I was raised in Los Angeles in the 1950s and this was amazing to watch. Most of this footage was made as background for movie scenes which show a driver and the passing scenery outside the windows, but how wonderful just to see the city as it was back then! WOW! Everyday people wearing nice clothes doing everyday things. We had great style back then and the architecture and storefronts were so charming and clean! The "MAYCO" building was actually "The May Company Department Store", so the sign actually says "MAY CO"... and that same building today is the newly remodeled and revitalized ACADEMY MUSEUM (which shows movie props, costumes and sets from famous movies over the years). It looks as beautiful as ever. My mother worked for the MAY CO. Department Store for over 30 years. They were still in business in the 1980s. THANKS FOR SHOWING THESE! I'm a fan!
It's amazing how beautiful all the Art Deco style buildings don't exist anymore, even MayCo looked fab, we need to stop tearing down history but too late for that.
Incredible. This is, to be precise, the week of August 1, 1951. Just about a year prior to this, my father owned the restaurant that would become Du-Par's - it was called the Kiru Cafe. Was there from 1948 through January 1950. By June, it was Du-Par's. Amazing how empty Wilshire was in 1951. And equally amazing that some of the buildings west of Fairfax are still there.
Excellent. I would date this in the latter part of 1950, account the latest model cars I saw were 1951 Fords, but not many of those, which would indicate the 3rd quarter of 1950 to me. Saw no 1952 model Fords. Might you be off a year?
@@W7DSY Nope, I was able to pinpoint the exact week because of the double bill that was playing at the El Rey - that double bill only played there the week of August 1, 1951.
This totally feels like a nostalgic familiar dream, even though I wasn't here yet, it feels so familiar and comforting. It's like a live painting into another world. The 50's era is awesome!
From a French point of view, it seems to be a much more civilized and prosperous era for everyone. The streets are clean, the people well dressed and elegant, you can also recognize the "Art Deco" architecture used for almost every building, the streets were really classy back them. I would have loved to walk in the streets of that time.
At 4.38 when the camera car pulls over and the 3 generation family, kids, mother & grandmother notice the camera , it feels like you're seeing it in real time as they look right at you . this is only made possible by the magnificent restoration & presentation of this film . I get a wee sad feeling when I think that if the 2 kids are still with us they will be well into their eighties. Some have commented that it's like looking at ghosts, but I actually feel that the quality of the restoration makes us the ghosts visiting them in their lifetime , and I love that feeling that as we watch in wonder , they are all alive again and going about their daily lives. So, my fellow ghosts let us journey back with a big contented smile .
"They" say you can't go home again. You've just disproven that. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stroll the streets of my childhood pretty much as it was when I was born. You have literally brought tears to my eyes.
The streets and sidewalks are so clean and tidy - and no graffiti to ruin and bring down the area. Some lovely cars, and stores that lend character to the place. Thanks for sharing - I loved watching it.
This neighborhood is still clean and tidy. There's no graffiti. This is still an upscale area. Who thinks every inch of L.A. is covered in graffiti? 🤷♀️
Yet people were still stupid enough back then to bolt across the street in traffic even though there was a crosswalk 50 ft away. Some things never change!
brings back memories: Having milk shakes at VanDe Kamp's; shopping at Ohrbachs, and visiting the swamp land in La Brea Pits before the museum existed. Also this Ralph's architecture is the same as the first one in Westwood - The architecture of that building is stunning.
Lived it! Built a "fort" with neighborhood buddies up in the framework behind one of the double billboards just west of Fairfax. The underbrush of the La Brea tar pits was our playground. Got caught one night (underage) working as a doorman at the El Rey theater by one of the office staff at my junior high school. We walked to school and hitchhiked everyone, without incident or concern. Looking back 70 years, everything seemed much more human, both in scale and even kindness.
Today, half of your taxes go on paying for the debt run-up on funding the enormous military build-up (on such things as the giant disfunctional 'Gerald Ford' aircraft-carriers, 'F-35' fighters that cost $40,000 an hour to maintain...) while jobs are 'outsourced' and the country falls apart.
At about :48 seconds in, they drive by the El Rey theater. It was showing "Fugitive Lady" (aka La strada buia) which was released in the U.S. on July 15, 1951 (not to be confused with the 1934 film of the same name). "The Frogmen", the other film playing, was released in the U.S. on May 24, 1951. The two films played the week of Aug. 1, 1951 at that location.
Amazing how clean and fresh Wilshire Blvd was back then, and the art deco buildings so very cool. Born there in the 50's, what a great city it was then
It is still clean. I live in this neighborhood. Thankfully, many of the Art Deco buildings are still here, but we keep an eye on them, as everything is being torn down for ugly apartment buildings!
I was born in 1949, many of these things are very familiar to me, others I had forgotten, the person who filmed these images had no idea that 70 years later they would be more widely publicized than then, NASS… thank you! Everything looks peaceful, LA after the 60 'changed drastically, those people almost and all of them already deceased couldn't imagine that this city would be as it's today with drugs and other vices, with so much violence, what a shame!
This is like going back in time. One thing though - it wasn't as peaceful as we'd like to remember. Note the sign for "Bomb Shelters'" for only $789.00!
Filmed apparently one month before i was born, it looks so clean and beautiful, everything on a human scale, no drugs or violence and vagrants, we have super technology today but we've lost an awful lot of nice stuff on the way.
America Was Paradise.....before Our and the Western World's Enemy Screwed Our Great Country with their "Hart-Celler Immigration (Invasion) Act of (Treason) 1965" thank's to the "'Tribal"' Members of Emmanuel Celler & Jacob Javit's. Anyone who neither understands or believes this was Always the Biggest Problem for America, the Freedom and Liberty We had and the Traitor Scumbag and Freemason Franklin D. Roosevelt who brought us into WW 2 Just so We could Destroy Germany and Uncle Adolph who Only wanted to Destroy Communism and prevent it's further infiltration of Europe. Look it up and know Who and What the World's Greatest Enemy Really is. Here's a hint: "'They"' are the Deniers of Jesus Christ and had him Crucified because He was Exposing "'Them"' for what and Who they really are; the Synagogue of Satan!!
I believe that the beginning of the end was 1967 when the GI generation simply gave up trying to educate the youth then. Now those same youth have political jobs and are imprisoning the world.
Man I really love these old Los Angeles restorations, it’s wild to see places I know SO well looking so different. Is it odd to feel nostalgia for a time in which you never lived…?
I feel the same, even for places I don't know well, some more than others, while other places there's no nostalgia whatsoever, it really depends on the "click" while watching. Apart of that, it's amazing how these old times feel more serene, fraternal, calmer, at least, it's my impression.
There a word for it: Anemoia “Anemoia is a new and nearly unheard-of word. Its meaning is just as the title would suggest; a nostalgic sense of longing for a past you yourself have never lived. It is nostalgia for the “good ol' days”; more specifically, the good ol' days you are too young to have known.”
It is hard to believe that ordinary people actually dressed well simply to go on errands or to work. How refreshing! Seems the 'fashion" industry has managed to make everyday citizens look like slobs, or freaks. L.A. looked so clean...even though we were having our terrible SMOG days. This footage is glorious! Takes me back to my time and neighborhood. WOW! Well done! and thank you!
Ikr, now Los Angeles is turning into Detroit. The houses are crappy and they're expensive, and the value of those houses are only increasing and there will be more homeless people and soon people will move out.
@@wurok871 Already happening. My memories of growing up in L.A. were _so_ great compared to now. Now, whenever I drive to SoCal I go outta my way to avoid L.A. proper, and I keep my head on a swivel when on the freeways down there.
@@glennhankins6927 "frumpy women" That comment says more about you than it does the current state of LA. . . And hey, you can do something to improve that situation, think about it.
@@1990758 yeah? You think so, well how about, In this particular video, what you’ll see in this video today is shit AND litter all over the city while the recording of this in 1950 was NOT shit AND littering. At least this recording showed cleanliness, go there now at the location and you won’t be able to say that
@@SixpackLeanStrongMind Oh and this video is very clean. It's a shame some things can't stay the same. Other than the segregation I'll take those days over today
Crazy! This video starts out at the 5600 block Wilshire Blvd & Ridgeley. The camera starts out facing west & just to the right you can see a side street. That's Hauser St. I used to work on the 5th & 6th floors of Hauser & Wilshire (where the windmill is) . It's just crazy that the video starts looking directly at the place I used to work. It's not the same building, but it's just fascinating. Thank you NASS for this, it's just incredible.
5:33 I'm in complete awe at how clean those windows of that appliance store were, they gleamed! Everything around it, like everywhere else in this scene was immaculate!
