Los Angeles early 40s,50s in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added

[@NASS_0]

Which city in the world would you like to visit in the 40s or 50s??

[@lennyanders1639]

San Francisco...

[@HxTurtle]

certainly not a European one. Sydney, maybe?

[@alhambra1]

Do you have the city of Alhambra Main Street?

[@biggusbestus551]

Santa Clara California

[@jaminova_1969]

Tokyo!

[@AllanGonnella]

I can remember going to downtown Los Angeles on the bus with my mom and sister in the mid-50's. We would take the bus west on Whittier Blvd. to the 6h street bridge and then take the streetcar (the yellow Pacific Electric car) across the 6th street bridge, then north on Central Ave., then west on 5th St. and finally hop on another street car on Broadway where my mom shopped at all the department stores. For our big treat my mom would take us to lunch at the famous Clifton's Cafeteria. Back then each family only had one car and my dad took that to work. If my mom needed to go shopping we had to take the bus and streetcar to get around. I can still remember all the fancy movie theaters up and down Broadway.

[@janettemcclelland2959]

I did the same with my mom and grandma in the early 60's. We took the streetcar from 1st & Boyle/Pleasant Ave downtown to Grand Central Market. Then we went to the May Co and to Woolworths. Then we ate at Clifton's. The streetcars stopped running in early '63 and the bus took over on 1st St. We moved across town in early '64.

[@acm0045]

That would mean youre over 80 years old and your life led you to this. My life is fucked.

[@janettemcclelland2959]

@@acm0045 Nah. I'm almost 63. One of the earliest memories I have is getting on the streetcar with my mom and grandma and going downtown to Grand Central Market almost every day. And then to Clifton's for lunch. We moved from Boyle Heights to South Central in early 1964. I was barely 2-2 1/2 years old. The tracks and the wire were still up along 1st St a year after the streetcars stopped running. Vermont Ave too. Damn I'm old.

[@AllanGonnella]

I'm 74 and was born in 1950 but we only had one car which my dad drove to work. My mom would take my sister and me on the bus and street cars to do her shopping.

[@janettemcclelland2959]

@@AllanGonnella We didn't have a car. So it was the Yellow Cars to go downtown and to the Sears on Pico & Rimpau where the P ended.

[@JamesWoodring-mu2iz]

nass im not sure if an award can be given to a film restoration artist? but if one exists, you should be awarded. thank you my talented friend for another glimpse into our past.

[@NASS_0]

thank you so much

[@seandelap8587]

Incredible just how clean and amazing a lot of the biggest cities in the USA looked back then a very far cry from today

[@QuicksilverSG]

They were just getting started on the post-war highway boom. The aerial footage near the end shows the broad sweep of suburbanization we continue to live with today, but with nowhere near as much traffic.

[@HansKlopek]

Compare the demographic change between then and now.

[@TheDanEdwards]

Oh please, this video does not show a "clean" city any more than what you can find today.

[@TheDanEdwards]

​@@HansKlopek Want to add any details to your claim?

[@nwicconsultants6640]

@@TheDanEdwards In regards to Chinanubawon statement: who said anything about clean? You need to look up the definition of demographic. And yes the statistical characteristics of the population in regards to income has changed dramatically from the 1950's. Speaking of clean...because of the change in demographics a simple comparison of google maps at street level in comparison to that shown on this video shows a once thriving downtown area that has since deteriorated to tents and filth in the streets. Oh please, this video *does* show a difference.

[@billymac72]

I always think of my grandparents when I see old footage from this era, particularly in the standards of dress. They took a lot of pride in appearance and it remained that way into their twilight years.

[@monaural2.988]

The thing that immediately stands out from watching the blocks go by is the complete lack of big-name corporate monsters. It was all “mom and pop” run businesses, block after block after block.

[@lablaine1981]

Every city is same layout nowadays,not so in 1950s, corporate merica' was decent tenant 1950-1990, 2024 corporate pirates,and swag galore

[@Herbie11]

My mom always talked about a crazy guy with a camera taking "movies" on San Fernando across from the gas station. (At 04:03). Little did we know it was just NASS timetraveling again to get these wonderful videos for us. Thank you!

