We are so lucky to witness this marvelous footage of California in the early 50s. Even though our Golden State is not what it once used to be, and let's be honest, what place in the country has not changed? More people. More scars across the land. I'm still beyond grateful to live in California. To be fair, every state in our union has some quality that sets it apart from others. Not necessary to bash any state. Simply live and enjoy your own life, wherever in this great country your heart happens to live.
Bravo. Well said. I've lived in every time zone America has except Alaska...and I've been there. You are absolutely right. Beauty can be enjoyed everywhere.
Yes Californiais still the most beautiful place to live in the US. The weather is unbeatable too. And all that ocean! I am convinced that people bash California because they’re envious.
There are still places in this country that have not changed that much from the era in which this video was made.Snall towns in the eastern valley,small towns up north, and some places in the south, and in the Midwest still, I mean maybe they have changed some,but not all as much as California,or other states
I was born in California in 1968. It was wonderful. I can't bring myself to go back. At least not the part I grew up in down south. The farmers and farms are gone. Everything is overbuilt. I remember Balboa. Port of call Knotts berry farm the beaches. We moved out in 1976. B.F. Goorich moved to Mexico. Dad took a partial retirement. He worked here until 70. Great old memories in the film
California is still quite the variety of amazing places. Nowhere on Earth will ever be what California once was, though. Even the way it was in the 70's.
It still is here in Sonoma County. A gorgeous, environmentally preserved place with 51 Regional Parks, 8 State Parks, the Farallon Marine Sanctuary, protected agricultural and wilderness areas, some of the finest wines in the world and craft beers, gateway to the Emerald Triangle, spectacular trees, produce and flowers almost all year round, clean air and water. Spectacular Coast, rivers, mountains, non-GMO Farm to Table, wide variety of people and activities. Luther Burbank, whose farm and gardens are here, said "Sonoma County is God's special place in the universe". I love other special places in California too: mystical Ojai, magnificent Big Sur, Santa Cruz.. ancient redwoods are all over my County. San Francisco is still a uniquely beautiful City I visit after living there for decades . California has the largest geothermal field in the world, the 2nd tallest mountain in the U. S., the largest trees in the world, the tallest trees in the world - many of the tallest in my County - and the oldest trees in the world (Bristlecone Pines). 20 volcanoes, one of the Seven Sacred Mountains in the world (Mt. Shasta), also the most paranormal, the most minerals and gems in the U. S., the largest bird in North America (the California Condor, wingspread almost 9 ft. long, called the Thunderbird by the Yurok tribe). Deepest lake in U.S. with clearest water after Crater Lake, oldest lake on the continent (Clear Lake), humpback and orca whales, largest animals in the world occasionally - Blue Whales sometimes 100 ft long. Great white shark feeding grounds, varieties of seals, porpoises and dolphins, one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, giant Elephant Seals, California Sea Lions and Otters, delicious seafood like Dungeness Crab, Salmon, sometimes succulent abalone. Windblown Monterey Cypresses and Pines, tallest oaks in America, hottest place in the world (Death Family) and so much more. It's a superlative state, 5th largest economy in the world. There are also so many unique and charming towns smaller than SF and Los Angeles. Fabulous history and multi-diverse culture. I love my Golden State. Will never leave it, also because it is a liberal state. Don't want to live in a conservative red state. Nope. Uh uh.
Ah yes, the green jewel of the United states. from the Ancient sun kissed mojave, to the great death valley, its scorched wonders and cool Clear nights, at the feet of the mighty Sierra Nevadas. from the fertile valleys, to Santa Cruz, Carmel-by-the-sea, Monterey, Big sur, Santa barbara, San luis Obispo. and all the wonderful little towns in between. We are the absolute best of north america. I look upon my home with pride, always.
I was born in Kansas in the early 1950s, and moved to southern california with my parents in the early 1960s. I now live about a mile from Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, and this brings back some memories from my younger days. Thank you!
I was born in La Mesa, San Diego in 1961. I also now live about 1 mile from Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. Typing this at midnight on Jan 1st 2025. Happy New Year!
I must've moved a dozen times in my life and never lived more than a few blocks from El Camino Real. I grew up in the Bay Area and must lived or or worked in every city on the SF Peninsula. I wish I could go back in time and see it in it's heyday, it's so different now.
It's amazing how many documentaries of that time used the same voice artist. I can remember hearing this guy's voice as a child. It's a voice that has been with me for over 40 years now...and i cannot find out who this guy is anywhere. Please help if you know the amazing narrator who did hundreds of these films back in the 50s and 60s.
Did he do the voicing for the Movie tone News clips?I am guessing,he may have not been the same person.But I know what you mean,I recognize his voice for narrating other short movies, and videos like this of the past.
So fun to see Fairyland as it was when I was little. I have taken my own kids and my grandkids many times. It's still fun but not the same. Nothing stays the same, of course. I have a wonderful little book written by my father's cousin describing a horseback trip from San Francisco to Long Beach that she and her two sisters and their father undertook in 1916. A very different world back then!
Grew up in San Mateo in north shorview. It was considered the lower end of the town but for the people living in the neighborhood, we were happy living a simple life without luxuries.
Raised in Southern California. Moved many times. Pico Rivera, Norco, Garden Grove, Anaheim. Most adult years in Victor Valley. Had to move to Nebraska later. in life. I really miss California of the 50s+. Get a little sad when I am out there now.
I’m in Hesperia, be glad you did. The Victor Valley has changed for the worse. I’ll be leaving in about four years, where I don’t know. Mexico sounds nice.
Born 1960 and raised in Santa Clara County (Willow Glen Area) and lived for 24.5 years in SF. Back home in 2009 and still remember all of the Great sites from our family Sunday Drives to Mt. Hamilton Road in the Spring to see all of the patches of Orchards in full bloom. 1 year, 1968, my Dad said to us kids, "Look well since this will all be houses and malls." He was never wrong! The old "Valley of the Heart's Delight" my Grandparents knew in the early 1900s was paved over, although every home that put in a Fruit Tree never was disappointed. Good Fertile Ground.
I worked in San José in the 50s and saw great orchards West of what is now Highway 17. Driving from San Jose to Mountain View took me to Santa Clara, beyond which was a relatively open space, and at a tree lined curve was Vidal's Restaurant whose food I always wanted to taste but never did. The San Jose/Los Gatos Road was a series of service stations, used car lots, and fruit stands among groves where I recall seeing a 32 Cadillac four door sedan for only $200.l I helped a Fresno Japanese American pal and a white pal get a North San José cannery summer job , near Bini's a popular working class Taylor Street bar. Raised in dismal racist company town Fresno, where I had sweet supportive friends. I discovered the Bay Area had friendlier more cosmopolitan population, and better choices of employment, and I never looked back.
Born in Southern California, 1960, and appreciate the historical window provided. I did live in Pajaro for a bit (mid 1980s) before 'migrating' to Santa Cruz and Felton / Ben Lomond.
I grew up in Coronado during the 60s when my dad was stationed at the North Island naval base. It was a magical place then, I wouldn't change that experience for anything.
Yes. Best time for the most part, except for Angela Davis, Huey Newton, Sin Q, people's liberation army, the zodiac killer, riots in the hunter's point projects, cal Berkeley infiltrated with communists, drugs in haight-ashbury, California was a beautiful place to live. Universities and state colleges were affordable, housing was affordable, work was plentiful, schools were the best in the nation. The missions brought it all to us. Agriculture was top notch. Now? Thanks to forty years of demoncrats, the state is a toilet. Crowded, over populated, dirty, over priced. A disgrace.
@@pinetree9343Bull crap. It still is a beautiful place to live, San Francisco is still a unique and beautiful City, where I live you can't compare any other state to some of the superlatives of California, the most biodiversity, best year round climate, tallest, largest and oldest trees in the world, spectacular Coast and mountains, rivers, desert, more environmentally and healthy sustainable non-GMO farm-to-table produce, California is world's fifth largest economy and the American Salad Basket. Best wines, craft beers and weed. Relatively clean air and water. You list SLA and criminals like Zodiac as if no other state has criminals, it's ridiculous. I certainly am glad it's not a conservative, Trumpian-Republican State, most Republican governors like Abbott and de Santis are horrible, fascist leaning and women are dying from the draconian anti-women reproductive agenda. One of the few states with paid family leave and higher wages. People don't even come here and so they watch a lot of California-hating garbage on Fox News. Where I live in Sonoma County, it's like stepping into a beautiful calendar walking out the door. It's lush and beautiful, it was Luther Burbank's home and his farm and gardens are still here. He called Sonoma County "God's special place in the universe" because of the diversity of plantlife, year round temperate climate and fruit production as well as fertile terroir for wines, the beauty .. Burbank was entranced by it all, as am I and many others.