That’s when people took pride in themselves and their work. They put their heart & soul into making a living, and their kids took over and pissed it all away.😢
That windmill on the Van De Kamp's sign is absolutely incredible! It's a shame they don't make signage like that anymore. Way more thought was put into the architecture even for simple places like coffee shops
One of the best street shots from the 1950s I've seen as an avid LA aficionado/historian. I love figuring every location out in each shot. Great stuff! Great restoration!
I grew up in the 1950’s and it was quite different, better in some ways, yet not so good in others. People valued work and the American dream of owing ones own home. Everyone dressed up much more than today
@@reptiliandomination1 The Powers that be opened the flood gates too much. L.A. isn't really that large to hold 4 million people who are mostly scavengers.
Wonderful video. Brings back many memories of Wilshire Blvd in the 1950s and 1960s. At about 1:03 of the video is a BBQ restaurant called the Flying Saucer. Pretty much the only restaurant my parents took us kids to when we went out for dinner. Dad sure loved those ribs. 😂
Out of all the wonderful old places in this film, The Flying Saucer is the one I got the most excited about, I think! It was SO SO SO good I can almost taste it, just thinking about it!! I'm glad others remember it too.
@@tagbarzeev3571 Those places I don't remember.... it wasn't VERY close to where I lived, so I didn't do barbering or shoe repairing right there. But good to know! 😃
When we used to visit my grandparents about this time we would go to a bbq place just off of Century Blvd, either on Normandie or Vermont. I used to love to sit at the counter and watch the cooks pull the ribs off the racks in the pits. The best food and memories.
The newest car I see is a 51, so that must be when the movie was shot. I don't know who took all these street scene movies but I wish there was even more of them. Lots of pre-war cars still on the road back then. Fascinating! Thanks for posting.
The newest car I see is a 52 actually, so that must be when the movie was shot. I don't know who took all these street scene movies but I wish there was even more of them, also. Lots of pre-war cars still on the road back then. Fascinating! Thanks for posting
This is absolutely amazing, it makes these earlier times so much more relatable to me, I was born about 30 years after this footage and I am so envious that I wasn’t alive during this wonderful period of history.
@@Ghostleakchannel How many Mexicans were there in 1821 when it was still part of Mexico? Oh, almost none? So that means Mexicans didn't want to come here until whites made it great.
Simply mind-blowing! The Tar Pits prior to any development, or museum buildings. Coulter's! Orbachs! Van De Kamps! Wilshire and Fairfax where Johnnie's is a parking lot! I love the little deco building just to the west of the Johnnie's lot. Thanks for a small sampling in your time machine, killer footage as always!!!
And a lot of independent businesses too. I even saw a corner cafeteria! I for one still try to shop at stores, and i try to support small businesses. I do very little online shopping. However, I would like to see more festive decor in stores during Christmas time. When i was a kid and young adult i remember all of the beautiful Christmas and holiday decorations, and even though the stores were crowded and the parking was horrible, I still enjoyed it, because it felt like a special season. Now you go to the store and you see some cheap cardboard cut outs if anything at all. It doesn't make me get in the spirit. Furthermore, you cant buy for anyone, because they probably already have it from Amazon. I guess that's why evey year I feel the spirit of giving less and less. I guess that's why I look toward charitable giving more and more, especially outside of the U.S. during "The Holidays"
LA's and America's Golden Age without a doubt. Everything clean, spotless, people well dressed and mannered... Treasures long gone and forgotten. Today driving between La Brea and Fairfax is a different story.
Me too! Actually, just the 40s, 50s and early 60s. I remember this street and the rest of Los Angeles and Southern California, from about 1966 on. Wilshire blvd remained the same up until the mid to late 80s. It was white flight, especially Jewish flight was the death of the wilshire miracle mile area of Los Angeles.
@@euphoricmonk It’s not lol. streets in the 50s were literally filthy. just because they shown you sunny side california on a perfect day doesn’t mean it was clean.
@@troelembiid6970 literally no trash on the streets in this film lol. Today almost every street in LA has / is trash. It's the people period wake up to the regression political parties.
This sure brought back memories. I lived in Hollywood in the 1950s as a very young child. Names long forgotten: Ontras, Standard, Richfield, Innes Shoes, Ohrbachs, Van DeKamps, DuPars, Foreman & Clark's. Can you hear the manual clutches on the cars? My dad drove us up and down Wilshire back in the day.
These were the “wonder years” of American History. Back in 51, my Dad tells me everyone was working and enjoying the best life. All the guys would show up in work clothes, use the company showers after, and walked out wearing a suit. He was a “Blue collar” at Bethlehem Steel which had a workforce of over 1000 strong. We were a family of 6, living in a modest home where my Mom was a “housewife”. We even had milk and bread delivery. Those were the days.
@@kevinharris7902 In California Black people had it good, stop listening to your liberal teachers. Did you know Compton, California was a very nice upper middle class Black neighborhood, until the Democrats got a hold of it?
Wow! We have lost something, nowadays, haven't we? How well-dressed everyone looked and everything was clean and well ordered... I can just about remember the feeling from the late 1950s
@@V1AbortV2 you are completely ignorant if you think this is about minorities coming in and destroying everything. Imagine if they actually paid minorities a living wage back then we wouldn't have the problems that we have now. Of course, now the majority of people are being paid the way minorities were being paid back then so now everybody's fucked
And all of those clothes were super affordable and sold at JCPenney's, Sears, and Montgomery wards, they were manufactured in the USA, primarily in New York City's garment district. Now everything is manufactured in China by slave labor and everybody's running around in basically underwear (T-shirts) and all the profits are being funneled up to a very few.
You have done a fantastic job on this project. I have never seen such clear movies of real life from the past. It is really interesting and you can pause it and really look at things. Thank you for creating this documentation on what our country was like back in whatever decade. I often wish I could go back to that time and live, much happier and easier times then what we are dealing with today.
Thank you! I grew up in this neighborhood and it was really interesting to see what it looked like back then. I instantly recognized fairfax, but everything looked so different. That Ralph's looked way fancier back then. The house I grew up in was built in the 20's. It would have been cool if this video went a little more east to highland so I could see it, but it's all good. Thanks again!
A film or video, any video whether shot a hundred years ago or an hour ago, is a true time capsule. It captures things as they are in a precise moment and a precise manner and holds on to it for decades until it's opened at a later date.
That's a good thing. People should be prioritized over cars. The 1950s was the beginning of the ideal that cars should rule the worlds and we're still suffering from to this day.
It looks amazing, better than the present. I like the fonts of the lettering on the stores and restaurants, the design of the cars, and the mix of foliage and buildings.
The future of this city has become like a dystopian sci-fi movie,sadly it's not the only city.The 50's weren't a utopia either,but clearly better than the present.Great remaster!
would love to see a movie about that; guy from 2040 LA goes back to 1950s LA, tells one person what the future is like Ele Geh Beh communities, favelas, China is now a super power , Texas is on the brink of sucession, All our youth wants to be Japanese , spanish is now mainly spoken in LA, a Maya ah te president, the dems like upton sinclair now rule the state. Gosh, they would think that guy was just joking and laugh their a55es off ...but its haunting to know that he wasn't kidding. But the ending would be like him not wanting to leave to 2040 and to remain in 1950 ; meanwhile in the 2040 world, the world is going into chaos. He goes back but instead to 2080, and know people like him are being held in museums and amusment shows and hes being showcased like ISHI the Yahi. .. and people of the future study him and record him as a last relic of a peaceful great era.
Those days were not better than today. Too much leave it to beaver. There were so many broken families. Women weren’t happy. Wives wanted to leave abusive husbands but couldn’t because they has less rights and opportunities as men. Extreme inequalities regarding Black communities. Black schools received pennies compared to white schools. Black HS graduation rates were almost zero. Today it’s much better.
@@plpfctn2007 No manches guey. .. you just described the golden age minus the womens rights parts , rights for latina, white and asian women are a good thing.
This was right after my fifth birthday. My dad worked at a gas station on Wilshire -- I don't remember which one, but I thought it was really cool that his name was embroidered on his shirt -- and I do remember this is what it looked like whenever we went down that street. Thanks for the memories!
Standard stations were big at that time. Also Mobil and Seaside. 27 Cents per gallon and you got a dinner plate...what a deal. I was six at the the time of this film.
Very cool, everything looked so clean, every one dressed nice, the street was even clean. It looks like art. My parents always said LA or Cali period was paradise back then, I can see why.