[@NASS_0]

welcome ;)

[@BrendenGilbert]

Where was this? I try to look up 10600 San Fernando road n but it can't find it

[@melissaochoa8054]

@@BrendenGilbertif you notice.. on the building the address is 10631. I looked it up on maps but only 10641 shows up

[@rbj1jcp]

I absolutely love this video. One of the best colorized videos I've ever seen. Thank you so much for these memories. JoAnn

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@liddlekiddle1962]

In the beginning, I saw See's Candy which was / is a wonderful candy shop in California! And I saw Orange Julius! GREAT video.

[@Lpreilly72]

Sees candy is everywhere. I bought candy from one of their stores in Dubai.

[@ordaineddoodle4970]

I noticed Glorified Hamburger 🍔

[@richmeyer2064]

Always a learning experience. This was the first time I have ever seen an indoor rifle range on a commercial street. Today most of the shooting in cities is done outside. Great audio again NASS.

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@Jaffar540]

I get 9 minutes of pure ejoyment watching this video of Los Angeles during the 1950s. That was a time when people in most countries realized the meaning of family life, happiness and peace without the need to be too materialistic. Look at the way people go about seeking their daily livelihood. I was born in the year 1950, far from the US. My prayers for the souls of those who have gone before us. They deserve our prayers. They are those who help to shape the history of this great country.

[@TheDanEdwards]

Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

[@relcnt]

@@TheDanEdwards he's not wrong, life was more simple, easy, and just relaxing

[@garlicgorilla6540]

Corporate Glo. Balism has destroyed the West.

[@gplunk]

Great original footage; and excellent job on the re-processing. This was the LA my father knew; in his teens and twenties....

[@NASS_0]

thank you so much

[@SonnyCorleone-tg1ik]

Nass, Love your channel. Love the old scenes. This is priceless at 0:22 you can see what movies were playing back then! Thanks very much for a fascinating blast to the past upload!

[@AchtungEnglander]

The number of pawn brokers is quite eye opening

[@cosmo1eleven855]

There where many hobo's walking around too.

[@frothydawg41]

I noticed the same. My guess is they’re a holdover from the Depression Era.

[@jerryb4453]

My dad just told me that the beachgoers at Redondo Beach at the 7 1/2 minute mark were looking for moonstones. He moved to Redondo Beach from the Texas Panhandle in 1942 as a two-year-old and grew up there and went high school there.

[@CD318]

Love your work--please don't ever stop posting these treasures!

[@mrsandmom5947]

I immediately smiled when I saw the See’s candy storefront ❤️

[@allegrajane7205]

Me too! Ah, memories of growing up in Southern California!

[@andrewwilliams6936]

Having a whiskey and lemonade, watching the latest masterpiece from Nass. Living the dream.....

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much ;)

[@HeatherB81]

Thank you for listing the locations!

[@MarianneCothern]

Thanks for this. What a treat. (Also love that you credit original photographer. ❤️)

[@NASS_0]

Like And Share Please

[@CommanderLongJohn]

Pittsburgh please 🫠

[@donnytucker]

3:23 that's the firehouse from ghostbusters. The interiors were filmed inside this for the movie and the exterior shots was the firehouse in NYC.

[@Traildraft]

Haha, I just commented on that. I looked it up on Google Maps. It's still there. wish there was someone who could save the building. It's in such bad shape. 😢

[@donnytucker]

@@Traildraft They're currently remodeling it into a firehouse museum. Here's a little bit of interior footage from last September. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j53Tm3-Doa2pfKc

[@sammybeck7794]

The color is so good you tend to forget it was colorized. I was born in 1952 so they vehicles in1950 were the same ones driving around town when I was just a baby. I was born in Flagstaff Arizona but my family moved us out to Los Angeles in 1957

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Hey, look at that traffic light with the "STOP" semaphore at :52. Those types of traffic lights were pretty much unique to the L.A. area and were last used in 1956. Nice 1946 or '47 Hudson at :54 with a period Texaco gas station in the background. Thanks for sharing!