@@pinetree9343And I got news for you: overcrowded and dirty describes a lot of Midwestern and southern grimy little burgs, housing is overpriced everywhere, the National Minimum Wage is still $7.26 because of Repubs, homeless spreading everywhere. Inflation was never Democrats' fault. It was the result of war and systemic issues with supply and shipping because of COVID. Trump redistributed 80 per cent of our nation's wealth to the top 1 per cent and contributed 60 per cent of the debt and is about to do the same stupid thing again along with ruinous tariffs and crashing the economy with the idiotic deportations. I'd rather live here than anywhere. I'm not homeless but if I was I'd rather live in California than Minnesota or New York, Texas or Mississippi.
By the way, work is still plentiful, schools are still excellent in many areas (having worked in schools I can arrest to that), universities and scientific facilities like Lawrence Livermore Rad Lab among the best in the nation, it's still the center of much agricultural, tech, film, military, and so many industries and centers of learning. A lot of people who left California are coming back because life is grim in red states with draconian anti-abortion laws that are putting women's lives at risk. And Republicans hysterical Culture War nonsense about gays and trans (particularly when you consider that 95 per cent of pedophiles are heterosexual men, often married with children, and shockingly often Christian and Republican like Matt Gaetz and many others, including Trump.
I was born in Los Angeles in 1954 and moved to Pacific Grove in Monterey County in 1959. The brief scenes of Monterey's waterfront, the Del Monte Hotel and Carmel bring back many childhood memories. We moved to Marin County in 1962, so I was always near one of the missions.
Raised in San Jose then in 1961 we moved to Santa Clara. It was all beautifull back then. Orchards were still all around. No San Thomas Expressway. We lived on Stevenson St in Santa Clara. My folks first new home. Infact we had to wait for them to finish building it. The whole neighborhood was beautiful. We had STONGATE ESTATES, FORREST PARK. Now it looks like a scene from any street from the south. Rv's, boats, motor homes , pick up trucks, all sitting in front of houses and in driveways. What a change ! All I remember when I was living there were great looking cars in the driveways. We had a new Bonneville, our neighbors on one side had a new T-Bird, the other a Corvette and new Impala convertible. Growth sometimes destroys the beauty of what once was there.
Same here East side SJ 1963 Saw Capitol expy and Eastridge mall get built. My dad was airline pilot had small plane at RHV AP Tough hood had to fight a-lot but had a wonderful experience wouldnt trade😊
“Growth” gave you a home just like mine in Saratoga. Whether in Texas or Florida, development wasn’t invented by California. What an odd post…as if written by a conservative Texan.
@@fob1xxl - I was raised in Saratoga…and I saw the photos of the orchards that were bulldozed to make our homes. How far do we go back before we see our own contribution to what now is a real mess?
In the early 1980's you could still drive through Laguna Beach in the winter off season and never see a car on Coast Hwy. The town literally was closed for the winter months. ( Incredible; compared to what it's like now ). Extreme traffic jams during summer; especially. I miss my old Orange County; it's WAY too crowded now. Glad I was there before greedy developers ruined it. I have wonderful memories of how it used to be. Most of the beach towns were sleepy and super quiet.
@@susant700 I'm a Venturan born in '61, we were always overlooked and that was fine with us but covid put us on the map for some reason and now we're on our way to the same fate as the beach towns to the south which we've managed to avoid for forty to fifty years. Sucks.
@@flashback0978 LOL! How's the current debt working out? Is the high speed train to nowhere seen a single passenger? What's the current cost and timeline? The pipeline of Willy and Jerry Brown coat tail SF Bay politicians are driving this State into the ground!
This film must be from the early 1950s: - Disneyland isn’t mentioned at all, and it opened in 1955. - That Rose Bowl footage was from 1948; USC vs. Michigan.
My family back in 1950' s and 1960's ventured throughout California including the Mission trail. Loved seeing the sights I missed as a youngster. BTW the area around the Carmel Mission is now filled with homes; in the video only sand dunes. My video's narrative goes silent at 17:45 to 18:55. Otherwise very nice.
Yeah, just my luck it would go silent right when it gets to my home town... back in the day when ordinary middle class folks could afford to live there.
I lived in San Diego from 1957 to 1959 and it was a Great Place, my Dad was in the Navy and he was Stationed at North Island naval base, I remember riding the ferry to North Island with my Dad. I agree that it would be hard to match that time period.
@@pacz8114 Not just in 1923. Actually the wealthy lived in the Oakland hills and they actually have the best views and weather. Things change......that has to do with selfish POLITICIANS LIKE RONALD REAGAN who shifted our values from "for the good of all" to "greed is good. He discouraged higher education for all -instead he shifted us into selfish obsessed consumerism. THAT IS WHY DECADES LATER WE HAVE SO MANY HAVE NOT KIDS WHO NEVER GOT A DECENT EDUCATION. THE SELFISHNESS AND EMPHASIS ON KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING FOR LEARNING'S SAKE WAS minimized. I blame him for so much.
Born and raised in and around San Francisco in the 50’s & 60’s. I remember when it was safe, clean, and beautiful. I left and I do not see me going back.
grew up in the bay area, 50's - late 60''s. returned late 70's, left for good in 2002. hitch-hiked/motored up and down this road. i wouldn't recognize it now, i'm sure.
(in a tone of amazement) Gee! Those scenes of the San Francisco skyline in this film . . . to see that same region nowadays, one would think it was a different planet.
I found it strange that they referred to Paso Robles as a "resort city" the only "resorts" in the area that I have visited are Camp Roberts and Fort Hunter-Ligget.
Vineyards and wineries have become the big thing in Paso Robles over the last few decades. Nice hotels and restaurants have been built to cater to the wine country enthusiasts. Wine money built a new police station and has developed the town. I still wouldn't consider it a resort town like Palm Springs or Las Vegas.
In many ways this is a simple and beautiful travel video, but a year ago, I commented that I was surprised that, at the 18.00 mark, the narrator said “to teach a better way of life to a Pagan Race” when talking about the brutal Mission system. It was once glorified, until history finally set the record straight. Sadly, the poster of this video chose to edit it out, so there is now a gap in the sound track. This is a shame, since I think it’s important to see how far we’ve come in our understanding.
That era of Ca and the missions is a lengthy conversation and an odd one when trying to put things in perspective. In general, the entire process of making CA what it is today started through some of the most evil and disgusting actions and behaviors man displays. Soo many pure atrocities and horrible acts to mankind (the natives). However, when i take my disgust away and try to understand that the act of larger groups of people overtaking places that they seem suitable for them has been going on for centuries or more. What i consider evil, disgusting behavior today was not considered so in many cultures waaaaay before us. Even good hearted people wouldnt blink an eye centuries ago watching someone be tortured or hung. We are all products of our environment, so most of us know no better than the circle we are in. Humans slowly evolve and today, although america and most word is much more civilized there are still countries, locations where most the people act uncivilized and treat others as lesser people, such as early europeans and spanish did here etc. As we evolve those actions become disgusting, however, fast forward to this video where every single person was born waaay after these missions where built, born and raised in school systems that hid or watered down the truth of the pasts atrocities. Everyone in this video and everyone today has nothing to do with he past. We are all just the beneficiaries of those atrocities and the settlers who brought modern living to CA. As much as people like me hate hearing about the past and how CA came about, none of us are responsible, there is no one to blame or complain to about the past soo long ago. I live in paradise, a busier paradise but paradise none the less. I dont have many complaints but if im honest, its 2024, i think we all know the true past of our state and i do wish we would stop praising explorers or those who "founded" places they didnt find. I live on land that was inhabited by people for thousands of years, i have items from them ive found on my own property as many of my neighbors have. It would be great if we recognized them more but its tough to show respect or recognize those people when you there was very little left behind
Also referred to the largest mission as being built by a "vanished race" , which was not edited out..the accurate way to refer to the "vanishing" is genocide.