Excellent video and a real pleasure to watch! Amazing to see so many empty lots along Wilshire Blvd and the lack of many large trees which made the city look very different from today. What I'd give to be able to drop in and visit LA at that time period.
I did -- was born in L.A. in 1956; some of the best times in America at that point. Something we didn't take for granted; we were only 11 or so years removed from a world war and rebuilding an economy that was second to none by the time I entered school in the 60's. Back then it was all about the new cars that came out every September, the new TV shows that came out in September, and a middle-class lifestyle enjoyed by almost everyone there. Plus I had brand-new Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm practically in my backyard. Being a kid back then was heaven. Wouldn't have traded it for anything.
@@ugaais cmon, only filfth in America are Americans and ur christianity and baptism. Don’t you think that natives consider you for a filfth tho? Wake up 😂
What a lovely glimpse into the past. Interesting to see how many of the buildings are still here (I live just down the street from The Miracle Mile where this was filmed). And did you notice all of the cars switching lanes because they didn't want to be behind the camera? These days, people would be clamouring for a close-up! ;)
So fantastic that someone had the foresight to film something like this perhaps not realizing that people would watch this in amazement 70 years later.
I know that drive well. Drove right down onto Wilshire at 4:14 from my studio apartment on 1st Street, headed west every morning on my motor bike most of mid-60s as I raced to school at UCLA, miles out in Westwood. Nothing like biking it early mornings almost alone on the boulevard, ten or twelve miles to school. And even better in the dark of night, heading home to study into the wee hours. Air in my hair. Mind racing with new vista's. A beautiful place. A beautiful time. I knew it was special and I knew it wouldn't last.
Most location shots were done back then as opposed to on lots if it was a city or Los Angeles shot. You couldn't build better sets than what they had everywhere.
The art work on ads and general great pops of graphics on signage! Stunning world, a whole lot of life on the streets. Imagine those same people of 1951 seeing today's Google Map and telling them this will be how the future looks. I noticed a lot of woman and I guess there were not that many options in those days other than shopping or homemaking. Teacher, nun, sales clerk or maid. But what a humane looking place visually. Today it's just a cold wall devoid of taste 90% of the time in it's atmosphere.
@@artoo45 Horrendous air pollution was not an everyday thing in 51.' That came later. There were certainly weeks of it for sure in 51' but I just read a thing recently about the smog index and the 'insufferable,' bit didn't start until later in the decade.
I wish vintage fashion was still seen on the streets. I'll sometimes go out wearing a brimmed hat and overcoat etc but feel out of place... one kid even asked me if I was from WW2 😂
So refreshing!! There was no one with a smartphone and people were socializing with each other. That's how human life should look like. What have we done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad I came across this. As a car guy I always wondered what driving around in the past was like. I've seen these cars parked at car meets and drive away. I've got to hear what they sound like, what they smell like. But I've never seen them all drive around in their time period, until this video. Thank you for this. Crazy how a video something so pointless as driving around now carrys so much meaning. Makes me think I should record my commutes to work maybe one day I'll cherish watching it.
There is such a peacefulness to the entire town...its like we are watching a movie about the town in the 1950's. Everything is so very clean and quiet. Nothing is out of place. Even the car horns are pleasant and not obnoxious or loud.
In fairness, this WAS for a movie. These were background scenes used in some movie that probably showed two people in a car driving down the street and talking to each other. These were the background scenes you would have seen through the windows of that car. But this wasn't anything special or staged or magical. This was just a camera car driving down the Miracle Mile area a few times, which happened so often then that most people didn't even notice they were being filmed.
My dad was born in 1927 and passed away in 2018 and like you I feel the same way. He loved this country. He would be heart broken to see the direction it's going.
I remember riding in those cars as a child. Life was simple. The Studebaker was really plush on the inside and vehicles were made very well. Some towns back then turned into citys now. Kids ran and played outside instead of in front of a computer. We could not wait to see our friends. No social distancing BS unless you were sick you stayed home. Touching and huging spreads love while communicating which is good for your soul. The laws and rules now are only to divide us. Don't buy into that scam.
I remember riding with my folks in their brand new Studebaker and the rations during the war! Bread was oñly 10 cents a loàf , añd milk arrived at our doorstep in glass bottles! That was the good old days,! I feel sorry for the kids of today with all the drugs and scamming that's that's going on!
Amazing look back to the past! Some really cool cars on display. This video does a great job of showcasing the differences between vehicles of the mid 30s, all the way to the early 1950s. It was an era of quickly evolving automotive styling as cars got lower, longer, and wider!
Everything looks so clean and tidy, and everything has style. The architecture, the cars and the clothes. Women wore fancy dresses and every man wore a suit and tie.
@@georgesealy4706 Well it still clearly has the old world character pretty much anywhere you go, just compare it to the modern suburbs like Irvine or Costa Mesa, yes they are all brand new and clean and shiny but they have the 2000s tech design and high end feel but no old world character.
hermoso! realemente tengo el mismo sentimiento y eso que soy y vivo en Argentina, pero ver la EEUU de la post guerra, y esa properidad, el glamour, lo vanguardistas que eran con la arquitectura y esos super carteles, me fascina! que bueno que lo hayan filmado. saludos
This wonderful time capsule takes us Back to when plastic bags weren’t flying across the street or every building on the street being lined with graffiti. This was truly California at its best
What a remarkable time capsule! The streets and buildings were so clean and neat. Almost pristine. No homeless druggies or prostitutes. The signage on the businesses was amazing. My how we have fallen morally in 70 years. So sad.
@@JordanWilliams-ix2td The black family was stronger by far though. LBJ’s so-called ‘Great Society’ programs set in motion the rapid decline of the nuclear black family with responsible fathers. That’s an undeniable fact. But yes, I am old enough to remember Jim Crow in the South and segregation. Now liberals are pushing for segregation again. Hmmm.
There were plenty of homeless, "druggies", and prostitutes. They were deeply marginalized and cast out of the public view in order to keep up the idyllic American image. I'm not denying that this footage shows some stunning urban scenery. Now every city feels the same, lacks character, and feels disorganized.
America was built on small businesses, and still is to this day. They employ 47.1% of the people. And surprisingly they make up 99.99% of u.s businesses! Some info for ya
Yes, and the time to sit and have a cup. My grandmother used to work in downtown Los Angeles and when she had a coffee break she would go downstairs to the coffee shop and have her coffee and danish.
These are fantastic. Like time travel. I know this street well and it's amazing having the opportunity to observe the changes and how much better things looked back then. Keep up the good work.
hmm no. Every era has ups and downs, we only know the idyllic part of those days we did not live, but it had surely ups and downs as today. Considering that things evolve, many things like civil and human rights and other crucial spheres must be way better today. Although the aesthetic and music are absolutely more interesting then
Incredible restoration! So much cleaner and steadier than the original B&W. It would be interesting to film the same passage today to compare and contrast.
Naja also als Frau würde ich diese Zeit nicht so positiv sehen. Eine Führerin in den Universal-Studios, bekannt für ihren Sarkasmus hat uns Besucher mal erzählt, dass das Fließband nicht bei Ford erfunden wurde sondern in den vielen Abtreibungskliniken von L.A. in den 1920er Jahren bis Anfang der 1960er. Von einer Zeitreise haben die Besucherinnen dann doch absehen wollen.
@@edwinkurz6572 wollte mich rein auf die Optik beziehen, nicht wie es früher gelaufen. Denke durch solche Straßen gehen zu können (unabhängig von dem, was du geschildert hast) hätte doch was 😁
Films like this make one realise how much those running the planet have helped turn a once prosperous world into a total mess. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of a golden age.
Absolutely wonderful to see. The cars, how nicely people dressed, the wonderful architecture the buildings. How clean it looked. I remember listening to a broadcaster years back who, growing up in the 50's as a kid, said the most striking memory he had about it was it seemed like everything had just had a new coat of paint. I can really understand what he meant.
Wow stunning video...fantastic american cars...is another era...much different of Italy 50 years...California is my dream...thank you so much for pubblicazion
Wow, everything looks so modern and clean - and they finally invented the stripes and lanes on the road, making it much less scary! And don't forget to order now: the $ 795 bomb shelter! :) PS: much better and believable sound this time
The clean look is also due to the enhancement process. The edges are kept sharp, but anything in between is smoothed out. If you watch the cracks in the road you can see how they dissolve into the road as they get further from the camera.
@@rerite2 Quiete a lot, probably. It was the time of the atom bomb scare, when people were told to prepare for war against the Soviets. And this bunker is probably just as useless as the other ways of protection that were promoted back then, like ducking under a table when a nuke goes off.
