Melbourne 1940

Old 16mm vacation films were discovered at a garage sale in San Jose, California by Tim Peddy and digitally converted courtesy of The California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. The unknown photographer traveled throughout 1940's Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. All Rights Reserved.

[@user-gk-y8t]

Melbourne my home city. This was amazing to watch. Beautiful then and now 😍

[@321ruthie1]

thank you so much for posting this, i grew up in melbourne in the 40s and this brought back so many wonderful memories of a time when things were alot calmer and beautiful, so many of these places have now changed so much but oh gosh it was great to go back in time, thank you so so much

[@vavacadoz]

You still alive?

[@MMM-dq9jj14up]

@@vavacadoz Nope, I'm dead now.

[@Backyardultrapodcast]

Fantastic. Definitely then and still now one of the best cities in the world.

[@frenchys_prospecting]

I might be biased as I was born and raised in Melbourne but I’ve been to every city in Australia and Melbourne still tops them all.

[@peterausfranken]

The Foys Store at the corner of Bourke and Swanson Street. In the old days this store an Myers of Melbourne both had a lot of decoration for christmas in the shop windows. As a little boy ist was amazing to come in the city to see this😃

[@craigd426]

How amazing is this? My parents would often tell me about the "City" and how big it was. This is brilliant

[@TheLordblackader]

It would have to be very early 1940; there's a cable tram in the footage and the last cable tram in Melbourne stopped running in October 1940.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

yeah i think i saw a 1940 model kangaroo

[@CowboyJojosAdventures]

Theses definately awesome. Thank you for sharing such brilliant footage of Melbourne in the 1940's.

[@CMAKRI]

OMG the Yarra River was blue 75 years ago!!

[@hqqns]

I think this film was probably colourised and they guessed it to be blue, which we know is not correct. The brown is from the tannin from gum trees.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

@@hqqns yeah, good answer

[@jamieb8112]

Good video with some nice clear footage. And I like the assortment of background music. Thank you for sharing.

[@KailuaKid]

Thanks, Jamie B

[@tripsadelica]

Melbourne was a very different place during WW2. Despite the horrors happening in other parts of the world Melbourne was relatively unscathed. It never suffered any attacks and remained fairly prosperous and calm throughout. Melbourne was/is a well-ordered city. Designed on a grid system it's virtually impossible to get lost in the central city district and it is graced with many beautiful botanical gardens. The American soldiers stationed in Melbourne for R&R loved the place and many marriages took place with Aussie war brides returning with their GI husbands. Now the city has changed markedly due to many waves of migrants coming to the country post WW2. Most of the change has been good, with many new forms of eateries and shops opening up but some has been very bad. Melbourne has suffered recently due to rampant crimes committed by Somali and Sudanese refugees who, rather than thank Australia for giving them a new chance at life, have turned to crimes of types never before seen in this country.

[@tripsadelica]

I have a number of friends in the Victoria Police. The real story about Apex has never been told. Apex itself is now pretty-much defunct but the younger members have branched out taking in dumb Pacific Island lads who sing in church on Sunday and bludgeon people for their mobile phones for the rest of the week. There are now satellite gangs of these monsters in human form proliferating across Melbourne's newer suburbs. They choose new suburbs because the people there are relatively well-off, likely to drive newer cars and police coverage is poor. They do aggravated burglaries in the middle of early mornings to get car keys and any other small valuables they can carry. The cars are sold off to Lebanese gangsters operating chop shops in the western suburbs. The cars are stripped and sold as parts OR they are put in containers and sent to Lebanon where VIN numbers are changed, cops are paid off and they can sell the cars all over the Arab world. Bastards! These same gangsters get the black kids to steamroll jewellery stores in smash and grab raids (usually over in three minutes and employing sledge hammers and nail hammers). For their troubles they get Methamphetamines, prostitutes and hotel rooms to cavort in and a small amount of cash. Only now is the state government reacting to this crime wave. The gloves are off and the police are going in hard. No more easy bail, no more easy sentences. Somalis and Sudanese who are not yet citizens are recommended to the federal government for deportation...no more Mr. Nice Guy. These people are the scum of the earth. The adults live off our generous welfare with very high unemployment because they don't want to work. They get money from their kids to tide them over and, of course, welfare...which includes a health care card for free health care and free medicines. THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO COME HERE!