I would give anything to be able to time travel back to that time even for a day!! We lived on Point Dume Malibu from 1971 on because it was cheap enough for my parents. Dad worked in Santa Monica/Venice Beach area and Pt. Dume was considered the country. We day tripped all over southern and central California and I just want to go back and visit that time so badly. I want to cry too - glad I am not the only one.
My parents met in the late 50s on the El Camino cruise I was able to drive my firebird in the cruise before it's ban in the early 90s so many beautiful car's
I remember cruising el camino in san mateo, It seems like as soon as they banned cruising All we heard about was gangs. We traded cruising for Violence good job angry Business Owners
@ I will! They were about to be thrown away and I begged the storage facility to let me have them. I’ve contacted the Univ of Houston archives and the Texas Library archives, no one ever gets back in touch.
I love how everyone moved to California and complains . Perhaps we natives should encourage them to move back. I was not only born her, my mom, grandmother and I was baptized at San Diego Mission.
I miss California terribly and have since I left in 2008. I've been homesick every day since! I had to move back to Oregon to care for my parents. But, what they say is true - now more than ever - once you leave California, you can never buy your way back. Well, this was a sweet reminder of the missions and more, some of which I have toured. I wonder if there's an old film tour of the long road, actually called El Camino Real, which starts in San Jose and ends in San Francisco. That must have been great in the 1950s - probably quite rural in many places, orchards galore!
Filmed around 1956 looking at the cars on the ferry. Lived in LA 1944-1969; most memorable were the lung and eye burning smog days. On the welcomed Santa Ana wind days, the smog would clear-out, blowing it out to the ocean and down to San DIego and also down into Riverside and San Berdo where it was trapped for many days...
Yes, it depends on where you live in California. Southern California has been over developed. Costal Central California is still very nice but expensive. The developers never stop trying to make everywhere in California look like Southern California.
I lived in an apt a block away from El Camino in Sunnyvale in 1974. I was an engineer in Silicone Valley at the time but then became a total failure and left CA never to return.
Wow, California really used to be paradise on Earth. Incredibly depressing too see how much it’s changed…so much history that everyone has forgotten. Really is a shame, don’t know how older generations that grew up in this Eden are able to stay sane!
Yes it truly was. I was born and raised there and miss it terribly. But there are beautiful places still and sometimes when I get to visit my family there are a few places to visit. It's just life I guess. I just wanted to say that was a nice thing to say. I recommend visiting the Redwoods if you ever go. Peace to you
California is, has always been, and always will be the greatest state in America. If California is considered bad , the rest of the United states should be atrocious
It was also dark as well back then. There is a book with pictures, called, faces of death. The publisher found these pictures that was saved by an LA cop that are mostly autopsy pictures. The author states that there was no such thing as the good old days.. it was a book and I have no idea who the author is. Most of the pictures are from the 20s and 30s. If you wanna watch something on RUclips of what it was like before the European settled, look up stories by Alex. He talks about ancient life and shows you bedrock mortars that are right under your nose, and some of these places that people have never heard of or seen.
It's 2025, many areas have changed over the years. I grew up in the 50's. Clean air, clear mts's, wonderful California cities to bring up kids. I was born & grew up there. Just look at it today!!
That Michigan team in the Rose Bowl footage was loaded. Undefeated with a roster full of All Americans and future pro stars. Oh yeah, defeated USC 49-0!
Does anyone remember Lawrence Station Road that later became Lawrence Expressway? If you, you'd recall a gravel road that meandered through orchards and farmland dotted with fruit and vegetable stands. On Stevens Creek Blvd just before Lawrence Station Road if you were there in the late 50's and 60's, you might recall Pepino's Pizza?... Best pizzas on the west coast. It is an absolute shame how that once beautiful state got totally ass-raped by silicon valley. Some of the most furtile and productive agricultural soil in this nation now is parking lots and shopping malls. I'm in South Dakota now. I left CA when everyone's hair turned blue and no one could recall when the Santa Clara Valley, and Cupertino, and Sunnyvale and Blossom Hill Rd, and Almaden were nothing but a 24/7 freeway jam.
Why do I feel like Saul from the movie Solent Green while watching this , I told you didn't I tell you It was Beautiful , ...........Yep It was something back in the 1950's ......Many past atrocities now forgotten and a new life is born after World War 2 . All things needed were available and low cost for everyone. Homes , Food , Travel , a Golden time in the Sunshine golden State of Calif that is never coming back......
I used to live in San Francisco. We were close to 8 missions, Carmel, San Juan Batista, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San José, San Rafael, and San Jose de Guadalupe. Two Presidios, Monterey and San Francisco and the Puebla of San Jose. I remember having to build a mission for my 4th grade social studies class. As someone with First Nations/Native American background, the missions are like nazi death camps, where slave labour was used to build and maintain the facilities.
My dads father and uncles migrated to San Francisco in the 1860s, dad grew up in a Victorian house in pacific heights, and I was born on California Street, early childhood in Burlingame, my sisters still live in Oakland. My Dad loved the missions and southern Cal. He golfed with Fred Mc Murray, and dated Mary Frawley. Dad kept the old house and died there in 1968. But I grew up and married on Long Island, NY after my folks relocated to NY in 1945. Been back to CA several times and my daughter now is raising her kids in San Marcos.
Third generation Californian born in 1945 at Mercy hospital in San Diego we settled in Palos Verdes and graduated Palos Verdes high school in 1963. Had a long career in banking owned in Inn in Mendocino and a restaurant in Little River. Decided to pursue the optical field and retired as an Optical manager do to an accident. Lived in the beautiful gold country in the Sierra Foothills and after the progressive liberal movement that hijacked our Democrat party and practically destroyed my beautiful state moved to Idaho which reminds me of California back in the 60s people are friendly and cost of living extremely manageable. Hoping the good people of California finally are fed up and kick those below curb level politicians out starting with that old bag Pelosi and her dim whitted power and money hungry nephew gruesome Newsome. Enough said and God bless you all
Oh please. Our family has lived in San Francisco in some iteration since 1854. Things haven’t always been so great, folks. The passage of time tends to paint history as rosy as a rearview sunset. Try reading up a little instead of basing inference on nostalgia; the more things change…
Thank you... thought I was the only one thinking that. I was born in San Francisco & raised on the Peninsula just a bit after this was filmed. Happy childhood but NOT everything was like the "paradise snapshots" shown here.
I think some of us are just mourning the passing of time as we get older. We look back to our childhoods when we were innocent (CA was not innocent) and all the fun living in CA offered us. I lived on the beach (it was so cheap back in the early 70s) and there was so much open space to explore. I would love to live on the beach in retirement but can't possibly afford it unfortunately.
Liberals starting in 1965 changed the US for their greed of staying in political power. If you're over 60, and born in the US you know what I'm talking about.
My God So merciful with my extravagant wishes that always makes truth in real life time in one of the Dream that I never thought to have is an Address on Camino Real De Hispania so grateful with The Americans ppl in general that make happen to exist this places that represents An icon for the Hispanic community is California
Grew up in Monterey 50's/60's. It was basically a fishing village/town and a place to come vacation with a military base next to it. Now, since the military left, state and local government are racing to make it an extension of the San Fransisco bay area. They're doing all the same things. The new buzz-word? Low cost housing. Hahaha. What a scam that's become for politicians and developers selling cookie-cutter million dollar track homes. Building tens of thousands of homes in housing tracks from Monterey to the Salinas valley and shoehorn-ing in,.... giant "low cost" housing developments, ( think 1960's projects, only in 2024 ), into small neighborhoods. Small neighborhoods never designed for so many people. Part of the equity plan as I recall. No water for so many people. The fix? Capture pee-water, filter it and put it back into people's tap water. Traffic and crime,.... off the scale. You can thank one-party-rule, no checks or balances leadership = children. Children without a clue how to manage or run anything - except running something once nice,.... into the ground.
A relative of mine and her husband are on a waiting list for low-income housing... because their combined income is "only" something slightly north of 100k. Seriously.