@@ccc3 Possible, but also because there was a lot of new stuff being built. You can see a number of brand new business houses. It was when the economy started really to pick up - when America was actually getting great, not only in silly political speaches. Also the cars show this. Until 1946 there were no new private cars sold, because of the war effort. And the majority of cars here are 50s models - so only few years old. Gee, if you would own the content of just one of those car parks at the shops! It would be a fortune today.
Not much has changed. Yet, everything has. Surreal to look back in time like this. IMHO, these types of videos are the best thing on RUclips. Love it!! Keep up the good work. 👍
Nass, wooww, you are a genius with showing this video. I don't know if you could record a video with this same tour today and show it both at the same time, synchronizing on a shared screen, so you can see very graphically what has happened in these 70 years, thanks for your effort someone living there could do it and share it, we would appreciate it...
![Residential area of Los Angeles 1940s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gRS1LGvI8Lk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Residential area of Los Angeles 1940s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/tr.png)
Would you like to visit the 1950's? Which city would you like to visit?
Las Vegas !
New York
Anaheim, California
any of them. the coloreds knew their place back then.
Vegas, definitely.
I was raised in Los Angeles in the 1950s and this was amazing to watch. Most of this footage was made as background for movie scenes which show a driver and the passing scenery outside the windows, but how wonderful just to see the city as it was back then! WOW! Everyday people wearing nice clothes doing everyday things. We had great style back then and the architecture and storefronts were so charming and clean! The "MAYCO" building was actually "The May Company Department Store", so the sign actually says "MAY CO"... and that same building today is the newly remodeled and revitalized ACADEMY MUSEUM (which shows movie props, costumes and sets from famous movies over the years). It looks as beautiful as ever. My mother worked for the MAY CO. Department Store for over 30 years. They were still in business in the 1980s. THANKS FOR SHOWING THESE! I'm a fan!
It's amazing how beautiful all the Art Deco style buildings don't exist anymore, even MayCo looked fab, we need to stop tearing down history but too late for that.
Yes, I remember going to May Co. in the mid '80s.
@@siddrajput1029 May Co, Robinsons, The Broadway, Bullocks, Montgomery Ward 😊
Thought I seen Perry Mason!
I had the pleasure of doing work on Mrs. May's house in Beverly Hills late eighties. Very nice lady
Incredible. This is, to be precise, the week of August 1, 1951. Just about a year prior to this, my father owned the restaurant that would become Du-Par's - it was called the Kiru Cafe. Was there from 1948 through January 1950. By June, it was Du-Par's. Amazing how empty Wilshire was in 1951. And equally amazing that some of the buildings west of Fairfax are still there.
Looked like a nice place!
I got 1951 from "The Frogmen", but how did you get the exact week?
@@pgannon1948 Movie section of the LA Times - that was the only week that double bill played there :)
Excellent. I would date this in the latter part of 1950, account the latest model cars I saw were 1951 Fords, but not many of those, which would indicate the 3rd quarter of 1950 to me. Saw no 1952 model Fords. Might you be off a year?
@@W7DSY Nope, I was able to pinpoint the exact week because of the double bill that was playing at the El Rey - that double bill only played there the week of August 1, 1951.
Is it just me that thinks the cars of that era blend in so well with the surrounding architecture and scenery?
I think part of the reason is that reds are poorly rendered with this type of film-coloring.
Lot's of Art Deco everywhere.
@@youchris67 Yes, Art Deco starting in the 30's transformed cities across the US. Such a vibrant and exciting style.
iT'S JUST YOU.
You are so right. Everything has that 50's look we all see on old TV shows and movies of that era.
Clean, uncongested, great weather... no wonder so many moved out there in the 50s!
That's how it became dirty and congested
Ahora está llena de negros 😃
They certainly made solid cars in the 50s but the downside was they smelled a lot
@Grid-net Gaming I’d say 80’s
@Grid-net Gaming It took a few decades in didn't happen all at once.
This totally feels like a nostalgic familiar dream, even though I wasn't here yet, it feels so familiar and comforting. It's like a live painting into another world. The 50's era is awesome!
Maybe in a past life 😉
And you could feel safe in your very own bomb shelter 4:28
Unless you were Black, gay, Asian, crippled, Latino, Arab, or just about anything that wasn't white and Christian.
@@richpryor9650 Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?
@@ballaking1000 Don't cut yourself on that edge bro.
My 94 year old grandpa watched this and really enjoyed seeing his memories again, so clear.
Thank you from felix
Both my folks grew up in this area during the 30s & 40s, My dad in Hollywood & West Hollywood & My mother a little further east
Wow that is amazing! God bless him.
Was this a Jewish neighborhood back then too?
Твоему дедушке очень повезло жить в то время!
Thank your grandpa for his service.
From a French point of view, it seems to be a much more civilized and prosperous era for everyone. The streets are clean, the people well dressed and elegant, you can also recognize the "Art Deco" architecture used for almost every building, the streets were really classy back them. I would have loved to walk in the streets of that time.
At 4:28 bomb shelter I guess $795.00 wow. Maybe they thought China was coming.
This is after ww2. The United States was still experiencing the benefits of the war machine and every other industrialized nation was destroyed.
Yep, technology has made the world a less interesting place, less creative, and far more authoritarian.
Because our culture was not centered around sports and joggers.
@@nicholaslittlefield4424 Not a jogger in sight.
At 4.38 when the camera car pulls over and the 3 generation family, kids, mother & grandmother notice the camera , it feels like you're seeing it in real time as they look right at you . this is only made possible by the magnificent restoration & presentation of this film . I get a wee sad feeling when I think that if the 2 kids are still with us they will be well into their eighties. Some have commented that it's like looking at ghosts, but I actually feel that the quality of the restoration makes us the ghosts visiting them in their lifetime , and I love that feeling that as we watch in wonder , they are all alive again and going about their daily lives. So, my fellow ghosts let us journey back with a big contented smile .
My mother is 82 and a half right now. So those kids could still be around.
You made a great reply to this film.My compliments.
"They" say you can't go home again. You've just disproven that. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stroll the streets of my childhood pretty much as it was when I was born. You have literally brought tears to my eyes.
Love both comments 🙏
Why is it they say "you cant go home again"
The streets and sidewalks are so clean and tidy - and no graffiti to ruin and bring down the area. Some lovely cars, and stores that lend character to the place. Thanks for sharing - I loved watching it.
Your gayness is hearting my soul
This neighborhood is still clean and tidy. There's no graffiti. This is still an upscale area. Who thinks every inch of L.A. is covered in graffiti? 🤷♀️
@@etherealtb6021 people who only study the media
Mass and illegal immigration changed everything.
The most striking thing is how fresh and new everything is without litter and people screaming on the corner.
Good times.
no gang violence or taco stands. it's beautiful
@@chadfren enjoy your burgers and hotdogs btw your sister is waiting for you on your bed
@@milkdud0 your mad at something beautiful... lol. you people fuck everything up
Yet people were still stupid enough back then to bolt across the street in traffic even though there was a crosswalk 50 ft away. Some things never change!
Alot of these buildings & so forth were newly built; they weren't as settled in as other places in LA.
The real Los Angeles. The one everyone dreamed about and the city we wish we had back today.
#Nonsense. I love history, but we need to move forward.
#Nonsense. I love history, but we need to move forward.
This is my neighborhood. Except for the 20- storied buildings where the parking lots were - it isn't that different.
Indeed!
@@bobcuster8930 We most definitely did "move forward", and look where that ended.
brings back memories: Having milk shakes at VanDe Kamp's; shopping at Ohrbachs, and visiting the swamp land in La Brea Pits before the museum existed. Also this Ralph's architecture is the same as the first one in Westwood - The architecture of that building is stunning.
Is that a Ralph’s grocery store? So cool to see things from back then that still exist today! ✌🏻🙂✌🏻
We ate pretty often at Van DeKamps as well as Orbachs and May Co. I still drive along this section of Wilshire Blvd.
@@oceanlover3530 yes
What is the cross street where the Ralphs is at?
@@AntiMasonic93 I don’t know but it isn’t there anymore
Lived it! Built a "fort" with neighborhood buddies up in the framework behind one of the double billboards just west of Fairfax. The underbrush of the La Brea tar pits was our playground. Got caught one night (underage) working as a doorman at the El Rey theater by one of the office staff at my junior high school. We walked to school and hitchhiked everyone, without incident or concern. Looking back 70 years, everything seemed much more human, both in scale and even kindness.