[@lynnkueh]

I am very sad 😔 why Melbourne can easily gave citizenships to these types of mobsters but on the other hand, make it so tough for other legitimate immigrants who really love to have a chance to work in Melbourne and contribute to its economy as well as living harmoniously side by side with Melbournians. What is your government thinking? These people don't even need to score in IELPTS or have police criminal reference checks to enter and be given residency? Melbourne is so beautiful and many would love to make Melbourne their home. I am talking from sunny Island of Singapore. Have just invested in Melbourne. But shocked by the gangs.

[@vsvnrg3263]

i've seen waves of all immigrants since the second world war. we seem to have troubles with most ethnic groups if too many are let in too quickly. i reckon that's the problem.

[@ThePaulv12]

Yeah the seppos were overpaid, oversexed and over 'ere the kunce!

[@barrymcdonald9868]

this hasn't aged well....took the Liberal bait

[@marcolange18]

ank you so much for posting this, i grew up in melbourne in the 40s and this brought back so many wonderful memories of a time when things were alot calmer and beautiful, so many of these places have now changed so much but oh gosh it was great to go back in time, thank you so so muc

[@marcolange18]

i grew up in melbourne in the late fifties until 1964and was called nazi. back in hamburg i was called kangaroo.

[@Nostalgicjase]

Thank you for posting this.

[@robsullivan8581]

Brilliant, thanks for posting, luv it.

[@SkippyTheRedKangaroo]

So many scenes are still recognizable. The Royal Botanical Gardens are a highlight!

[@brucewilliams8714]

This is great. In the booming 1880s Melbourne was ranked in the world's top five cities: London, Paris, Rome, New York, Melbourne.

[@wiliammound7942]

No mention or views of the terrible slums in Collingwood, Fitzroy , South Melbourne and elsewhere though.

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

By whom ?

[@brucewilliams8714]

@@rajivmurkejee7498 A good question. So unusual a piece of information it has stuck with me for 65 years since my university studies of Australian history. Sorry, I can't give you a source, but I assume it was reputable.

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

Thanks for replying

[@Colt45hatchback]

@@wiliammound7942 if i recall across from the zoo it used to be a tin shed slum, my fathers first wife's family lived there apparently

[@fabianpatrizio2865]

Amazing this was found in some garage in California

[@gregmirabella6022]

Must watch it again but a couple of quick observations: Seems to be a cable tram but in a different scene there's also an electric tram with overhead cable. Suspect the wildlife footage is at Healesville rather than Parkville. I look forward to getting a few older friends together and seeing what we can see - Port Melbourne, the CBD, and so on. But it's fantastic to note that some things haven;t changed that much - the Botanical Gardens?

[@startrekker21]

Greg Mann It's the Healesville Sanctuary in the Dandenongs. The Botanical Gardens haven't changed at all except for the addition of some lovely buildings at the top gate that opens on to the Drive that curves around the Domain and I can't remember its name. Melbourne is the best city in the world.

[@jonathantan2469]

Yea, they had cable trams back then. They operated in the same manner as the cable streetcars in San Francisco. The building at the southeast corner of Nicholson & Gertrude Streets in Fitzroy was an engine house for cable trams.

[@brackenboy6321]

First electric trams were in 1921 and last cable trams in 1940 so both types were operating.

[@funkyironman69]

Everything looks so much cleaner than today! No rubbish at all! :D

[@vsvnrg3263]

clean in this film but film of flinders street station around this time shows the tracks covered in paper waste. at least in those days the rubbish mostly decomposed quickly.

[@letstudy2day]

love this. love old footage like this. people live back in 1940 and i live there in 2020. amazing

[@32638188]

The Yarra BLUE???? It's the only river in Australia that flows upside down!!