@@CrankyBeach It's true. Most of those in so-called low cost here would be extremely well-off in most other states. They'd have no need for low cost. The enormous housing tracks going in around here are all between 1-2 mil. Then they shoe-horn in the low income dwellings per regulations that have five times the density of the track homes. They're packing in people like sardines. And those new folks want services, so up go big stucco malls. It's easy to see the outcome. The streets can't support it. The water. The electrical. The fire and police. They're transforming this area into the bay area as fast as they can. Way too fast for the area to acclimate - but do the developers care. Most are out of southern California - so no. The folks moving in won't get their dream. They'll simply have the same as where they moved from. Cheers.
California is, and remains, a world powerhouse. 5th biggest economy. We have vast amounts of water that's wasted on farmers growing rice (in semi desert) almonds that are dumped by the trainload, etc etc. Big Ag uses 90%+ of all available water and only generates 5% of Calif's GDP. It's a monumental waste of water. Blame redhat special interests for taxpayers subsidizing absurd volumes of water so that farmers sell rice to Asians.
I wish the footage had more to do with the real and the missions and not modern life of the 1950s. But its too late to see what was is not subdvisons amd openboarders
It was less crowded, but there were problems people tend to forget over time. For instance the air pollution was horrible, at least in Santa Clara Valley. Frankly, I think a lot of people commenting here are pushing a narrative, and some of those haven't even lived here. At any rate, change is the only constant.
Well, they were a more advanced culture than the natives. Whether or not they should be called "pagan race" is another issue. Today, we'd call that sort of thing missionary work. It still happens all the time, we just use different terms.
@@booklover6753 And just what was that belief system? Nothing which the natives should have been forced to lose, but nothing they should have been forced to keep either.
I used to live in Santa Cruz and I remember when the last farm land along Highway 17 in Santa Clara county was plowed under to make a shopping center around 1990. I remember thinking "it's all gone." Now, if you bring this up with the tech people they have no idea what you are talking about.
I'm from Santa Barbara and although I am not Chumash I am of indigenous roots. People do not know the truth except of our elders passing down truth so we know it's OUR story and not HIS-story. Remember RE-legion is nothing compared to our true creators LEGION. Know thy difference from our God and the outsiders who "created" this stolen lands version of god (Gold Oil Drugs). You say your book speaks heavily of sacrilege yet made our ancestors kill or be killed for not wanting to change our way of life within spirituality and convert to their way??....double standards? I stand with my tribe, never for a bribe
Santa Maria and Lompoc are no longer flower-growing areas. The fields are not so colourful now. Strawberries and wine grapes rule here. And Santa Maria has overgrown in population to the point of being ugly merely because of its size.
Yeah i grew up in Almaden Valley went to school at almaden an blossom hill rd. It was an old adobe school ' Almaden school 1963 . Man my dad bought a ranch style 3 bdrm tract home fer $18,350. They had to build a high school...Leyland High. In 1968 i think. Orchards everywhere, you could look in any direction . Creeks ,Hills ,Mines an lots of Orchards. Tried to join Air Force ...they said we dont need ya kid, th war is over!! I said well fuk u then im goin to work in silicone valley. Super Tech repair center for GE calma. Then International Imaging Systems. Ah yes...married with children and a 60 T bird an harley davidson hardtail. Right down there on the El Cameno Real in Santa Clara. Lots of history in the bay area. 1848 New Almaden Quicksilver Mines....an the rest is so recorded....Humbug!!!! Hang th Basterds.. Mountain Charlie Chapter 1850 right wrongs nobody .
My family left California in the 1960s! Grandpa said the state was getting so evil! Its funny to think how much worse things have got. My grandpa would be rolling in his grave!
I was so grateful that I live in California, and grew up late 60s and 70s Those were the good old days and the good old times
a gone golden age!
Wow, that narrator got a LOT of work in film in the 50's and 60's. So comforting to hear a non-AI voice.
Used to see a lot of these films in elementary school, California of course. Enjoyed them , still do .
Yes. Born and raised in north San Diego county. I could swear, I've seen this film in school. Carlsbad/LA Jolla was wonderful.
They must have stopped by the time I started kindergarten in 1997
We are so lucky to witness this marvelous footage of California in the early 50s. Even though our Golden State is not what it once used to be, and let's be honest, what place in the country has not changed? More people. More scars across the land. I'm still beyond grateful to live in California. To be fair, every state in our union has some quality that sets it apart from others. Not necessary to bash any state. Simply live and enjoy your own life, wherever in this great country your heart happens to live.
Bravo. Well said.
I've lived in every time zone America has except Alaska...and I've been there. You are absolutely right. Beauty can be enjoyed everywhere.
Yes Californiais still the most beautiful place to live in the US. The weather is unbeatable too. And all that ocean! I am convinced that people bash California because they’re envious.
I enjoyed northern California up in paradise California. That fire burned so much of it includes all the meat antique shops.
They only do mass in Spanish in the San Juan Mission...
There are still places in this country that have not changed that much from the era in which this video was made.Snall towns in the eastern valley,small towns up north, and some places in the south, and in the Midwest still, I mean maybe they have changed some,but not all as much as California,or other states
I was born in California in 1968. It was wonderful. I can't bring myself to go back. At least not the part I grew up in down south. The farmers and farms are gone. Everything is overbuilt. I remember Balboa. Port of call Knotts berry farm the beaches. We moved out in 1976. B.F. Goorich moved to Mexico. Dad took a partial retirement. He worked here until 70. Great old memories in the film
California is still quite the variety of amazing places. Nowhere on Earth will ever be what California once was, though. Even the way it was in the 70's.
It still is here in Sonoma County. A gorgeous, environmentally preserved place with 51 Regional Parks, 8 State Parks, the Farallon Marine Sanctuary, protected agricultural and wilderness areas, some of the finest wines in the world and craft beers, gateway to the Emerald Triangle, spectacular trees, produce and flowers almost all year round, clean air and water. Spectacular Coast, rivers, mountains, non-GMO Farm to Table, wide variety of people and activities. Luther Burbank, whose farm and gardens are here, said "Sonoma County is God's special place in the universe".
I love other special places in California too: mystical Ojai, magnificent Big Sur, Santa Cruz.. ancient redwoods are all over my County. San Francisco is still a uniquely beautiful City I visit after living there for decades .
California has the largest geothermal field in the world, the 2nd tallest mountain in the U. S., the largest trees in the world, the tallest trees in the world - many of the tallest in my County - and the oldest trees in the world (Bristlecone Pines). 20 volcanoes, one of the Seven Sacred Mountains in the world (Mt. Shasta), also the most paranormal, the most minerals and gems in the U. S., the largest bird in North America (the California Condor, wingspread almost 9 ft. long, called the Thunderbird by the Yurok tribe). Deepest lake in U.S. with clearest water after Crater Lake, oldest lake on the continent (Clear Lake), humpback and orca whales, largest animals in the world occasionally - Blue Whales sometimes 100 ft long. Great white shark feeding grounds, varieties of seals, porpoises and dolphins, one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, giant Elephant Seals, California Sea Lions and Otters, delicious seafood like Dungeness Crab, Salmon, sometimes succulent abalone. Windblown Monterey Cypresses and Pines, tallest oaks in America, hottest place in the world (Death Family) and so much more. It's a superlative state, 5th largest economy in the world. There are also so many unique and charming towns smaller than SF and Los Angeles.
Fabulous history and multi-diverse culture. I love my Golden State. Will never leave it, also because it is a liberal state. Don't want to live in a conservative red state. Nope. Uh uh.
bc now its multicultural and crime is legal
Ah yes, the green jewel of the United states.
from the Ancient sun kissed mojave, to the great death valley, its scorched wonders and cool Clear nights, at the feet of the mighty Sierra Nevadas.
from the fertile valleys, to Santa Cruz, Carmel-by-the-sea, Monterey, Big sur, Santa barbara, San luis Obispo. and all the wonderful little towns in between.
We are the absolute best of north america. I look upon my home with pride, always.
I was born in Kansas in the early 1950s, and moved to southern california with my parents in the early 1960s. I now live about a mile from Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, and this brings back some memories from my younger days. Thank you!