[@NASS_0]

welcome

[@FinalFantasy1980]

Love these old cars. Could watch this for hours ☺

[@l...]

We need playlist for each decade

[@js6029]

Definitely one of the best video restorations I have seen of this period!! Excellent work!! Thank you for your work!!

[@NASS_0]

Thank you

[@davidduxbury7530]

Wonderful to see images from over 70yrs ago,thank you for sharing this!!

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@VanMichael21]

Wow i didn't know orange julias has been around that long! Love these videos! And I'm still on a mission to catch a time traveller in one of these videos caught watching KZbin on an iPhone!

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@VanMichael21]

​@@NASS_0no, thank YOU my friend. I've recommended this channel to a couple of my friends and boy they all are loving it. Keep up the good work.

[@michaelmartin4552]

Founded in 1926 in LA.

[@linedanzer4302]

I remember as a child in the 1960s going downtown all dressed up. Clifton's Cafeteria was always a special treat for us.

[@janettemcclelland2959]

Me too. We went to Clifton's every Saturday.

[@linedanzer4302]

@@janettemcclelland2959 They had the BEST lemon pie!!

[@janettemcclelland2959]

@@linedanzer4302 Yep. My brother and I loved the jiggly jello.

[@thomasmurphy1765]

The Firehouse @3.25 'Engine 23' is the firehouse used for the interior shots in Ghostbusters 1&2.

[@karenstanislaw8912]

So fascinating. As camera focused on the urban street scene, and we really get to catch a glimpse of shop * names, shop *'themes, the expression on peoples face's as they were walking - I thought - 1. *each "shop," each person is a movie onto themselves, and - 2. - would be very interesting to juxtapose a shot of the same street today, to see how its all morphed, and 3. wondering if *any of those businesses still around today, or are they all gone? As usual - marvelous footage, and I'm sure many of us thank you. Interesting project you've taken on.

[@MajorSeventh]

At 4:09 that's San Fernando Rd near the Pierce St intersection in Pacoima. Across the street is Whiteman airport, which was established in 1946.

[@DustinB95]

It’s crazy how fast things Change… life just seemed so much simpler

[@theophilos0910]

The Peniel Mission HQ was located at 221 south Main Street just south 2nd street in Los Angeles (not ‘5th Street’) but the footage skips around a lot - the oil wells were located in the early 50s along the shoreline of Long Beach just as an example

[@debbief8086]

Best yet! Great remastering footage 👏👏👏

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@vladsnape6408]

I didn't realise until now how popular purple and pink were as car colours in the 50s.

[@zurcherzurich213]

Those were the days 🎉 Thank you very much from Switzerland

[@shawneyatrics]

4:43 - Reminds me of the Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California; one of 5 locations where Robocop was filmed.

[@larryfalcon4003]

at 3:20 the firehouse 23 engine 5 is still there... boarded up with graffiti and fenced up all that's remains is e in engine and 23 ... felt nostalgic so I drove by to look.. really enjoy your videos from a pass beyond 👍

[@DansMonSalon]

And this FireHouse was the real indoor set for GhostBusters movie ! :)

[@alanpecherer5705]

The Hotel Panama @ 1:30 apparently still exists "More than a century old, the Panama Hotel has for years offered temporary shelter to residents of Skid Row. Now, owner SRO Housing Trust is coordinating a Carrier Johnson + CULTURE-designed redevelopment of the building into permanent supportive housing." [Oct 30, 2016] My Gawd, it was a skid row hotel in the early 50's, it must be pure funkadelic now! Incredible footage!

[@sinister1937]

My grandmother lived just west of downtown and my brother and I would run around the city. However we were forbidden to go near 5th street; now I can see why with all the pawn shops and dives but truth to tell we went anyway. I guess we were too naive.