[@VirtualR]

The video has been digitally coloured, the river was blue until 1883 when they decided to put dynamite under the Yarra Falls (a small freshwater waterfall beside flinders street station), that pushed the salt water far upstream to Dights Falls which is the current start of freshwater. The reason it's so brown is due to the removal of the Yarra Falls, the flow of the river changed dragging more sediment, clay and tannins from fallen trees turning the entire river brown, originally this was not a problem until the Yarra falls were removed. The waterfall was removed to allow for easier boat access and to bring larger goods carrying ships further upstream. Personally I think it would be great to bring back the Yarra falls and have a clean looking river again, though it might not be possible to fix now.

[@derek5168]

I love reading the comments of those who were there at the time

[@medullaoblongata9670]

I remember this day very well I can remember the cameras in Bourke Street. I had just retired from a long career as one of Melbourne’s best known mattress testers. You can clearly see me in the scene I’m the one wearing a suit with a hat on!.

[@retrothingz]

Thanks.for posting. Fascinating film. But had to mute the audio at 3.15. A dirge about cutting cane in Queensland doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and the Dandenong Ranges.

[@darrengay6326]

Maybe it was filmed by Charlie Chaplin as he was known to have visited Melba's house or some other Hollywood person as the composition looks to be that of a professional. Never the less great job and thank you for sharing.

[@timpritchard5397]

Amazing video guys

[@CarringtonBrigham]

OMG the Yarra is blue back in 1940!!

[@xj6001991]

Lost Melbourne posted this last night via a Lost Country Victoria.message from a follower

[@danrobinson572]

Awesome video!!

[@samirchowdhry3133]

Omg. Such a beautiful place. Luv it.

[@QueenConsternation]

wow, so cool!

[@MMM-dq9jj14up]

@1.44 thank god, Richard Wynne, 'Minister For Demolitions' has not flattened The Exhibition buildings. Before Southbank AND Crown Casino was built to wreck Melbourne.

[@kellywhite9411]

Watching this on the 2nd of November 2020 Melbourne 🇦🇺

[@cammurdoch3979]

Brilliant, fantastic to watch. Where is the CBD buildings lol

[@PoshLifeforME]

superb

[@williamrubinstein3442]

Hard to believe that Australia was at war at the time.

[@tomleykisfan7280]

Damn I should of brought land back then!

[@jonathantan2469]

You bet. A two bedroom house in Fitzroy North was just 400 pounds back then, or 1.5 times the yearly wage of a factory worker. The same house now sells for $600,000.

[@Colt45hatchback]

I feel like melbourne when i was kid in the early 90's closer resembled melbourne in the video than it does now. Unfortunate, i used to like going to the city.

[@MrLeedebt]

Very pleasant...ty

[@ronlynquist9183]

Cook didn't discover Australia. He wasn't even the first European here!

[@somethinsomethin9979]

At 0:23 the guy to left was holding a bag at first glance i thought it was a body bag 😫

[@No1carpetcleaningmelbourneAus]

Magnífico!!!!!

[@drpeeltheinflatablebanana8706]

Does any one know who is performing the song cane cutters lament in this video?

[@melciveng]

mark kofler It’s a band called Anal Beard and they hail from Brighton in England.

[@TheSunnybunny2000]

FUCKEN BEAUTIFUL

[@oz4mee]

does anyone know the artists and name of the song about cutting cane. So many memeories in this film

[@goldendereck2726]

Hi, I would like to get the license of this video for commercial event use if possible? please let me know. Thanks!

[@306champion]

I hope the first soundtrack wasn't meant to reflect on the National Anthem because it didn't become the Anthem for decades to come. I loved the clip and the soundtracks, Great Stuff.

[@claire111]

My Nanna's era. So gorgeous ❤

[@brucekilby9957]

This great footage during the war is beautiful Super8 footage. The yarra wouldn't have been drinkable then,a maybe in the time of Collins and Bourke. No footage of Elizabeth st Flooding. Some shops are long gone,but Myers would have been getting bigger around then in Bourke st. Beautiful color. Great to see Melbourne in the 1940s.🇦🇺🚲

[@DeMews]

Elizabeth st flooding? That was 1972.

[@KZL_aus]

What is the name of the last song?

[@KailuaKid]

24 Robbers by Gordon Webster

[@ThePaulv12]

I had to turn the volume down - I was about to sick up.