I was born in La Mesa, San Diego in 1961. I also now live about 1 mile from Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. Typing this at midnight on Jan 1st 2025. Happy New Year!
@spamwagon Happy New Year!
I must've moved a dozen times in my life and never lived more than a few blocks from El Camino Real. I grew up in the Bay Area and must lived or or worked in every city on the SF Peninsula. I wish I could go back in time and see it in it's heyday, it's so different now.
Yeah I remember how awesome it used to be, I went back recently.Don't do it it's Depressing
Yes, it's WORSE now. MUCH worse.
Decades of Total Democrat Control have ruined California.
#DemocratsH8America 😢
@@donde2kDon’t be silly
@@lindaperry9238 Truth hurts
i lived in monterey carmel from 86 to 90, most beautiful place, enjoyed this old video of california
I was there as a 9 year old in 1960. Paradise
It's amazing how many documentaries of that time used the same voice artist. I can remember hearing this guy's voice as a child. It's a voice that has been with me for over 40 years now...and i cannot find out who this guy is anywhere. Please help if you know the amazing narrator who did hundreds of these films back in the 50s and 60s.
Check out Art Gilmore.
His name is Mr. AI
Did he do the voicing for the Movie tone News clips?I am guessing,he may have not been the same person.But I know what you mean,I recognize his voice for narrating other short movies, and videos like this of the past.
So fun to see Fairyland as it was when I was little. I have taken my own kids and my grandkids many times. It's still fun but not the same. Nothing stays the same, of course. I have a wonderful little book written by my father's cousin describing a horseback trip from San Francisco to Long Beach that she and her two sisters and their father undertook in 1916. A very different world back then!
This film is about 75 years old! And many of the people in it were borne in the mid to late 1800s... crazy
Grew up in San Mateo in north shorview. It was considered the lower end of the town but for the people living in the neighborhood, we were happy living a simple life without luxuries.
Norfolk Ave here!
Turner Terrace / Poplar Avenue here!
Good old days.i grew up their .
On Monroe st.
@@rudychavez4569 pushing my kids on the swings and riding the little train in Central Park!
Raised in Southern California. Moved many times. Pico Rivera, Norco, Garden Grove, Anaheim. Most adult years in Victor Valley.
Had to move to Nebraska later. in life.
I really miss California of the 50s+.
Get a little sad when I am out there now.
I’m in Hesperia, be glad you did.
The Victor Valley has changed for the worse.
I’ll be leaving in about four years, where I don’t know.
Mexico sounds nice.
There's no place like the Golden State. Until Newsom's Communism hit us. Now the Golden State is unrecognizable.
Absolutely. California-haters, go to the back of the line lol.
Born 1960 and raised in Santa Clara County (Willow Glen Area) and lived for 24.5 years in SF. Back home in 2009 and still remember all of the Great sites from our family Sunday Drives to Mt. Hamilton Road in the Spring to see all of the patches of Orchards in full bloom. 1 year, 1968, my Dad said to us kids, "Look well since this will all be houses and malls." He was never wrong!
The old "Valley of the Heart's Delight" my Grandparents knew in the early 1900s was paved over, although every home that put in a Fruit Tree never was disappointed. Good Fertile Ground.
I worked in San José in the 50s and saw great orchards West of what is now Highway 17. Driving from San Jose to Mountain View took me to Santa Clara, beyond which was a relatively open space, and at a tree lined curve was Vidal's Restaurant whose food I always wanted to taste but never did. The San Jose/Los Gatos Road was a series of service stations, used car lots, and fruit stands among groves where I recall seeing a 32 Cadillac four door sedan for only $200.l I helped a Fresno Japanese American pal and a white pal get a North San José cannery summer job , near Bini's a popular working class Taylor Street bar. Raised in dismal racist company town Fresno, where I had sweet supportive friends. I discovered the Bay Area had friendlier more cosmopolitan population, and better choices of employment, and I never looked back.
Born in Southern California, 1960, and appreciate the historical window provided.
I did live in Pajaro for a bit (mid 1980s) before 'migrating' to Santa Cruz and Felton / Ben Lomond.
My Girls from Santa Cruz County. Aptos. Prettiest Mexican Girl ever! After paramedics started my heart I had to talk to Her Dad.
@@Daniel-wd4jg I once lived right up the road from Skyline Drive In.
@@-oiiio-3993❤ reading your histotocal experience of Santa Clara.
@@Daniel-wd4jg I married a Mexican señorita, Virginia, 37 years ago. We’re still married in San Jose…😊
I grew up in Coronado during the 60s when my dad was stationed at the North Island naval base. It was a magical place then, I wouldn't change that experience for anything.
Sooooo glad I grew up here in the '60's and '70's.
Yes. Best time for the most part, except for Angela Davis, Huey Newton, Sin Q, people's liberation army, the zodiac killer, riots in the hunter's point projects, cal Berkeley infiltrated with communists, drugs in haight-ashbury,
California was a beautiful place to live. Universities and state colleges were affordable, housing was affordable, work was plentiful, schools were the best in the nation. The missions brought it all to us. Agriculture was top notch. Now? Thanks to forty years of demoncrats, the state is a toilet. Crowded, over populated, dirty, over priced. A disgrace.
@@pinetree9343Bull crap. It still is a beautiful place to live, San Francisco is still a unique and beautiful City, where I live you can't compare any other state to some of the superlatives of California, the most biodiversity, best year round climate, tallest, largest and oldest trees in the world, spectacular Coast and mountains, rivers, desert, more environmentally and healthy sustainable non-GMO farm-to-table produce, California is world's fifth largest economy and the American Salad Basket. Best wines, craft beers and weed. Relatively clean air and water. You list SLA and criminals like Zodiac as if no other state has criminals, it's ridiculous. I certainly am glad it's not a conservative, Trumpian-Republican State, most Republican governors like Abbott and de Santis are horrible, fascist leaning and women are dying from the draconian anti-women reproductive agenda. One of the few states with paid family leave and higher wages. People don't even come here and so they watch a lot of California-hating garbage on Fox News. Where I live in Sonoma County, it's like stepping into a beautiful calendar walking out the door. It's lush and beautiful, it was Luther Burbank's home and his farm and gardens are still here. He called Sonoma County "God's special place in the universe" because of the diversity of plantlife, year round temperate climate and fruit production as well as fertile terroir for wines, the beauty .. Burbank was entranced by it all, as am I and many others.
@@pinetree9343And I got news for you: overcrowded and dirty describes a lot of Midwestern and southern grimy little burgs, housing is overpriced everywhere, the National Minimum Wage is still $7.26 because of Repubs, homeless spreading everywhere. Inflation was never Democrats' fault. It was the result of war and systemic issues with supply and shipping because of COVID. Trump redistributed 80 per cent of our nation's wealth to the top 1 per cent and contributed 60 per cent of the debt and is about to do the same stupid thing again along with ruinous tariffs and crashing the economy with the idiotic deportations.
I'd rather live here than anywhere. I'm not homeless but if I was I'd rather live in California than Minnesota or New York, Texas or Mississippi.
By the way, work is still plentiful, schools are still excellent in many areas (having worked in schools I can arrest to that), universities and scientific facilities like Lawrence Livermore Rad Lab among the best in the nation, it's still the center of much agricultural, tech, film, military, and so many industries and centers of learning. A lot of people who left California are coming back because life is grim in red states with draconian anti-abortion laws that are putting women's lives at risk. And Republicans hysterical Culture War nonsense about gays and trans (particularly when you consider that 95 per cent of pedophiles are heterosexual men, often married with children, and shockingly often Christian and Republican like Matt Gaetz and many others, including Trump.
@@pinetree9343It's not crowded or overpopulated that's crazy. There are vast stretches of land, Forest, wilderness in California.
What great history! Loved it.
I was born in Los Angeles in 1954 and moved to Pacific Grove in Monterey County in 1959. The brief scenes of Monterey's waterfront, the Del Monte Hotel and Carmel bring back many childhood memories. We moved to Marin County in 1962, so I was always near one of the missions.
