" SAN FRANCISCO: METROPOLIS OF THE WEST " 1941 TRAVELOGUE FILM CALIFORNIA FISHERMAN'S WHARF 93834

[@rudolphparayo6034]

San Francisco was a great place when I was growing up. The ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and the early ‘80s were exciting times in this city. How times have changed! Most of my friends and classmates that I went to school with have moved out or have passed on.

[@mirkomeyerhoff2700]

If you're a billionaire or at least working for them it's still fine, I understand. Poor or middle class, not so much, same in LA or NYC.

[@theresamay9481]

@@mirkomeyerhoff2700 In the '60's San Francisco, my Mom was working a minimum wage job and going to college, supporting my sister and I. She could afford a flat. No one could do that now. Ten years ago, a relative couldn't even find a room she could afford in SF. It's very sad.

[@SpikedCollar666]

At least everything you see here is still here, building wise. In Los Angeles, most of our cities past has been torn down for new apartment buildings

[@thecryptofishist9565]

@@SpikedCollar666 The eastern span of the Bay Bridge is gone...

[@Rohit-nd6ie]

@@thecryptofishist9565 im pretty sure it was because it partially collapsed during lota prima quake

[@PaulJHershey1]

Great Travelogue. One of the reasons Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines returned to San Francisco after shipping out during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam were such travelogues shown to them in camp, onboard during their years of service. Fleet week, shore leave, assignments to the Presidio, the Naval Shipyards, all helped spread the siren call of St Francis' namesake, George Sterlings' 'Cool Grey City of Love'. Cities evolve, develop, grow tattered along the edges but barring another catastrophe equal to that of 1906's earthquake/fire, San Francisco will always beckon. Paris in Summer 1976 was hot, crowded, very dirty, smelled of urine and waste. Notre Dame was whole then and then disaster struck just last year - FIRE. But Paris has cleaned up, the streets are much cleaner than ever before - and Notre Dame is being restored. Thus it will be for SF. NYC - the Big Apple in the 1970s was in disarray. Central Park and Times Square were places to be avoided, crime, panhandlers, mismanagement cast a pall over the city. Then local citizens got involved, exciting business interests, and turned up the volume of her own Siren's call (portrayed often by the figurative beauty of Audrey Munson (look her up). Now, not perfect but healing - NYC is for all intents, the World's Capital, or at least one of them. SF may be beset by issues and physical detractors such as large homeless populations, exorbitant housing costs, infrastructure shortcomings... but you can never go home again. "There is no there, there." to quote Gertrude Stein about her lost home in Oakland. But SF will shine again, beckon new lovers, become the haven for future inhabitants. How do I know this? A: San Francisco's history. San Francisco was willed into existence by explorers, gold seekers, families, business interests, young idealists, artists... San Francisco is more an idea than a place. And as long as the idea, the dream of SF is in sight, on the horizon, it can't disappear...it just will keep evolving, regenerating itself, solving its problems, recovering from disasters. It will gather up its energies and spread its wings once again, rising above its current maladies. To think otherwise is to not know San Francisco, her history, her citizens.

[@RobS123]

I hope you're right. As a Third Generation San Francisco it's hard to remain hopeful. It seems as if every City department is incapable of doing its job properly and the City is struggling for its identity against a backdrop of human misery with the Homeless population. I like your optimism, and there are people here that WANT to make a difference and turn things around...We shall see...

[@jaykay415]

San Francisco ought to hire you as Head Visionary For A New Plan. Not kidding!

[@luislaplume8261]

Either you are a prophet, psychic, or a person with wishful thinking, I can not agree with you. And I myself am a New Yorker who grew up in NYC during the Mad Men era of the 1960s.

[@kepckatherinec805]

Fascinating to see how much San Francisco has changed, and yet how much of the city remains the same.

[@Zulithe]

"But the pride of San Francisco is the Civic Center" one of many things in this video you would never hear today. Very entertaining video though, thanks. This video is the epitome of "We used to be a country. A proper country." incarnate.

[@ericnichols9223]

Well said. That was the most shocking line in the film. Civic Center should be the pride of SF, but now it's a dangerous, filthy nest of the worst the city has to offer. It's bizarre how the city has become so much worse over the past decades. A wonderful example of failed city government.

