Prewar New York In Colour

[CharlieH.]

One of my many hobbies is collecting pictures from auction sites, and every once in a while I run into a little gem or two. Just today I was sorting through them and I noticed quite a few that share a certain location and date, as you'll see:

A postcard from Macy's

The skyline from a 1939 edition of a newspaper whose name I forgot

Another view of the skyline from the same year

And....

Some miscellaneous home movie views including Coney Island, Times Square, the fair, and the only colour photo I've seen of the Normandie.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

The photos and postcards are great. Are the home movies also a postcard or actual reels?

 

[CharlieH.]

The movie shots are from actual reels. The same seller also had an entire set from the world's fair:

Apparently the filmmaker was a fan of the Aquacade.
If I recall correctly these sold for about $16 on ebay. Wish I bought them...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh gee -- those movie reels are incredible, especially the Coney Island shots. I don't think I've ever seen another image of Luna Park in color.

 

[Senator Jack]

I tracked down the guy who owns the rights to 'The Magic City', the color footage of New York in the 40s. He says he's putting together a DVD with some other footage and it should be available soon.

The Aquacade was the last remaining structure from the '39 World's Fair but Giuliani knocked it down without warning (as he did The Thunderbolt at Coney Island) about ten years ago. Just a warning to vintage enthusiasts and historians should he run for President.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[scotrace]

If these or something like then should turn up as a DVD or something, somebody squawk.

 

[manton]

only colour photo I've seen of the Normandie.

There are not many, but I have a few. Some are quite good.

 

[Mr. Rover]

One of my many hobbies is collecting pictures from auction sites, and every once in a while I run into a little gem or two. Just today I was sorting through them and I noticed quite a few that share a certain location and date, as you'll see:

A postcard from Macy's

The skyline from a 1939 edition of a newspaper whose name I forgot

Another view of the skyline from the same year

And....

Some miscellaneous home movie views including Coney Island, Times Square, the fair, and the only colour photo I've seen of the Normandie.

It's amazing how many men are hatless...

 

[CharlieH.]

Here are a couple more:

Another, more deteriorated, shot of Luna Park.

Steeplechase, from the same reel.

 

[Feraud]

I tracked down the guy who owns the rights to 'The Magic City', the color footage of New York in the 40s. He says he's putting together a DVD with some other footage and it should be available soon.

The Aquacade was the last remaining structure from the '39 World's Fair but Giuliani knocked it down without warning (as he did The Thunderbolt at Coney Island) about ten years ago. Just a warning to vintage enthusiasts and historians should he run for President.

Regards,

Senator Jack

Senator, please keep us informed about The Magic City. My better half is definitely interested in the dvd.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Same with me. I'd love to buy that DVD.

BRS

 

[Fletch]

Put me down for oneathem DVDs too please.

A clue re the hatless men: maybe it was a warm spell before Memorial Day. Too hot for your felt but you didn't dare put on a straw. (Assuming you owned one. An awful lot of men wore one hat year round, year after year, till it rotted.)

Precious stuff here. Social historians care about Coney Island and the Elevated; design historians love the Fair; some awkward middle-aged guy in Queens can surely tell you why the buses were what color they were. Nobody much cares about the rest, like horse-drawn bread wagons or MGs parked on Broadway (Imagine how few Americans had even seen a picture of an MG in 1939. Even heard the initials). Which if anything makes them just as precious as the rest of it.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Swell!- I'm going to have to start a collection of my own.

 

[HadleyH]

Those pictures are wonderful CharlieH!!!
Speaking about DVDs I just got this one:

unseencinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941.
Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled


"The 23 short films on this DVD lovingly depict scenes of New York among the skyscrapers, streets and night life while at the same time showing changes in the film style of cinema experiments. It contains turn of the century actualities, comercial and radical newsreels and Busby Berkeley's spectacular "Lullaby of Brodway... etc..."

And guess what... I havent opened the DVD yet.
I'm too afraid it will not be compatible with the system here lol lol