Raised in San Jose then in 1961 we moved to Santa Clara. It was all beautifull back then. Orchards were still all around. No San Thomas Expressway. We lived on Stevenson St in Santa Clara. My folks first new home. Infact we had to wait for them to finish building it. The whole neighborhood was beautiful. We had STONGATE ESTATES, FORREST PARK. Now it looks like a scene from any street from the south. Rv's, boats, motor homes , pick up trucks, all sitting in front of houses and in driveways. What a change ! All I remember when I was living there were great looking cars in the driveways. We had a new Bonneville, our neighbors on one side had a new T-Bird, the other a Corvette and new Impala convertible. Growth sometimes destroys the beauty of what once was there.
Boomer ❤ Its still a beautiful place 🌴
Same here
East side SJ 1963
Saw Capitol expy and Eastridge mall get built.
My dad was airline pilot had small plane at RHV AP
Tough hood had to fight a-lot but had a wonderful experience wouldnt trade😊
“Growth” gave you a home just like mine in Saratoga. Whether in Texas or Florida, development wasn’t invented by California. What an odd post…as if written by a conservative Texan.
@@fob1xxl - I was raised in Saratoga…and I saw the photos of the orchards that were bulldozed to make our homes. How far do we go back before we see our own contribution to what now is a real mess?
It’s amazing how much is gone
@ 17:46 the audio cuts out and returns @ 18:55 (just fyi)
Thank you!!! I had really been enjoying this, and eagerly awaiting my bay area when the sound went out! Now i can happily resume. 😊
I wanted to hear more about Pacific Grove, so sad the audio cut right then.
And they left out the Momarch butterflies?
In the early 1980's you could still drive through Laguna Beach in the winter off season and never see a car on Coast Hwy. The town literally was closed for the winter months. ( Incredible; compared to what it's like now ). Extreme traffic jams during summer; especially. I miss my old Orange County; it's WAY too crowded now. Glad I was there before greedy developers ruined it. I have wonderful memories of how it used to be. Most of the beach towns were sleepy and super quiet.
Those were the days! Long gone now, though. In the end, all we are left with is memories, it seems.
@@susant700 I'm a Venturan born in '61, we were always overlooked and that was fine with us but covid put us on the map for some reason and now we're on our way to the same fate as the beach towns to the south which we've managed to avoid for forty to fifty years. Sucks.
Love California, warts and all.
It is absolutely astonishing how far society has fallen in such a short time... absolutely tragic.
Absolutely no tragic RUclips trolls back in the 50's.
Its called progress! Tik-Tok! 🤣
Yeah the state has the 5th largest economy in the world now just below the country of Germany .. it has fallen so hard
@@flashback0978 LOL! How's the current debt working out? Is the high speed train to nowhere seen a single passenger? What's the current cost and timeline? The pipeline of Willy and Jerry Brown coat tail SF Bay politicians are driving this State into the ground!
@@flashback0978 🤣😂🤣
This film must be from the early 1950s:
- Disneyland isn’t mentioned at all, and it opened in 1955.
- That Rose Bowl footage was from 1948; USC vs. Michigan.
My family back in 1950' s and 1960's ventured throughout California including the Mission trail. Loved seeing the sights I missed as a youngster. BTW the area around the Carmel Mission is now filled with homes; in the video only sand dunes.
My video's narrative goes silent at 17:45 to 18:55. Otherwise very nice.
Yeah, just my luck it would go silent right when it gets to my home town... back in the day when ordinary middle class folks could afford to live there.
I lived in San Diego from 1957 to 1959 and it was a Great Place, my Dad was in the Navy and he was Stationed at North Island naval base, I remember riding the ferry to North Island with my Dad. I agree that it would be hard to match that time period.
Love love love this!
Even Oakland was beautiful.
Yeah, back in 1923.
@@pacz8114 I bet the 50's were nice there.
They say that Oakland has the best views of SF Bay of any town around there. Look at Oakland now, though. Unspeakable.
@@tabletalk33 Yeah, the 1850s.
@@pacz8114 Not just in 1923. Actually the wealthy lived in the Oakland hills and they actually have the best views and weather. Things change......that has to do with selfish POLITICIANS LIKE RONALD REAGAN who shifted our values from "for the good of all" to "greed is good. He discouraged higher education for all -instead he shifted us into selfish obsessed consumerism. THAT IS WHY DECADES LATER WE HAVE SO MANY HAVE NOT KIDS WHO NEVER GOT A DECENT EDUCATION. THE SELFISHNESS AND EMPHASIS ON KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING FOR LEARNING'S SAKE WAS minimized. I blame him for so much.
I remember watching this in 4th grade. Mr Mahalic’s class. John Muir elementary, San Bruno 👍
I used to live near El Camino Real in San Carlos Ca in the 1970s.
My parents owned the pool hall in san carlos in the seventies
Grew up in half Moon Bay, now living in San Carlos!!!
Nice old footage 👌
Born and raised in and around San Francisco in the 50’s & 60’s. I remember when it was safe, clean, and beautiful. I left and I do not see me going back.
Ruined by Democrats.
Me too.😢
I won't live anywhere else except California. I love my state.💙💙💙❄️@@californiadreamer2580
@@californiadreamer2580 Same here. 😢
50+ years of Total Democrat Control will ruin even the most beautiful city in the world.
#DemocratsH8America
Cheers from Huntington Beach CA 🇺🇸
grew up in the bay area, 50's - late 60''s. returned late 70's, left for good in 2002. hitch-hiked/motored up and down this road. i wouldn't recognize it now, i'm sure.
I've made the drive along the El Camino Real, Hwy One and the PCH many times.
And............
…and it’s awesome 👍
(in a tone of amazement) Gee! Those scenes of the San Francisco skyline in this film . . . to see that same region nowadays, one would think it was a different planet.
I love the ersatz 'classical' score!
I found it strange that they referred to Paso Robles as a "resort city" the only "resorts" in the area that I have visited are Camp Roberts and Fort Hunter-Ligget.
Vineyards and wineries have become the big thing in Paso Robles over the last few decades. Nice hotels and restaurants have been built to cater to the wine country enthusiasts. Wine money built a new police station and has developed the town. I still wouldn't consider it a resort town like Palm Springs or Las Vegas.
Yes, hilarious😂😂😂. It's Bakersfield West to the rest of the county.
In many ways this is a simple and beautiful travel video, but a year ago, I commented that I was surprised that, at the 18.00 mark, the narrator said “to teach a better way of life to a Pagan Race” when talking about the brutal Mission system. It was once glorified, until history finally set the record straight. Sadly, the poster of this video chose to edit it out, so there is now a gap in the sound track. This is a shame, since I think it’s important to see how far we’ve come in our understanding.
Thanks for the comment -- insightful!
That era of Ca and the missions is a lengthy conversation and an odd one when trying to put things in perspective. In general, the entire process of making CA what it is today started through some of the most evil and disgusting actions and behaviors man displays. Soo many pure atrocities and horrible acts to mankind (the natives). However, when i take my disgust away and try to understand that the act of larger groups of people overtaking places that they seem suitable for them has been going on for centuries or more. What i consider evil, disgusting behavior today was not considered so in many cultures waaaaay before us. Even good hearted people wouldnt blink an eye centuries ago watching someone be tortured or hung. We are all products of our environment, so most of us know no better than the circle we are in. Humans slowly evolve and today, although america and most word is much more civilized there are still countries, locations where most the people act uncivilized and treat others as lesser people, such as early europeans and spanish did here etc. As we evolve those actions become disgusting, however, fast forward to this video where every single person was born waaay after these missions where built, born and raised in school systems that hid or watered down the truth of the pasts atrocities. Everyone in this video and everyone today has nothing to do with he past. We are all just the beneficiaries of those atrocities and the settlers who brought modern living to CA. As much as people like me hate hearing about the past and how CA came about, none of us are responsible, there is no one to blame or complain to about the past soo long ago. I live in paradise, a busier paradise but paradise none the less. I dont have many complaints but if im honest, its 2024, i think we all know the true past of our state and i do wish we would stop praising explorers or those who "founded" places they didnt find. I live on land that was inhabited by people for thousands of years, i have items from them ive found on my own property as many of my neighbors have. It would be great if we recognized them more but its tough to show respect or recognize those people when you there was very little left behind
Also referred to the largest mission as being built by a "vanished race" , which was not edited out..the accurate way to refer to the "vanishing" is genocide.
Didn’t forget about Capitola. Cheers
Its so depressing how life has changed, I started crying before I even opened the site.