[@AlexCab_49]

@@ericnichols9223 Tenderloin is pretty bad too. When I visit the city, I avoid that place.

[@mousepotatop9767]

Civic Center now is a homeless cesspool.

[@SpiritualScience7]

I was born in San Francisco. Darn how I love this City. How this city has changed.

[@papagen00]

you can thank your woke SF politicians for the change.

[@wjcj1234]

It's going to take hitting rock bottom before the city has any chance of being great again. I feel that way about most of the rest of our formerly great state. The crazies are too entrenched to be changed without much (needed) suffering. Sorry for all of us.

[@martymcfly8733]

The city turned to crap thanks to your mayor and Pelosi.

[@SpiritualScience7]

Mark Mark the communists are taking over the whole country, haven’t you noticed. I didn’t vote for Palosi. I am sure they control all the voting machines in Cali wake up.

[@ronmartin1375]

Bridges, trains, cable cars and buildings are colonialism. Illegal now.

[@dflf]

I want to live in THAT San Francisco

[@DiandraStarShine]

really? for me, depends on when Novocain was invented, things like that. and it's why I say, *"HE11, NO!," when people have asked me if I'd ever want to time travel to any particular time in the distant past if it were ever possible: nope!

[@ronmartin1375]

Can’t. Clean cities are colonialism.

[@annhalton1963]

@N Diesal Hey, now..That's part of 'diversity'🤣 , to be a-pee-ciated🤣

[@n3ry404]

Where’s all the homeless piss and men with assless chaps ?!?! This isn’t the San Francisco I know and love

[@incomitatus]

All it takes is a politician(s) with an agenda to ruin what was once beautiful.

[@hoemanlew795]

A proud native who was fortunate to have lived over 4 decades in the City starting in ‘62. Footage from this video made me nostalgic for the San Francisco I knew. I remember the homey communal feeling throughout, as the City was largely populated with locals during my years there. Sadly, I don’t feel the same when visiting today.

[@youngdee6421]

" I remember the homey communal feeling throughout, as the City was largely populated with locals during my years there. Sadly, I don’t feel the same when visiting today." Hypocrisy at its finest. It's ok for you to move away to live somewhere else but you complain about people moving to SF.

[@ayahuascayage]

@@youngdee6421 I think you've twisted and distorted Hoeman Lew's comment. Not a smidgen of hypocrisy in his statement, but good try. He obviously knows something you don't. And you have no idea why he moved away: Maybe he had to.

[@GildaLee27]

@@youngdee6421 Having moved away despite all the homey communal feeling in San Francisco, he is now a tourist when he visits, one of those non-locals he disapproved of when he was a resident. He can't accept that in fact, his old city remains today "largely populated with locals" as always. Surely he had nothing whatsoever to do with the decades of chronic neglect of the City's infrastructure and people. Surely he did not profit from the real estate/ecommerce/tech booms that have made it virtually impossible to buy a home in the City without a 6-figure downpayment and two 6-figure incomes. Surely none of his decisions or actions or behavior over decades of residency in the city contributed to the city's current conditions. He's just sad.

[@RobS123]

@@GildaLee27 Gee, no wild assumptions in THAT reply ;-).

[@ny9983]

I agree I want that San Francisco back.. I grew up in the 70’s and had a taste of what a wonderful city it was… now it’s over priced, gentrified and has so much crime and homelessness that the city officials should be ashamed that they have single handedly devastated the beauty and soul of this city!

[@markjones3213]

Crime is an individuals choice

[@ayahuascayage]

@@markjones3213 Yes, but when there are no consequences, as in incompetent district attorneys, one finds that individuals making bad choices abound. When everything is tolerated, civility goes out the window.

[@markjones3213]

@@ayahuascayage of course there are consequences. It’s just that rehabilitation is a better solution and than just locking people away at the taxpayers expense. People commit crime regardless. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is. So locking up every person who commits a crime for years and years doesn’t seem to work because other people still commit crime.