Wonderful memories, thanks for sharing
Amazing! 😊✨
Very cool thanks for sharing 😄
Today, half of your taxes go on paying for the debt run-up on funding the enormous military build-up (on such things as the giant disfunctional 'Gerald Ford' aircraft-carriers, 'F-35' fighters that cost $40,000 an hour to maintain...) while jobs are 'outsourced' and the country falls apart.
At about :48 seconds in, they drive by the El Rey theater. It was showing "Fugitive Lady" (aka La strada buia) which was released in the U.S. on July 15, 1951 (not to be confused with the 1934 film of the same name). "The Frogmen", the other film playing, was released in the U.S. on May 24, 1951. The two films played the week of Aug. 1, 1951 at that location.
Exactly!
Good spotting!
Now THAT is how you do your research, kids! Bravo.
I see several more buildings just past El Rey that still exist on Streetview.
Fugitive Lady, starring Janis Paige... whom is still alive today at 99 years old! Cool.
Amazing how clean and fresh Wilshire Blvd was back then, and the art deco buildings so very cool. Born there in the 50's, what a great city it was then
Art Deco and Streamline Moderne were the best architecture styles!
It is still clean. I live in this neighborhood. Thankfully, many of the Art Deco buildings are still here, but we keep an eye on them, as everything is being torn down for ugly apartment buildings!
The most beautiful time to have lived in California ... really until the late sixties. Gorgeous.
The decline began when the Clampetts moved in...
Yes, as long as you were white.
@@shrimpflea Good old days
@@shrimpflea white; and well to do....
@@shrimpflea go back to CNN, buddy.
I was born in 1949, many of these things are very familiar to me, others I had forgotten, the person who filmed these images had no idea that 70 years later they would be more widely publicized than then, NASS… thank you!
Everything looks peaceful, LA after the 60 'changed drastically, those people almost and all of them already deceased couldn't imagine that this city would be as it's today with drugs and other vices, with so much violence, what a shame!
This is like going back in time. One thing though - it wasn't as peaceful as we'd like to remember. Note the sign for "Bomb Shelters'" for only $789.00!
Filmed apparently one month before i was born, it looks so clean and beautiful, everything on a human scale, no drugs or violence and vagrants, we have super technology today but we've lost an awful lot of nice stuff on the way.
America Was Paradise.....before Our and the Western World's Enemy Screwed Our Great Country with their "Hart-Celler Immigration (Invasion) Act of (Treason) 1965" thank's to the "'Tribal"' Members of Emmanuel Celler & Jacob Javit's. Anyone who neither understands or believes this was Always the Biggest Problem for America, the Freedom and Liberty We had and the Traitor Scumbag and Freemason Franklin D. Roosevelt who brought us into WW 2 Just so We could Destroy Germany and Uncle Adolph who Only wanted to Destroy Communism and prevent it's further infiltration of Europe.
Look it up and know Who and What the World's Greatest Enemy Really is. Here's a hint: "'They"' are the Deniers of Jesus Christ and had him Crucified because He was Exposing "'Them"' for what and Who they really are; the Synagogue of Satan!!
I believe that the beginning of the end was 1967 when the GI generation simply gave up trying to educate the youth then. Now those same youth have political jobs and are imprisoning the world.
thats because USA walked away from gold standard in 1971. everything changed for the worse.
Man I really love these old Los Angeles restorations, it’s wild to see places I know SO well looking so different. Is it odd to feel nostalgia for a time in which you never lived…?
thank you very much🙏
I feel the same, even for places I don't know well, some more than others, while other places there's no nostalgia whatsoever, it really depends on the "click" while watching.
Apart of that, it's amazing how these old times feel more serene, fraternal, calmer, at least, it's my impression.
There a word for it: Anemoia
“Anemoia is a new and nearly unheard-of word. Its meaning is just as the title would suggest; a nostalgic sense of longing for a past you yourself have never lived. It is nostalgia for the “good ol' days”; more specifically, the good ol' days you are too young to have known.”
@@mgtowacademy8433 Anemoia is a greek word and I know exactly what it means and all that strange feeling. Greetings from Greece!
@@Bebe7077 good to know; greetings from Florida!
It is hard to believe that ordinary people actually dressed well simply to go on errands or to work. How refreshing! Seems the 'fashion" industry has managed to make everyday citizens look like slobs, or freaks. L.A. looked so clean...even though we were having our terrible SMOG days. This footage is glorious! Takes me back to my time and neighborhood. WOW! Well done! and thank you!
Ikr, now Los Angeles is turning into Detroit. The houses are crappy and they're expensive, and the value of those houses are only increasing and there will be more homeless people and soon people will move out.
@@wurok871 Already happening. My memories of growing up in L.A. were _so_ great compared to now. Now, whenever I drive to SoCal I go outta my way to avoid L.A. proper, and I keep my head on a swivel when on the freeways down there.
Can’t push the blame onto someone else for looking or dressing like slobs. Its on us as individuals.
The buildings, cars, billboards, the way people dress is a form of art.
Just as it is today, was then, and has always been.
@@zacrl1230 As it is today?? lol.... urine and excrement on LA streets, frumpy women going to the mall in pyjamas and messy hair....
@@glennhankins6927
"frumpy women"
That comment says more about you than it does the current state of LA. . . And hey, you can do something to improve that situation, think about it.
is not was
@@zacrl1230 keep coping.. LA is a dump
Everything looks so clean and well kept.
@Proper There was still no garbage on the streets.....
The CIA psychology movement of the 60s aka hippie movement had not yet destroyed society.
The street were spotlessly clean back then. Everything looks so sane.
Lol That's only what you see on this particular video
@@1990758 yeah? You think so, well how about, In this particular video, what you’ll see in this video today is shit AND litter all over the city while the recording of this in 1950 was NOT shit AND littering. At least this recording showed cleanliness, go there now at the location and you won’t be able to say that
@@SixpackLeanStrongMind Oh and this video is very clean. It's a shame some things can't stay the same. Other than the segregation I'll take those days over today
@@SixpackLeanStrongMind Another win for diversity.
@@based9930 Now there's some of that subtle racism I was expecting when I clicked on this. 👏
Crazy! This video starts out at the 5600 block Wilshire Blvd & Ridgeley. The camera starts out facing west & just to the right you can see a side street. That's Hauser St. I used to work on the 5th & 6th floors of Hauser & Wilshire (where the windmill is) . It's just crazy that the video starts looking directly at the place I used to work. It's not the same building, but it's just fascinating. Thank you NASS for this, it's just incredible.
Born in 1980. But when I look at this beautifull scenery, I would loved to be 18 in those Californian 50's ❤️❤️
I feel same way I'm 34
30+ years before I was alive and it's magnificent. So CLEAN! That Ralphs store facade at 6:55 is gorgeous! Thank you, once again, for a five-star job!
5:33 I'm in complete awe at how clean those windows of that appliance store were, they gleamed! Everything around it, like everywhere else in this scene was immaculate!
Today it would have graffiti from one end to the other and the areas that were clean will have scratch marks all over. 🤦♂️
@5:28 that’s the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures! Amazing!
That’s when people took pride in themselves and their work.
They put their heart & soul into making a living, and their kids took over and pissed it all away.😢
That windmill on the Van De Kamp's sign is absolutely incredible! It's a shame they don't make signage like that anymore. Way more thought was put into the architecture even for simple places like coffee shops
One of the best street shots from the 1950s I've seen as an avid LA aficionado/historian.
I love figuring every location out in each shot. Great stuff! Great restoration!
thank you very much🙏
@@NASS_0 6:54 Elvis Presley
I grew up in the 1950’s and it was quite different, better in some ways, yet not so good in others. People valued work and the American dream of owing ones own home. Everyone dressed up much more than today
No matter what you think people still value work and the American dream of owning a home. It’s just a lot less attainable now.
The clean architecture of the buildings is amazing...
I have always considered that architecture to be ugly.
It really is beautiful
@@lindawilson2589 No one cares.
@@lindawilson2589 Its ok to be different.
And No Graffiti!!!
It’s almost dreamlike, it baffles me that this was 60 years ago
More like closer to 70 years ago.
Дружище, учись считать мой папа родился в 1963 и ему сейчас 60+
Now its a nightmare with all of the Tent cities, crime, drugs, Gangs, high taxes, cost of living, Sky high real esate.
@@reptiliandomination1 The Powers that be opened the flood gates too much. L.A. isn't really that large to hold 4 million people who are mostly scavengers.
@@ronemoboy: This was 1951.