❤ Yes, I hesitated to even watch this.
I would give anything to be able to time travel back to that time even for a day!! We lived on Point Dume Malibu from 1971 on because it was cheap enough for my parents. Dad worked in Santa Monica/Venice Beach area and Pt. Dume was considered the country. We day tripped all over southern and central California and I just want to go back and visit that time so badly. I want to cry too - glad I am not the only one.
You and millions of others. What happened to our Golden State? Communism.
@@tabletalk33 bot
My parents met in the late 50s on the El Camino cruise I was able to drive my firebird in the cruise before it's ban in the early 90s so many beautiful car's
I remember cruising el camino in san mateo, It seems like as soon as they banned cruising All we heard about was gangs. We traded cruising for Violence good job angry Business Owners
All i recall is driving 4 miles took 20 min.
@@danc2014 What was finding road or the freeway too hard for you.
Nice, but they didn’t show any part of El Camino Real.
It was nice in those days,
Lovely, but sound cuts out for a minute or two at about 17:45.
@SMF314 that's due to the RUclips audio copyright claim police
Wow! I have many of the original documents for this project! I’ve tried donating them to a library but can’t get them interested
@vowxhing fascinating. We'd love to have them in our archive. Write us via contact(at)periscopefilm.com
@ I will! They were about to be thrown away and I begged the storage facility to let me have them. I’ve contacted the Univ of Houston archives and the Texas Library archives, no one ever gets back in touch.
Woodie at 17:41.
very iconic isn't it - loved seeing that shot.
I love how everyone moved to California and complains . Perhaps we natives should encourage them to move back. I was not only born her, my mom, grandmother and I was baptized at San Diego Mission.
And the swallows don't return anymore.
Three generations of my family were baptized at Our Lady Queen of Angels in L.A. ❤
I was born here and still live here. I complain. I have REASON to complain. Gruesome and his Commies have turned the Golden State into a shithole.
Sound cut out when they got to Pacific Grove. Wonder why?
Interesting to see how the path went up the east bay while the path up the peninsula side was also done and the road el Camino real still exists.
Grew up in Antioch on the delta in the East Bay
Thank for your service.
Poor soul!
Now THERE’S a town that has seriously changed!
Santa Barbara raised here. I’ve gone to dozens and dozens of Fiesta and Spanish Days celebrations with whe Mission Santa Barbara as the venue
I miss California terribly and have since I left in 2008. I've been homesick every day since! I had to move back to Oregon to care for my parents. But, what they say is true - now more than ever - once you leave California, you can never buy your way back. Well, this was a sweet reminder of the missions and more, some of which I have toured. I wonder if there's an old film tour of the long road, actually called El Camino Real, which starts in San Jose and ends in San Francisco. That must have been great in the 1950s - probably quite rural in many places, orchards galore!
I expected the missions, I got a travelogue of tourist attractions. Interesting in itself, but not what I came for. 🤨
Real Californians are,....Real Californians!!!
the best people!!!!
Prune pickers 😊
I’m one too. 😊
Filmed around 1956 looking at the cars on the ferry. Lived in LA 1944-1969; most memorable were the lung and eye burning smog days. On the welcomed Santa Ana wind days, the smog would clear-out, blowing it out to the ocean and down to San DIego and also down into Riverside and San Berdo where it was trapped for many days...
Seems about the same to me, I’ve lived here since the 70s.
Yes, it depends on where you live in California. Southern California has been over developed. Costal Central California is still very nice but expensive. The developers never stop trying to make everywhere in California look like Southern California.
I lived in an apt a block away from El Camino in Sunnyvale in 1974. I was an engineer in Silicone Valley at the time but then became a total failure and left CA never to return.
Wow, California really used to be paradise on Earth. Incredibly depressing too see how much it’s changed…so much history that everyone has forgotten. Really is a shame, don’t know how older generations that grew up in this Eden are able to stay sane!
Yes it truly was. I was born and raised there and miss it terribly. But there are beautiful places still and sometimes when I get to visit my family there are a few places to visit. It's just life I guess. I just wanted to say that was a nice thing to say. I recommend visiting the Redwoods if you ever go. Peace to you
California is, has always been, and always will be the greatest state in America.
If California is considered bad , the rest of the United states should be atrocious
Vote blue, get screwed.
they took everything from us
It was also dark as well back then. There is a book with pictures, called, faces of death. The publisher found these pictures that was saved by an LA cop that are mostly autopsy pictures. The author states that there was no such thing as the good old days.. it was a book and I have no idea who the author is. Most of the pictures are from the 20s and 30s. If you wanna watch something on RUclips of what it was like before the European settled, look up stories by Alex. He talks about ancient life and shows you bedrock mortars that are right under your nose, and some of these places that people have never heard of or seen.
Born in Santa Barbara. Now reside near Yosemite. Is still beautiful but soo expensive to afford lately and our government is a mess.
Yes that is the issue. Truly one of the best states to live in. If not the best
Santa Barbara native here too.
It's 2025, many areas have changed over the years. I grew up in the 50's. Clean air, clear mts's, wonderful California cities to bring up kids. I was born & grew up there. Just look at it today!!
Los Angeles had terrible terrible air in the 1950s.
cry more boomer
At 8:48 looks like the USC vs Michigan Rose Bowl game played on January 1, 1948. Michigan beat USC 49-0 before a crowd of 93,000.
That's a good time stamp for the film... Thanks!
Imagine if a travelogue of California was done today.
It would be titled The trail of tears.
Gone now!
That Michigan team in the Rose Bowl footage was loaded. Undefeated with a roster full of All Americans and future pro stars.
Oh yeah, defeated USC 49-0!
Does anyone remember Lawrence Station Road that later became Lawrence Expressway?
If you, you'd recall a gravel road that meandered through orchards and farmland dotted with fruit and vegetable stands.
On Stevens Creek Blvd just before Lawrence Station Road if you were there in the late 50's and 60's, you might recall Pepino's Pizza?... Best pizzas on the west coast.
It is an absolute shame how that once beautiful state got totally ass-raped by silicon valley. Some of the most furtile and productive agricultural soil in this nation now is parking lots and shopping malls.
I'm in South Dakota now.
I left CA when everyone's hair turned blue and no one could recall when the Santa Clara Valley, and Cupertino, and Sunnyvale and Blossom Hill Rd, and Almaden were nothing but a 24/7 freeway jam.
Why do I feel like Saul from the movie Solent Green while watching this , I told you didn't I tell you It was Beautiful , ...........Yep It was something back in the 1950's ......Many past atrocities now forgotten and a new life is born after World War 2 . All things needed were available and low cost for everyone. Homes , Food , Travel , a Golden time in the Sunshine golden State of Calif that is never coming back......
It would have been nice if they had simple stayed of the El Camino Real.
I used to live in San Francisco. We were close to 8 missions, Carmel, San Juan Batista, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San José, San Rafael, and San Jose de Guadalupe. Two Presidios, Monterey and San Francisco and the Puebla of San Jose. I remember having to build a mission for my 4th grade social studies class. As someone with First Nations/Native American background, the missions are like nazi death camps, where slave labour was used to build and maintain the facilities.
KUDOS to Mildred Greene, that was a lovely 600 miles back in History! My Jr. Hi. BANCROFT used the mission Bells as a School Symbol!
My dads father and uncles migrated to San Francisco in the 1860s, dad grew up in a Victorian house in pacific heights, and I was born on California Street, early childhood in Burlingame, my sisters still live in Oakland. My Dad loved the missions and southern Cal. He golfed with Fred Mc Murray, and dated Mary Frawley. Dad kept the old house and died there in 1968. But I grew up and married on Long Island, NY after my folks relocated to NY in 1945. Been back to CA several times and my daughter now is raising her kids in San Marcos.
I live near a park named after the train el Camino park
A better time.
Third generation Californian born in 1945 at Mercy hospital in San Diego we settled in Palos Verdes and graduated Palos Verdes high school in 1963.
Had a long career in banking owned in Inn in Mendocino and a restaurant in Little River.
Decided to pursue the optical field and retired as an Optical manager do to an accident.
