone responded and wonder how those questions would be answered today.