Wonderful video. Brings back many memories of Wilshire Blvd in the 1950s and 1960s. At about 1:03 of the video is a BBQ restaurant called the Flying Saucer. Pretty much the only restaurant my parents took us kids to when we went out for dinner. Dad sure loved those ribs. 😂
Out of all the wonderful old places in this film, The Flying Saucer is the one I got the most excited about, I think! It was SO SO SO good I can almost taste it, just thinking about it!! I'm glad others remember it too.
@@helaine625Down the street from the Flying saucer was a barber shop shoe repair and a small parking lot.
Indeed I think it is like how when I go to the Starbucks or Subway next to where I worked you become a "usual". Heh
@@tagbarzeev3571 Those places I don't remember.... it wasn't VERY close to where I lived, so I didn't do barbering or shoe repairing right there. But good to know! 😃
When we used to visit my grandparents about this time we would go to a bbq place just off of Century Blvd, either on Normandie or Vermont. I used to love to sit at the counter and watch the cooks pull the ribs off the racks in the pits. The best food and memories.
The newest car I see is a 51, so that must be when the movie was shot. I don't know who took all these street scene movies but I wish there was even more of them. Lots of pre-war cars still on the road back then. Fascinating! Thanks for posting.
See my post above, the El Rey was showing the Frogmen, released 1950-1951.
The newest car I see is a 52 actually, so that must be when the movie was shot. I don't know who took all these street scene movies but I wish there was even more of them, also. Lots of pre-war cars still on the road back then. Fascinating! Thanks for posting
@@eedoamitay3341 What 52 did you see? I didn’t see any car over a 51 either.
@@dday9257 52 Cadillacs are tricky to spot. Not much different from 51; wheelcovers, emblems under the headlights.
@@1940limited 1950 Willys Jeepster at 2:53.
This is absolutely amazing, it makes these earlier times so much more relatable to me, I was born about 30 years after this footage and I am so envious that I wasn’t alive during this wonderful period of history.
Never knew California could be clean and neat
This is back when California was republican and 90% white. The floodgates of Mexico hadn't been open yet.
@@amunra4015 let’s not forget California was once Mexico.
@@Ghostleakchannel How many Mexicans were there in 1821 when it was still part of Mexico? Oh, almost none? So that means Mexicans didn't want to come here until whites made it great.
@@Ghostleakchannel When USA annexed California in 1849 there where less than 5,000 Mexicans in the entire state
…clean and neat with NO MINORITIES. Go figure!
Simply mind-blowing! The Tar Pits prior to any development, or museum buildings. Coulter's! Orbachs! Van De Kamps! Wilshire and Fairfax where Johnnie's is a parking lot! I love the little deco building just to the west of the Johnnie's lot. Thanks for a small sampling in your time machine, killer footage as always!!!
I was born and raised in fairfax district
And a lot of independent businesses too. I even saw a corner cafeteria! I for one still try to shop at stores, and i try to support small businesses. I do very little online shopping. However, I would like to see more festive decor in stores during Christmas time. When i was a kid and young adult i remember all of the beautiful Christmas and holiday decorations, and even though the stores were crowded and the parking was horrible, I still enjoyed it, because it felt like a special season. Now you go to the store and you see some cheap cardboard cut outs if anything at all. It doesn't make me get in the spirit. Furthermore, you cant buy for anyone, because they probably already have it from Amazon.
I guess that's why evey year I feel the spirit of giving less and less. I guess that's why I look toward charitable giving more and more, especially outside of the U.S. during "The Holidays"
LA's and America's Golden Age without a doubt. Everything clean, spotless, people well dressed and mannered... Treasures long gone and forgotten. Today driving between La Brea and Fairfax is a different story.
demographics lol
I'm glad I left LA
Lmao
That area is great now
@@andyanderson6522 nobody cares
@@SA-hz1rs Not so great. Traffic is a nightmare, good luck if you can find parking, very expensive and homeless people everywhere.
❤Thanks! Keep up the great work!
thank you very much god bless you!!
No one in my life seems to understand exactly how much I want to have experienced the 40’s through the 80’s
Late 40's to late 90's - best era to be alive.
Me too! Actually, just the 40s, 50s and early 60s. I remember this street and the rest of Los Angeles and Southern California, from about 1966 on. Wilshire blvd remained the same up until the mid to late 80s. It was white flight, especially Jewish flight was the death of the wilshire miracle mile area of Los Angeles.
But instead you get to experience the 20s... The shitty 20s
I do understand you because I would’ve loved to live during the early 40s- the early 60s
@@user-ik4kh9lt6d for a white man for sure
Cars from this era were soooooooooo much more attractive than modern day ones.
Well, they actually had style, were made of steel instead of plastic, and didn't have to conform to all the government BS.
@@trevorjameson3213 ahhh yes. Safety=bs
@@trevorjameson3213 crash one of those cars at 20 mph and you die
After they invented car designed by the wind tunnel, all style went out of the window
@@xavier3211 nah - made of american steel - strong - clearly youve never driven in one or crashed one
It's NOT the city, it's the people.
When people are disciplined, courteous, respectful and kind. You get a clean and beautiful city, period.
The city only looks clean because of the poor quality. Cleanliness on the street wasn’t taken seriously till the 70s.
@@troelembiid6970 Man your IQ must be below 80 to write that lol
@@euphoricmonk It’s not lol. streets in the 50s were literally filthy. just because they shown you sunny side california on a perfect day doesn’t mean it was clean.
@@troelembiid6970 literally no trash on the streets in this film lol. Today almost every street in LA has / is trash. It's the people period wake up to the regression political parties.
Indeed. What were the demographics of LA back then?
This sure brought back memories. I lived in Hollywood in the 1950s as a very young child. Names long forgotten: Ontras, Standard, Richfield, Innes Shoes, Ohrbachs, Van DeKamps, DuPars, Foreman & Clark's. Can you hear the manual clutches on the cars? My dad drove us up and down Wilshire back in the day.
Awesome! I like looking at the shops and advertisments along the drive.
Same...its amazing
Shops looked so modern
These were the “wonder years” of American History. Back in 51, my Dad tells me everyone was working and enjoying the best life. All the guys would show up in work clothes, use the company showers after, and walked out wearing a suit. He was a “Blue collar” at Bethlehem Steel which had a workforce of over 1000 strong. We were a family of 6, living in a modest home where my Mom was a “housewife”. We even had milk and bread delivery. Those were the days.
Yes so true
this makes me revel in nostalgia
except if you were black
@@kevinharris7902 nah the blacks were doing fine back then
@@kevinharris7902 In California Black people had it good, stop listening to your liberal teachers. Did you know Compton, California was a very nice upper middle class Black neighborhood, until the Democrats got a hold of it?
Wow! We have lost something, nowadays, haven't we? How well-dressed everyone looked and everything was clean and well ordered... I can just about remember the feeling from the late 1950s
this is early 1950 (1951 exactly), so a big difference to Elvis, Rockn Roll, Fonzie lifestyle of 56/57 and onward!
This is what happens when minorities move into an area. They DESTROY it.
@@V1AbortV2 you are completely ignorant if you think this is about minorities coming in and destroying everything. Imagine if they actually paid minorities a living wage back then we wouldn't have the problems that we have now. Of course, now the majority of people are being paid the way minorities were being paid back then so now everybody's fucked
And all of those clothes were super affordable and sold at JCPenney's, Sears, and Montgomery wards, they were manufactured in the USA, primarily in New York City's garment district. Now everything is manufactured in China by slave labor and everybody's running around in basically underwear (T-shirts) and all the profits are being funneled up to a very few.
@@artistnyc123 yeah I'm sure throwing cash at minorities will magically make them act like us. LOL.
You have done a fantastic job on this project. I have never seen such clear movies of real life from the past. It is really interesting and you can pause it and really look at things. Thank you for creating this documentation on what our country was like back in whatever decade. I often wish I could go back to that time and live, much happier and easier times then what we are dealing with today.
Love seeing these. With the current advancements in visual media and AR, this is the closest we've been to time travel.
I am so fortunate to have been here since then. But now it's a mess since the early 90s.
Thank you! I grew up in this neighborhood and it was really interesting to see what it looked like back then. I instantly recognized fairfax, but everything looked so different. That Ralph's looked way fancier back then. The house I grew up in was built in the 20's. It would have been cool if this video went a little more east to highland so I could see it, but it's all good. Thanks again!
I guess we can watch Highland here:
ruclips.net/video/9ANsX416aEk/видео.html
A film or video, any video whether shot a hundred years ago or an hour ago, is a true time capsule. It captures things as they are in a precise moment and a precise manner and holds on to it for decades until it's opened at a later date.
I was born in 1950. Enjoyed the video and would love to go back to that year at the age I am now. Thank you for sharing.