Lived in the beautiful gold country in the Sierra Foothills and after the progressive liberal movement that hijacked our Democrat party and practically destroyed my beautiful state moved to Idaho which reminds me of California back in the 60s people are friendly and cost of living extremely manageable.
Hoping the good people of California finally are fed up and kick those below curb level politicians out starting with that old bag Pelosi and her dim whitted power and money hungry nephew gruesome Newsome.
Enough said and God bless you all
Oh please. Our family has lived in San Francisco in some iteration since 1854. Things haven’t always been so great, folks. The passage of time tends to paint history as rosy as a rearview sunset. Try reading up a little instead of basing inference on nostalgia; the more things change…
Thank you... thought I was the only one thinking that.
I was born in San Francisco & raised on the Peninsula just a bit after this was filmed.
Happy childhood but NOT everything was like the "paradise snapshots" shown here.
Don't hate yourself.
I think some of us are just mourning the passing of time as we get older. We look back to our childhoods when we were innocent (CA was not innocent) and all the fun living in CA offered us. I lived on the beach (it was so cheap back in the early 70s) and there was so much open space to explore. I would love to live on the beach in retirement but can't possibly afford it unfortunately.
… the more they SUCK.
Gone as much on el Camino from downtown sj to about milbrae. Breaks up at some points but it’s mostly there, a straight shot…
From back when California was clean and beautiful and not run by crazy people.
this wouldn't never happen if american anglos should stay where that at
they screw it up #karma
@@darkblade8164 Aprenda la ingles, por favor.
Liberals starting in 1965 changed the US for their greed of staying in political power.
If you're over 60, and born in the US you know what I'm talking about.
I'd say it was Bolsheviks who screwed it up, not Anglos.
@@darkblade8164
Yes but remember who was here before your people.
My God So merciful with my extravagant wishes that always makes truth in real life time in one of the Dream that I never thought to have is an Address on Camino Real De Hispania so grateful with The Americans ppl in general that make happen to exist this places that represents An icon for the Hispanic community is California
Grew up in Monterey 50's/60's. It was basically a fishing village/town and a place to come vacation with a military base next to it. Now, since the military left, state and local government are racing to make it an extension of the San Fransisco bay area. They're doing all the same things. The new buzz-word? Low cost housing. Hahaha. What a scam that's become for politicians and developers selling cookie-cutter million dollar track homes. Building tens of thousands of homes in housing tracks from Monterey to the Salinas valley and shoehorn-ing in,.... giant "low cost" housing developments, ( think 1960's projects, only in 2024 ), into small neighborhoods. Small neighborhoods never designed for so many people. Part of the equity plan as I recall. No water for so many people. The fix? Capture pee-water, filter it and put it back into people's tap water. Traffic and crime,.... off the scale.
You can thank one-party-rule, no checks or balances leadership = children. Children without a clue how to manage or run anything - except running something once nice,.... into the ground.
A relative of mine and her husband are on a waiting list for low-income housing... because their combined income is "only" something slightly north of 100k. Seriously.
@@CrankyBeach It's true. Most of those in so-called low cost here would be extremely well-off in most other states. They'd have no need for low cost. The enormous housing tracks going in around here are all between 1-2 mil. Then they shoe-horn in the low income dwellings per regulations that have five times the density of the track homes. They're packing in people like sardines. And those new folks want services, so up go big stucco malls. It's easy to see the outcome. The streets can't support it. The water. The electrical. The fire and police. They're transforming this area into the bay area as fast as they can. Way too fast for the area to acclimate - but do the developers care. Most are out of southern California - so no. The folks moving in won't get their dream. They'll simply have the same as where they moved from. Cheers.
California is, and remains, a world powerhouse. 5th biggest economy. We have vast amounts of water that's wasted on farmers growing rice (in semi desert) almonds that are dumped by the trainload, etc etc. Big Ag uses 90%+ of all available water and only generates 5% of Calif's GDP. It's a monumental waste of water. Blame redhat special interests for taxpayers subsidizing absurd volumes of water so that farmers sell rice to Asians.
Putting the film number and time counter across the bottom of the screen ruins it.
I wish the footage had more to do with the real and the missions and not modern life of the 1950s. But its too late to see what was is not subdvisons amd openboarders
🌞 🌈🗽
Our Lady, Queen of Angels, pray for us.
💪
Hahaha, glad they didn't mean the one from San Fran to San Jose. That road is the trashman's highway 😆
This was when Oakland was a highly regarded city.
Ohlones: . . . a monument to this spanish race that labored faithfully to build these missions. Or else.
2025 came fast.
Sorry i think it is better now.
😂🤣 No way.
It was less crowded, but there were problems people tend to forget over time. For instance the air pollution was horrible, at least in Santa Clara Valley. Frankly, I think a lot of people commenting here are pushing a narrative, and some of those haven't even lived here. At any rate, change is the only constant.
18:00 Did he actually say “to teach a better way of life to a Pagan Race”? I think we’ve learned a bit since then.
Well, they were a more advanced culture than the natives. Whether or not they should be called "pagan race" is another issue. Today, we'd call that sort of thing missionary work. It still happens all the time, we just use different terms.
@@Aristocles22 I don't hear anything? It's frozen stiff in vocal quality, unless your all telepathic.
@@Aristocles22 Pagan race was a term used to justify the destruction of a native belief system.
@@booklover6753 And just what was that belief system? Nothing which the natives should have been forced to lose, but nothing they should have been forced to keep either.
I think they’ve edited it out now.
Santa Clara and San Mateo were beautiful. I grew up there at that time. The last 40 years it has become a real dump!
I used to live in Santa Cruz and I remember when the last farm land along Highway 17 in Santa Clara county was plowed under to make a shopping center around 1990. I remember thinking "it's all gone." Now, if you bring this up with the tech people they have no idea what you are talking about.
How prosperous and fun California was........ when we were 95% White.
“When we were…”?? California is Hispanic. It’s origin is Hispanic. Generations of Hispanic people here to stay. ✌🏽
26:53 The recent news about the coldhearted removal of these beautiful bells by vengeful 'native Americans' brought me here.
Why would they have done such a terrible & hateful atrocity.
They should’ve stopped that.
Hand constructed bells are extremely attractive.
The lady who was instrumental in setting up those bells was married to the man who owned the ONLY foundry that made them.
Purely self-serving.
You guys don’t have a clue of what this symbolizes for native Americans right? Slavery, rapping, overall abuse...don’t be blindfolded by these videos.
@@giosource08 Don't be blindfolded by propaganda spewed by activists.
I'm from Santa Barbara and although I am not Chumash I am of indigenous roots. People do not know the truth except of our elders passing down truth so we know it's OUR story and not HIS-story. Remember RE-legion is nothing compared to our true creators LEGION. Know thy difference from our God and the outsiders who "created" this stolen lands version of god (Gold Oil Drugs). You say your book speaks heavily of sacrilege yet made our ancestors kill or be killed for not wanting to change our way of life within spirituality and convert to their way??....double standards? I stand with my tribe, never for a bribe
Santa Maria and Lompoc are no longer flower-growing areas.
The fields are not so colourful now. Strawberries and wine grapes rule here.
And Santa Maria has overgrown in population to the point of being ugly merely because of its size.
Yeah i grew up in Almaden Valley went to school at almaden an blossom hill rd. It was an old adobe school ' Almaden school 1963 . Man my dad bought a ranch style 3 bdrm tract home fer $18,350. They had to build a high school...Leyland High. In 1968 i think. Orchards everywhere, you could look in any direction . Creeks ,Hills ,Mines an lots of Orchards. Tried to join Air Force ...they said we dont need ya kid, th war is over!! I said well fuk u then im goin to work in silicone valley. Super Tech repair center for GE calma. Then International Imaging Systems. Ah yes...married with children and a 60 T bird an harley davidson hardtail. Right down there on the El Cameno Real in Santa Clara. Lots of history in the bay area. 1848 New Almaden Quicksilver Mines....an the rest is so recorded....Humbug!!!! Hang th Basterds.. Mountain Charlie Chapter 1850 right wrongs nobody .
My family left California in the 1960s! Grandpa said the state was getting so evil! Its funny to think how much worse things have got. My grandpa would be rolling in his grave!
Too bad they entirely skipped Gilroy. Oh well.
Gay caballeros indeed