[@SteveCameronProductions]

The guy looking back at the camera at 2:20 cracks me up. Watch what he does...

[@signjoey]

This type of film was shot by a movie studio for use in back and side projection(car scenes)

[@Lizerator]

These videos are such treasures. The people at Redondo Beach all dressed up ... wouldn't see that today.

[@ellenalves7749]

I love the old videos so much, the older the better. Thanks Nass, you do an amazing job!!! 💙👏🏻🥂

[@herberthartwig8544]

Nass as always a great video, 1,000 thanks 🙏 for the pure enjoyment and nostalgic pleasure in watching.

[@MegaUtube99]

Lmao that young guy shadow boxing for the camera @2:18 always nice seeing some personality in these older people who may or may not still be with us today

[@Underhills]

Why is it so easy to pretend that the far past never happened? If something is filmed in a low frame rate and is of low quality it becomes fiction, almost cartoon'ish. Thanks for restoring these old film clips and bringing it back to life. It's real history. They didn't have computer science and today's medical technology but I'm starting to belive that they were better off back then. More in touch with each other and authentic in a way. I've spendt the last days watching Hollywood drama movies from the 40's. I really enjoy it. No CGI, no 4K, no fancy editing. Just people interacting.

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-2025]

It's always delightful and fun to travel back in time while watching one of your videos

[@iadorenewyork1]

Even Skid Row, downtown L.A., is beautiful!

[@bobbysands6923]

If you go google maps, the building with the theater is still there, but it is not a theater. However, the WB sign is still there, just painted over. The vertical signage is also there--it say diamonds now. I am sure it is lovely now...

[@tome7016]

Dear NASS, Thank you for the wonderful trip back in time. I can't imagine waiting for a tram in the middle of traffic! Where is that trust in the social fabric today? And how about people wearing suits and dresses at the beach?! It was truly a different world back then. It makes me think about how unfairly it is to judge the past by today's standards.

[@haineshisway]

For those who like such things, the beginning of the video, passing the Warners Downtown was shot exactly on March 15, 1950. Will watch the rest and see if I can pinpoint anything else. :) At 4:10, we're in Glendale at 10600 N. San Fernando Road - no longer numbered like that - . At 5:19 we're still on San Fernando Road in Glendale passing the little area known as Glenwood.

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@lennyanders1639]

That;s true the movie A Man With A Horn with Kirk Douglas premiered in 1950, I looked it up.

[@greg434]

How did you know the exact day ?

[@YourVintageLane]

This was my mama’s era. Miss you mom.

[@saul890]

Great clip Nass , very clear , Thanks for sharing and keep them coming 👍🏾

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@olrikm]

Wow! Wow! The street scenes at the beginning should be in the Library of Congress "National Film Preservation Board". Really. The rest was just pure joy. Bravo!

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much ;)

[@ericlindenmuth7517]

Love the Redondo Beach footage!!! I live close to there! The people must have been looking for Moonstones. It was a popular activity! Redondo's nickname was Moonstone Beach.

[@williammetcalf7239]

Watching footage of LA in the 40s and 50s is fabulous.

[@aaronsegal2819]

This is a fantastic clip! I lived in downtown Los Angeles for 16 years, including a good stretch at the Cecil Hotel. I wish I would have known about this clip when I was down there, I would have loved to have walked along the same route and see what buildings and businesses are still there. Although having walked around there for 16 years I do recognize a lot of it.

[@stefaniac2095]

You are a gift to the world. Amazing work, thank you from all of us!

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video nass amazing footage, nice work 😀👍👌

[@NASS_0]

THank you very much

[@RED-h2z1l]

Peep the guy on the right shadowboxing lmao 2:20

[@GeorgeVreelandHill]

This is the Los Angeles that people dream about. Sadly, it's in the past now. When tourists come here, they come to see our great past. They don't come to see the Hollywood of today. They come to put their hands in the handprints of Marilyn Monroe and Jean Harlow. They come to Culver City to see the movie studios. They don't come to see the homeless tents and smell the feces stink of 2023. They come to Venice Beach to see where Jim Morrison wrote songs. Los Angeles has a GREAT past. That's what people want to see. Not this insane madness of today. By the way - GREAT video. It will be in my dreams tonight.