Now there’s something you’ll never see these days …People actually walking across the street at a brisk pace like you should. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
That's a good thing. People should be prioritized over cars. The 1950s was the beginning of the ideal that cars should rule the worlds and we're still suffering from to this day.
I love these videos, man it’s just so amazing! Seeing what life was like back then. Imagine traveling back in time..just so wild to me..
This has knocked me to smithereens! More please!! All of your videos are the closest thing to time travel. Bless you!
Hi, it is an honor for me to read your comment, I thank you, you video also are very beautiful, you can allow me to restore one? 🥰 🙏
I agree.
It looks amazing, better than the present. I like the fonts of the lettering on the stores and restaurants, the design of the cars, and the mix of foliage and buildings.
The future of this city has become like a dystopian sci-fi movie,sadly it's not the only city.The 50's weren't a utopia either,but clearly better than the present.Great remaster!
Wrong
would love to see a movie about that; guy from 2040 LA goes back to 1950s LA, tells one person what the future is like Ele Geh Beh communities, favelas, China is now a super power , Texas is on the brink of sucession, All our youth wants to be Japanese , spanish is now mainly spoken in LA, a Maya ah te president, the dems like upton sinclair now rule the state. Gosh, they would think that guy was just joking and laugh their a55es off ...but its haunting to know that he wasn't kidding.
But the ending would be like him not wanting to leave to 2040 and to remain in 1950 ; meanwhile in the 2040 world, the world is going into chaos. He goes back but instead to 2080, and know people like him are being held in museums and amusment shows and hes being showcased like ISHI the Yahi. .. and people of the future study him and record him as a last relic of a peaceful great era.
Those days were not better than today. Too much leave it to beaver. There were so many broken families. Women weren’t happy. Wives wanted to leave abusive husbands but couldn’t because they has less rights and opportunities as men. Extreme inequalities regarding Black communities. Black schools received pennies compared to white schools. Black HS graduation rates were almost zero. Today it’s much better.
@@plpfctn2007 No manches guey. .. you just described the golden age minus the womens rights parts , rights for latina, white and asian women are a good thing.
@@plpfctn2007 Hate to break it to you but feminists definitely aren't ever happy.
This was right after my fifth birthday. My dad worked at a gas station on Wilshire -- I don't remember which one, but I thought it was really cool that his name was embroidered on his shirt -- and I do remember this is what it looked like whenever we went down that street. Thanks for the memories!
Thank you
Standard stations were big at that time. Also Mobil and Seaside. 27 Cents per gallon and you got a dinner plate...what a deal. I was six at the the time of this film.
This is what I’ve been looking for. I am amazed. I live in this neighborhood today. What a huge change. Love it. More please. ❤️
thank you very much🙏
Is that Beverly Hills?
@@Hanover-ek4jy The Beverly Hills boundary is roughly where San Vicente Blvd. crosses Wilshire, just west of the filming.
@@Hanover-ek4jy It’s the Miracle Mile district of Wilshire Blvd and is blocks away from Beverly Hills.
@@bettejudyjoan 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Very cool, everything looked so clean, every one dressed nice, the street was even clean. It looks like art. My parents always said LA or Cali period was paradise back then, I can see why.
Excellent video and a real pleasure to watch! Amazing to see so many empty lots along Wilshire Blvd and the lack of many large trees which made the city look very different from today. What I'd give to be able to drop in and visit LA at that time period.
I wish I had known this era in the US!...Definitely my era! The music, the clothes, the cars and people!
I would give everything to be able to walk around in this era, experience life like that.
I did -- was born in L.A. in 1956; some of the best times in America at that point. Something we didn't take for granted; we were only 11 or so years removed from a world war and rebuilding an economy that was second to none by the time I entered school in the 60's. Back then it was all about the new cars that came out every September, the new TV shows that came out in September, and a middle-class lifestyle enjoyed by almost everyone there. Plus I had brand-new Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm practically in my backyard. Being a kid back then was heaven. Wouldn't have traded it for anything.
how old are you
It still had its problems. But not the problems we have today. We can see for ourselves how sad we’ve become.
black kids may have disagreed @@briane173
he is 67@@zyzyila5438
Everything is so clean well kept,and people dressed with class!
I wish these times would come back, most people are slobs now
No filth was let into the country then
@@ugaais cmon, only filfth in America are Americans and ur christianity and baptism.
Don’t you think that natives consider you for a filfth tho? Wake up 😂
@@BruselskySluzebnik no they would have fought harder
@@BruselskySluzebnik How can you say Americans were filthy whilst looking at a pristine city in the 1950s compared to what it is like today?
This was truly wonderful to watch. I grew up in this area and love watching how clean and undeveloped Wilshire was.
So what happened
What a lovely glimpse into the past. Interesting to see how many of the buildings are still here (I live just down the street from The Miracle Mile where this was filmed).
And did you notice all of the cars switching lanes because they didn't want to be behind the camera? These days, people would be clamouring for a close-up! ;)
Youre right about the cars switching lanes. I noticed that too. I would have done the same.
So fantastic that someone had the foresight to film something like this perhaps not realizing that people would watch this in amazement 70 years later.
I know that drive well. Drove right down onto Wilshire at 4:14 from my studio apartment on 1st Street, headed west every morning on my motor bike most of mid-60s as I raced to school at UCLA, miles out in Westwood. Nothing like biking it early mornings almost alone on the boulevard, ten or twelve miles to school. And even better in the dark of night, heading home to study into the wee hours. Air in my hair. Mind racing with new vista's. A beautiful place. A beautiful time. I knew it was special and I knew it wouldn't last.
The streets are too clean. Almost looks like a movie set at Universal studios
People had respect back then.
Most location shots were done back then as opposed to on lots if it was a city or Los Angeles shot. You couldn't build better sets than what they had everywhere.
Hardly recognizable today with all the trash lying on the sidewalk and curb. LA is a mess.
@Larry David it’s called a “Figure of Speech” like saying it’s “better than new”. Learn something everyday (patting you on the back)
@@markdc1145 Everywhere is a mess now compared to what it was even 30 or 40 years ago. It's a goddamned shame really.
The art work on ads and general great pops of graphics on signage! Stunning world, a whole lot of life on the streets. Imagine those same people of 1951 seeing today's Google Map and telling them this will be how the future looks. I noticed a lot of woman and I guess there were not that many options in those days other than shopping or homemaking. Teacher, nun, sales clerk or maid. But what a humane looking place visually. Today it's just a cold wall devoid of taste 90% of the time in it's atmosphere.
So clean,,,and people actually dressed for the day and not wearing Pj's and Flip flops into stores
If you think the sky in LA was that color in 1951, you're living in a fantasy land. That said, people did dress a lot better in those years.
@@artoo45 I think he's referring to there being no trash on the streets.
@@artoo45 Horrendous air pollution was not an everyday thing in 51.' That came later. There were certainly weeks of it for sure in 51' but I just read a thing recently about the smog index and the 'insufferable,' bit didn't start until later in the decade.
I wish vintage fashion was still seen on the streets. I'll sometimes go out wearing a brimmed hat and overcoat etc but feel out of place... one kid even asked me if I was from WW2 😂
Or with nasty tats all over there bodies and metal things hanging out of every orifice and their pants hanging below their underwear 😁😂😁😂
Beautiful. My mom was a teenager in the 50s. What a time to be a kid!
So refreshing!! There was no one with a smartphone and people were socializing with each other.
That's how human life should look like.
What have we done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad I came across this. As a car guy I always wondered what driving around in the past was like. I've seen these cars parked at car meets and drive away. I've got to hear what they sound like, what they smell like. But I've never seen them all drive around in their time period, until this video. Thank you for this. Crazy how a video something so pointless as driving around now carrys so much meaning. Makes me think I should record my commutes to work maybe one day I'll cherish watching it.
I’m noticing how clean the streets are.
There is such a peacefulness to the entire town...its like we are watching a movie about the town in the 1950's. Everything is so very clean and quiet. Nothing is out of place. Even the car horns are pleasant and not obnoxious or loud.
the audio was added in postproduction lol
In fairness, this WAS for a movie. These were background scenes used in some movie that probably showed two people in a car driving down the street and talking to each other. These were the background scenes you would have seen through the windows of that car. But this wasn't anything special or staged or magical. This was just a camera car driving down the Miracle Mile area a few times, which happened so often then that most people didn't even notice they were being filmed.
I agree
shithole now!
My Dad was born in 1925 and passed away in 2019; I'm sad to say that I'm almost glad he missed seeing the mess we are in today.
My dad was born in 1927 and passed away in 2018 and like you I feel the same way. He loved this country. He would be heart broken to see the direction it's going.