[@ayahuascayage]

@@markjones3213 Of course there are consequences? You have to be kidding! How many consequences have been dealt out to the smash-and-grab brotherhood? What percentage of street robberies and property crimes results in consequences? People commit crime regardless? Brilliant! Never would I have dreamed that were the truth! Absolutely genius observation! Locking up every person who commits a crime? I said nothing of the sort. And then your lame logic that if you incarcerate people, there are still others who commit crime. You should just listen to how utterly lame you sound. Your reasoning says, "Why lock up anyone, because there will still be criminals on the street." Are you kidding? And, yeah, I'm for incarcerating bad guys, but they need to be put to work and earn their keep. Imprisonment should mean work and constructive work. And that drtball by the name of Boudin should be run out of town on a rail.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

It was still about this beautiful in 1975, and almost as much in 1987.

[@DiandraStarShine]

"...a gentle veil of moisture." @ 07:19 that is, by far, the first time I've ever heard fog described in that way, hahaha!!😄 and yes, we *do* get a lot of it here! I was born decades after this film was made, it was amazing to see 1941's San Francisco.😮

[@ThomasPerezGhost]

Do you feel that it's less foggy than it used to be? I sometimes get that sense but I honestly don't venture into the city a much as I used to. And maybe the really foggy days just stick out in my memory.

[@odietamo9376]

@@ThomasPerezGhost - I have lived in SF for many years. It does not seem any more or less foggy today than in the past. There is more fog during some parts of the year than at others. Same as ever.

[@LL-bl8hd]

San Francisco is such an amazing city with fascinating history, unique landscape, interesting architecture and landmarks.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

It demonstrates the grandeur of the Beaux Arts school of architecture and landscape design, so sadly abandoned by the 1950s.

[@emceeunderdogrising]

My grandmother was born in Oakland. It's interesting seeing what she lived through.

[@GildaLee27]

There was a time when bubonic plague broke out in San Francisco. At one time, there were rampant kidnappings in San Francisco, where if you stopped at a local bar for a beer after work or even while just walking along the street, you might wake up sometime later at sea, having been "shanghai'd" to work against your will aboard ship for the thugs who just kidnapped you. Want to not get thrown overboard? Get to work. For decades, vigilante gangs controlled the city of San Francisco. Officials elected by the people to keep order either worked for the gangs or were outright members themselves. Historic labor actions took place in San Francisco where dock workers fought and died for employment rights everyone now takes for granted. Not picketing and namecalling. Actual hand to hand combat with police in the streets of San Francisco. At the time when this film was being made, tens of thousands of Black Americans were moving to San Francisco and the Bay Area to work in the Kaiser shipyards building ships and tons of other war materiel for the US government. Their labor was needed & welcomed by Bay Area industry when elsewhere, they were not allowed good factory jobs, were redlined out of buying homes, and were also being subject to widespread violence against themselves and their families, churches, businesses, & entire communities by criminal white supremacist gangs. San Francisco, a port city, has always been an entrepot, gritty as well as cosmopolitan.

[@Dayvit78]

Thanks for providing a dose of realism! Also note that at 3:30 they say that the Chinese are permanent residents "many of whom were born here." This was before being born on US soil gave you citizenship!

[@GildaLee27]

@@Dayvit78 Being born in the United States has always conferred US citizenship.

[@Dayvit78]

Ok I was a little off with my dates, but until 1898, they were NOT until the Supreme Court decided in 1898. United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), was a landmark decision[4] of the U.S. Supreme Court which held that "a child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, ...] automatically became a U.S. citizen at birth." But immigrants were NOT allowed to naturalize unless they were white - until the 1940s when this video was made.

[@Urinbigtroublemister]

I really enjoy what you stated about the history of San Francisco. People tend to forget that San Francisco has always had a history with “gold being struck” there - whether it be literal gold or figurative, monetary gold. Yes gentrification is a huge problem but people flocking to the bay with the hopes of making it rich is a old tale and one that is not specific to the tech boom.

[@osilvers]

I've never heard of this. How interesting!

[@scotnick59]

S.F. in 1941 must have been truly AWESOME

[@DiandraStarShine]

says the guy using the internet and many other conveniences & technology, hahaha!!😃

[@nathantw]

Too racist and segregated. Maybe the 70s and 80s.

[@pacz8114]

@@nathantw says the guy who opted for a trite and cliched remark.

[@nathantw]

@@pacz8114 the truth hurts.

[@pacz8114]

@@nathantw OK. Fine. First, define the word, "racism"; then tell us what it means to be "racist". I'll be eagerly awaiting your reply.