[@pmafterdark]

Incredible footage. Looks like it could have just been taken. What a window to a better time.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

The KKK would agree...

[@johnvrabec9747]

Wasn't that one road with all the oil derricks in "White Heat"? I love these videos, this is the world my parents were young adults in before I came along in 1958.

[@Traildraft]

The fire building at 3:23 is still there. The interior was used in the movie Ghostbusters.

[@thevintageaudiolife]

The gas station F.E.Warmoth @4:00 was located on the corner of Piece and San Fernando Road, in Pacoima CA, my childhood city.

[@ThinkLascivious]

0:33 Whoa... didn't know Orange Julius was around already back in the 1950's. 😮

[@kenster865]

Great job as usual! I got a real kick out of seeing all of those ppl at Redondo Beach and maybe 2 or 3 had bathing suits on. Everyone dressed as though going to a dinner party.... maybe they were?? They all acted as if they'd never seen the beach before. Bet there's an interesting story to that beachside group. 😉

[@alanpecherer5705]

What do you imagine all those non-beach-dressed people were doing there? Maybe there was a ship that sunk and they were looking for souvenirs. They didn't look like they were purposefully there to hunt clams, and there was probably reasonable blobs of oil in the debris line.

[@NASS_0]

thank you so much

[@bazookabullet101]

I love looking at the brands and businesses, advertisements. Orange Julius!

[@rumdo5617]

Brilliant 🤩 Thank you 🙏

[@ellylovely205]

What's more amazing, not everything is just classic. But, its the classy car colors, are just ever EPIC. Aw. Just look at that pale pink color car. Just marvelous. We got pale blue color car, why not pale pink color car too. Great footage. Thanks for sharing! 🥰

[@petestaint8312]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting. 👍

[@mistervacation23]

Its good to see there's some of the old town left

[@May_Day45]

WoW, that was awesome, thank you :)

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@vpking77]

Young Man With A Horn was released in 1950 so there is no doubt the year is correct.

[@Ofinfinitejest]

Yes, March of 1950, and the theater is at 655 Hill St, in Los Angeles. Now some sort of "gold / diamonds exchange" place.

[@janettemcclelland2959]

​@@OfinfinitejestThe Jewelry Mart is around that area now. Bullocks was across the street. They turned it into a jewelry building.

[@yvette28]

Thanks ☺️ more Los Ángeles pls 👏

[@brucebennett8307]

These films appear to be "process plates" taken for Hollywood films to be projected on the "process" stage behind or next to partial car interiors to simulate the view through the windows of the vehicle. Before "green screen" these were simply projected on rear projection screens with a motor electronically synchronizing the shutters of both the camera and the projector. I imagine that an awful lot of such footage was shot around Los Angeles, some of it in Technicolor for color movies.

[@blayneaugust]

Remarkable and thoroughly captivating, thanks for this!

[@BlueSky-gu2bx]

Evidently Money to Loan businesses were quite popular back then. Excellent video I enjoyed watching the LA of yesterday. I think I'd prefer that LA to the current one.

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much

[@michaelmartin4552]

It was the tail end of the Depression after all.

[@crazystemlady]

you whoever you are, decided to use your time on this planet to create a gift to the silent and nostalgic humans who just want to see the world in its most mundane and natural of states. thank you so much

[@chrisstephens5310]

I will always love you Los Angeles greatest city in the world

[@HansDunkelberg1]

I wonder if the child appearing in the foreground at 8:35 still is alive. She may not yet have become ninety, while the gentleman with the hat behind her may have been born in the 1800s.

[@westy40]

My mom was born in 1936 and she's still going strong. Good chance that the child in this film is still alive.