My grandad was born in 25 and died in 2019 aswell.
@Mister Google Haha no
@@mistergoogle1951 You think? Wow. You must not be paying attention.
The mess were in today? He was born in 1925 I dont think he missed much
I remember riding in those cars as a child. Life was simple. The Studebaker was really plush on the inside and vehicles were made very well. Some towns back then turned into citys now. Kids ran and played outside instead of in front of a computer. We could not wait to see our friends. No social distancing BS unless you were sick you stayed home. Touching and huging spreads love while communicating which is good for your soul. The laws and rules now are only to divide us. Don't buy into that scam.
I remember riding with my folks in their brand new Studebaker and the rations during the war! Bread was oñly 10 cents a loàf , añd milk arrived at our doorstep in glass bottles! That was the good old days,! I feel sorry for the kids of today with all the drugs and scamming that's that's going on!
You are right. Now we can´t even say hi or invite a woman to dinner because it´s considered harrasment....
i loved seeing this from time to time, just the old times of how something looks, its quite sublime thanks for the upload.
Amazing look back to the past! Some really cool cars on display. This video does a great job of showcasing the differences between vehicles of the mid 30s, all the way to the early 1950s. It was an era of quickly evolving automotive styling as cars got lower, longer, and wider!
The background noise is perfect. It gives the video depth. I love the old signage, too.
Wow, these videos are amazing! Your channel is a virtual time machine in which I can choose a video of a time period and almost feel like I'm there.
^^
Everything looks so clean and tidy, and everything has style. The architecture, the cars and the clothes. Women wore fancy dresses and every man wore a suit and tie.
A lot of the building had an 'art deco' style. They added to the character of LA. It's a free for all now, and LA looks ratty.
@@georgesealy4706 Well it still clearly has the old world character pretty much anywhere you go, just compare it to the modern suburbs like Irvine or Costa Mesa, yes they are all brand new and clean and shiny but they have the 2000s tech design and high end feel but no old world character.
Even the 'bums' wore suits....
I love vintage footage of places I'm currently familiar with. I love seeing how things looked "back then" which was before my time.
hermoso! realemente tengo el mismo sentimiento y eso que soy y vivo en Argentina, pero ver la EEUU de la post guerra, y esa properidad, el glamour, lo vanguardistas que eran con la arquitectura y esos super carteles, me fascina! que bueno que lo hayan filmado. saludos
This wonderful time capsule takes us Back to when plastic bags weren’t flying across the street or every building on the street being lined with graffiti. This was truly California at its best
Was is right
LOVE all that art deco / streamlined moderne!
What a remarkable time capsule! The streets and buildings were so clean and neat. Almost pristine. No homeless druggies or prostitutes. The signage on the businesses was amazing. My how we have fallen morally in 70 years. So sad.
Thanks gob Gavin nu
Meanwhile black people were treated as second class citizens in their own country at this time
@@JordanWilliams-ix2td The black family was stronger by far though. LBJ’s so-called ‘Great Society’ programs set in motion the rapid decline of the nuclear black family with responsible fathers. That’s an undeniable fact. But yes, I am old enough to remember Jim Crow in the South and segregation. Now liberals are pushing for segregation again. Hmmm.
There were plenty of homeless, "druggies", and prostitutes. They were deeply marginalized and cast out of the public view in order to keep up the idyllic American image.
I'm not denying that this footage shows some stunning urban scenery. Now every city feels the same, lacks character, and feels disorganized.
@@theFurDeficit Nothing like today. Moral decay is destroying our nation.
These videos amaze me. Thanks so much for posting.
thank you so much 🙏
Your videos are awesome ... and that's a massive understatement. Thank you for sharing!
Interesting to see bill boards advertising “Bomb Shelters”
Yeah, I noticed that too. Cold War and everybody afraid of getting nuked by the Soviets.
No starbucks on every corner yet, just good ol’ coffee shops
The general lack of chain stores, restaurants, etc in this video is really striking.
America was built on small businesses, and still is to this day. They employ 47.1% of the people. And surprisingly they make up 99.99% of u.s businesses! Some info for ya
no homeless encampments on every sidewalk.
Yes, and the time to sit and have a cup. My grandmother used to work in downtown Los Angeles and when she had a coffee break she would go downstairs to the coffee shop and have her coffee and danish.
@@guerralg63 Plus you could smoke.
Do You wante to live in 50s era?
Лови лайк :)
These are fantastic. Like time travel. I know this street well and it's amazing having the opportunity to observe the changes and how much better things looked back then. Keep up the good work.
Not everybody knows where Whilshire Boulevard is.
I would. There were issues with it but there’s issues with this era too
hmm no. Every era has ups and downs, we only know the idyllic part of those days we did not live, but it had surely ups and downs as today. Considering that things evolve, many things like civil and human rights and other crucial spheres must be way better today. Although the aesthetic and music are absolutely more interesting then
Incredible restoration! So much cleaner and steadier than the original B&W. It would be interesting to film the same passage today to compare and contrast.
Würde diese Zeit gerne einmal erleben. Einfach wunderschön die Autos und die Gegend 😁
Naja also als Frau würde ich diese Zeit nicht so positiv sehen. Eine Führerin in den Universal-Studios, bekannt für ihren Sarkasmus hat uns Besucher mal erzählt, dass das Fließband nicht bei Ford erfunden wurde sondern in den vielen Abtreibungskliniken von L.A. in den 1920er Jahren bis Anfang der 1960er. Von einer Zeitreise haben die Besucherinnen dann doch absehen wollen.
@@edwinkurz6572 wollte mich rein auf die Optik beziehen, nicht wie es früher gelaufen. Denke durch solche Straßen gehen zu können (unabhängig von dem, was du geschildert hast) hätte doch was 😁
@@JetztTesteIch Zu spät, ich war 1988 das erste mal in L.A. und Burbanks und kann mich an nichts erinnern was ich hier gesehen habe.
Films like this make one realise how much those running the planet have helped turn a once prosperous world into a total mess. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of a golden age.
I agree to disagree Those were bad times for minorities segregation
It really punctuates that fact. No tents, no homeless, no feces, no drugs on the streets. LA was once very different and very beautiful.
Segregation was at its peak during this time.
Every 10 yrs : set-back/ slow down/ recession/crash
@@AntiMasonic93 So what? Who cares? It's 15% of the population. It's trivial. The ocean to Africa is still open...
Absolutely wonderful to see. The cars, how nicely people dressed, the wonderful architecture the buildings. How clean it looked. I remember listening to a broadcaster years back who, growing up in the 50's as a kid, said the most striking memory he had about it was it seemed like everything had just had a new coat of paint. I can really understand what he meant.
Lol Maybe because that's a upscale neighborhood
In the 1950s people spent 12% of their income on clothes whereas today the average person spends only 3% income on clothes.
@@mattkierkegaard9403 Cheap imports, slave labor.
Wow stunning video...fantastic american cars...is another era...much different of Italy 50 years...California is my dream...thank you so much for pubblicazion
Wow, everything looks so modern and clean - and they finally invented the stripes and lanes on the road, making it much less scary!
And don't forget to order now: the $ 795 bomb shelter! :)
PS: much better and believable sound this time
Was very clean, Before the demographics started to change.
The clean look is also due to the enhancement process. The edges are kept sharp, but anything in between is smoothed out. If you watch the cracks in the road you can see how they dissolve into the road as they get further from the camera.
I'd love to know how many bomb shelters they sold!
@@rerite2 Quiete a lot, probably. It was the time of the atom bomb scare, when people were told to prepare for war against the Soviets. And this bunker is probably just as useless as the other ways of protection that were promoted back then, like ducking under a table when a nuke goes off.
@@ccc3 Possible, but also because there was a lot of new stuff being built. You can see a number of brand new business houses. It was when the economy started really to pick up - when America was actually getting great, not only in silly political speaches. Also the cars show this. Until 1946 there were no new private cars sold, because of the war effort. And the majority of cars here are 50s models - so only few years old. Gee, if you would own the content of just one of those car parks at the shops! It would be a fortune today.
This may be your best yet. Good subject and great enhancement. Thank you
thank you very much🙏
Not much has changed. Yet, everything has. Surreal to look back in time like this. IMHO, these types of videos are the best thing on RUclips. Love it!! Keep up the good work. 👍
Nass, wooww, you are a genius with showing this video. I don't know if you could record a video with this same tour today and show it both at the same time, synchronizing on a shared screen, so you can see very graphically what has happened in these 70 years, thanks for your effort someone living there could do it and share it, we would appreciate it...