[@13ivanogre13]

Fantastic video. The vast majority of everything shown still exists today, and SF is still beautiful. We are just suffering now.

[@wjcj1234]

Understatement of the century. I wouldn't go within fifty miles of the entire bay area. No offense. I live down south and it's not much better. But my neighbors voted for it. I can't wait to get out and return to the USA, land of the free!

[@death2pc]

Pox upon ANYTHING/ANYONE conservative !!! Be sure to keep ALL your DEMOCRAT "leaders" in power, in EVERY seat, in EVERY department. Continue in the righteous and hate filled manner that you liberals inherently do to "progressively" move "forward" toward a "better" society, one filled with anything goes crime, drugs, taxes, filth..... After all, it IS the DEMOCRAT way !!!

[@dmk941]

@@death2pc LOL. Damn you’re angry.

[@DiandraStarShine]

​@@dmk941 yes, *Death2PC* is so crazy he's not even making any sense with his: "Pox upon ANYTHING/ANYONE conservative !!! Be sure to keep ALL your DEMOCRAT "leaders" in power, in EVERY seat, in EVERY department. Continue in the righteous and hate filled manner that you liberals inherently do to "progressively" move "forward" toward a "better" society, one filled with anything goes crime, drugs, taxes, filth..... After all, it IS the DEMOCRAT way !!!" always fearful & looking for a reason to go to war with 'the scary other.'🙄 and crazy just like *wjcj1234,* whose comment was: "Understatement of the century. I wouldn't go within fifty miles of the entire bay area. No offense. I live down south and it's not much better. But my neighbors voted for it. I can't wait to get out and return to the USA, land of the free!" whose 'reply' showed up before *Death2PC's* and which *also* makes no sense re: what the OP commented. but then they're probably the same cuckoo for cocoa puffs nut job.

[@dmk941]

@California Dreamer They’ll never believe you. They say they’ll never come to San Francisco but will explain to you everything about it like they’ve lived here for longer than you.

[@DevilDogDen1775]

This "used" to be my city..... Fourth generation Both my grandpa and dad were Cable Car Gripmen........I Sold my house and moved away in 2002 because I saw the writing on the wall.... So glad that I did, but my heart truly aches for what it has become..... 💔

[@vicmerle57]

I was born and raised there also. Lived all over the city growing up. Bernal Heights, North Beach, lived on Ashbury and Grove, and also the Outer Sunset on 48th Ave. I was a teen in the early Seventies, so things were still very good. I loved growing up in North Beach when I was a kid. Wonderful memories. San Francisco is now worse than my worse nightmare of what would happen to that beautiful city. Just disgusting. And you can blame all of these far left woke bullshit politicians for destroying San Francisco and California and many other great cities across the United States of America!

[@wjcj1234]

I feel your pain. I'm in Southern California and it's similar for similar reasons. I can't wait to get out.

[@death2pc]

You are, alas, one of thousands who heart and soul........, whose birthright was destroyed by liberals............

[@surferdude44444]

Washington High ‘69. Lived on 29th and Fulton. Great location and a great time to be a kid. Those days are long gone. Don’t even go back for a visit anymore. It’s now a cesspool.

[@vicmerle57]

Yes, I graduated in 1976! It was a wonderful time. Quick story you might enjoy. I was living on Ashbury and Grove in 1970. I went to Roosevelt Jr. High, and then of course continued to Washington in 1973. In 1974 we moved to 48th Ave and Ortega. I guess technically I was suppose to transfer to Lincoln since I now lived in the Sunset. But I never told Washington H.S. that I moved. I used to take the 18 Sloat and the 38 Geary to go to School. I am very proud to have graduated from Washington. What a view we had of the Golden Gate Bridge. Just fantastic! How lucky we were!

[@surferdude44444]

@vic merle .........you made the right decision. Washington vs Lincoln......no brainer. I’d ride my bike to school. Up up up 29th, flat at Geary and down to the school. I was an animal then (not so much anymore😂.) My favorite bus was 5 McAllister. Right to Market and then I’d catch the Candlestick Express to watch the games. Middle of July.......two sweatshirts and a wool hat. Remember? The wind off the bay was bone chilling at night.