[@HansDunkelberg1]

@@westy40 The older I get _myself,_ the more clearly I experience how short "historic" times are ago. It's not only that man stays the same, with his good and his bad sides. No, it's that I begin to extend what I perceive as having experienced it myself into the time before my birth. KZbin helps me incredibly, with this effort. I have now arrived at perceiving the Roman empire as a part of the present - which here, close to the Austrian capital, is especially easy because you here are surrounded by a colorful mixture of descendants of ancient Romans, of colonizers from the Germany of the Middle Ages, and of Slavs. Now I'm beginning to tackle ancient Egypt. Rather than traveling there - which I'm afraid of because of the heat, of worms in the water, and of terrorists -, I'm resorting, in particular, to Google Earth. You do obtain some street-view panoramas from regions like Egypt or Iraq there, which in an instant can let you traverse millennia.

[@colette6984]

Successfully mesmerizing!

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@colette6984]

@@NASS_0 super neat seeing highly clear video of another era.

[@jenniferlovins1190]

Almost every single store or shop is a loan place! That’s crazy!

[@SaSatch_Chelyen29]

Some opportunistic vlogger will spot " a time traveller " on these sorts of nostalgic videos of the past

[@JayKarpwick]

Or claim that the buildings were put up by giants from the 3rd century. Don't these people have more than 3 gray cells wired together?

[@johncook1076]

Thank you for your great work!

[@Gunner40Five]

Wow, there videos are so cool. Thanks for sharing with us. Keep up the good work.

[@NASS_0]

thank you

[@leonardopinto1917]

Sempre admirei os Estados Unidos, principalmente por seu urbanismo, sempre com paisagem limpa, com as coisas nos seus lugares. Até na "desordem" há beleza.

[@Dolphin_Terrace]

Perdeu m@né 😂😂😂😂😂

[@EYE_GOTCHA]

It’s unfortunate and heartbreaking that it’s no longer that way.

[@ronaldmiller2740]

NASS,, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR MAGIC ,,.. OF HISTORY ...OF COLOR AND SOUND.. PEACE!!

[@NASS_0]

thank you so much ;)

[@HansKlopek]

You might notice a stark decline when you compare this to the modern day but thats actually progress.

[@kimleone5496]

Most well-dressed, put photos show the effects of the depression and the war. Could be cleaner streets. Thanks for sharing.

[@paolazuffinetti]

No words are enough to thank You for this video. It's so wonderful! It seems to me like a parallel universe in which to enjoy my favourite USA city, going back many years ago! To be kept and rewatched many times! 👍👍👍👍

[@mister.rico.101]

Beautiful Video 👍

[@NASS_0]

thank you bro

[@hestheMaster]

They didn't skip around the more seedier parts of old Los Angeles in this film. The view out the window of a prop job airplane was cool.

[@michaelmartin4552]

That was not all that seedy of an area, that was downtown LA near the theater district.

[@scribblerjohn1]

@@michaelmartin4552 Nearly every other business is a pawn shop. This is the old skid row area of L.A.

[@michaelmartin4552]

@@scribblerjohn1 Skid Row is the district north of where that was. And in that era after most of the banks shut down a lot of loans came from pawn shops. They are still a common sight in most parts of LA even today. Many people who simply do not trust banks even today use pawn shops.

[@DavidBrown-dj7tw]

Reality Check: The newest vehicle I spotted was a 1949 Ford Convertible which is in the gas station @ 4:08. I am going to say that this wonderful film was made in either 1949 or possibly 1950 or '51. The little girl sitting on the bench in front of the car is maybe 4 or 5 years old. Today in 2024, this would make her approximately 78 years old. If that bench is still there, she may be sitting on it again, next to her GREAT grand daughter. Such a great experience going back in time for a few moments, thankyou.

[@Hey_its_Koda]

I love that look with the dress pants. Fedora. Dress shirt. Leather jacket.

[@shawnmarengo494]

1:44 - I want a cocktail at Al’s.

[@azmike1]

Yeah. I bet it was 75 cents for a glass of Jack Daniels.

[@BigBishop1]

Spectacular!

[@NASS_0]

thank you very much