[@dithomas6117]

Loved this! But yes, the choice of soundtrack is a bit odd.

[@paulohara8967]

Wonder if Luna Park has been given a face lift. Looks somewhat similar to how it is today.

[@Redemption7788]

was that Labassa Mansion?

[@wayne.thomson-qe1pf]

Our forefathers we're visionaries they done a damn well job. What happened really you look around at the telly different country and most parts Apple file as of today line their pockets and gave up on the people, But us a people we keep strive ahead to make a difference A Better Lives for ourselves Offspring the have a roof over our head and a good job to help pay for it, Our governments today have lettuce down not the people the major works that needs to be done Willoughby building cars ships planes etc are all done overseas where have becoming a nation sales assistant person, checkout operator and it goes on yes that jobs but they're not jobs at build a country like our forefathers had envisioned , in the video documentary that has been provided I thank you for sharing it look how nice the roads and everything was maintained answered as well we really have to look and think where we are going as a people I'm not trying to make it sound doom and gloom just a person that is seen our country decay and corporate greed and for the jobs of people that haven't really got the opportunity to go for and you can't to say University is the key to everything yes education is great but what is greater as people having a meaningful job electricians Shipyard builders car manufacturing so I'm as I said before it is a beautiful country the beautiful people ever but and I mean a big bud politicians and letting us down more than we realise and that's not good for any of us we all look what it was to live and the Forties in the fifties in the sixties but now the turn of the century one must really ask our politicians where are we going and what are we going to do to get there cos everything can't get made overseas then we will become a nation of checkout operators sales Clerks, enclosure I just like to say I only want the best for our country which is our people and the way we live it's . Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi we can do better we've done it before so let's do it again stop shortcutting ourselves.

[@colstephens76]

So much cleaner then. 😡

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

I didn't realise Captain Cook was an Australian

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Luna park looks like flinders street station on acid

[@ladgrove]

The Australian Anthem sounds like it's from a Zelda game.

[@matthays716]

Josh Ladgrove it was God save the king at that time

[@Spudtron98]

It sounds like a MIDI rendition... how odd.

[@phoxx4582]

lol

[@planetx1595]

@@matthays716 Queen*

[@Austech]

@@planetx1595 It was King. The Queen was coronated in 1953, the year after her father the King died.

[@hedylamarr1637]

Its looks like a utopia,

[@olivealbers2478]

Eats, roots and leaves...

[@chrisryan9071]

Oh dear! How wonderful to have the images but that bloody AWFUL soundtrack ruins the enjoyment! Thank you for a mute button! Thank you for the posting but ...

[@paulnguyen8910]

Before the Minogue sisters came here into the world.

[@sigersonic]

Advance Australia fair only became the natonal anthem in 84

[@musicindustrialcomplex]

5:08 "For that fucker"?

[@KailuaKid]

The Hit Man "For that Bugger"... pretty much the same thing. Either way, it certainly doesn't rhyme with "sugar".

[@lynnkueh]

Very nice indeed. But I miss the skyscrapers too. 🤗

[@Parramatta84]

Meanwhile downunder the brits bathed at Dunkirk...

[@wiliammound7942]

And a few thousand Aussies did as well.

[@annakatewilson5822]

orange beach escape room

[@andreawilson3639]

Breakout Escape Room

[@derhampaul2182]

I wasn't born yet

[@annakatewilson5822]

pigeon forge escape room

[@gordonayres2609]

Tedious music. Something more subdued and atmospheric might work.

[@annakatewilson5822]

birmingham alabama escape room

[@luciferchomsky2782]

wow the tasmanian tiger had only just gone extinct

[@lesgriffiths8523]

It was a dingo Lucifer. Les Griffiths

[@luciferchomsky2782]

@@lesgriffiths8523 not sure what you mean, I was speaking generally

[@Sento35]

Kangarooland?

[@mailonlinevideo5611]

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[@qwertasdf]

haha

[@homie89916]

Racist ppl be like, it was a lot better back then.

[@DeMews]

No, it was a lot better then because there were fewer people, nothing to do with where people came from.