[@ronmartin1375]

Bridges, trains, cable cars and buildings are colonialism. Illegal now.

[@Spaceshewarrior]

And still the cost of living and taxes are ridiculously high! Forget it!

[@jamesrecknor6752]

Yes, but a glorious, revolutionary, humanist / atheist socialist people's cesspool.

[@kennethjohnson6319]

A verygood episodeabout the life in San Francisco 1941 footage of the buildings the way they parked there cars on a angle on steep hills the cable cars and the way they dress and socialize with each other

[@Kylehudgins]

Hope you're taking care Kenneth

[@janvisser2223]

They still park their cars that way.

[@RebekahCurielAlessi]

@@janvisser2223 yes, we do...

[@13ivanogre13]

@@janvisser2223 They turn the wheels in though.

[@janvisser2223]

@@13ivanogre13 Yes, that’s what I meant, before I looked at the movie and saw the cars parked at 90 degrees 😅

[@snoopu2601]

You'll spend the coldest summer in San Francisco. People from in land come from 100° heat to San Francisco to 65°-70° weather in July August

[@cherkas009]

But now is global warming there's more and more hot days in San Francisco

[@snoopu2601]

@@cherkas009 today I don't feel the warning it's COLD here in the bay area of California 41° this morning at 9am

[@rossr6616]

“the coldest winter I ever experienced was one summer I lived in Milwaukee.” - Mark Twain Applies to San Francisco as well.

[@13ivanogre13]

Actually Twain has been reported to have said that Summer in San Francisco was the coldest, although he said it better.

[@wjcj1234]

@@snoopu2601 I think he was being sarcastic. I'm positive that it could snow up there and some leftwing nut will insist that it's hot outside. Your city is lost.

[@bobblowhard8823]

Ahh... back in the day. Back when San Francisco was a vibrant, beautiful, exciting, affordable city. Sadly, it is now a sad, pale shadow of its former self.

[@nathantw]

It was cool seeing the statues looking over the ocean.

[@thetooginator153]

“The gaudiness of the earlier homes of the city”?? Those Victorians are the coolest places in SF!!

[@GildaLee27]

Right!? When he said that, I thought, I'll take one of those "gaudy" Victorians any day. They're quite beautiful and worth a fortune now!

[@ghostofpambo6266]

What a beautiful city this was.

[@TheOgrande]

San Francisco definitely change over the years. I grew up in Daly City but love San Francisco.

[@ryanhorsley9965]

Someone should do a frame-by-frame recreation of this today. It would show that we are indeed living in a dystopian future.

[@dmk941]

Outside of the massive build up of the Financial District and the changes to the waterfront it would look 80-90% the same. Almost all the buildings pictured would still be there and have been maintained. Not that there aren’t problems in SF, but thinking it would look radically different or “dystopian” is incorrect.

[@jaminova_1969]

21 years ago, I visited SF for the 1st time. I saw a homeless male yelling at a woman on the trolley bus on Market for at least 20 minutes. I have no desire to revisit that crappy city!

[@rgraham9792]

@@jaminova_1969 You saw one yelling homeless guy over 20 years ago and that was enough to sour you on an entire city forever?

[@MrMarckeedee]

@@jaminova_1969 Homeless people are everywhere especially warm whether or mild climate cities. Yeah yeah California in general has an issue with homelessness. But so does my city New Orleans. I suppose you don’t want to visit here either. Have you been to Houston? Dallas? Anywhere in Florida? I’m sure you’re going to say all those cities don’t interest you because you can a find a homeless guy yelling on public transportation. Just stay Home then and watch KZbin

[@d.Arbelles]

@@jaminova_1969... even crappier today.

[@Mauisnake]

Thanks for sharing this slice of history.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Glad you enjoyed it! Subscribe and consider becoming a channel member kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXWliGami8abi6c

[@jeremy2875]

There was an underground tunnel on the embarcadero, 5:17 mark. Where did it go?

[@d.Arbelles]

@PeriscopeFilm Any films of the dairy farms of Excelsior or Crocker Amazon Districts? Farming in the Portola District?

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Not that we know of ... stay tuned! Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference. Subscribe and consider becoming a channel member kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXWliGami8abi6c

[@MichaelMolina0390]

Awesome video!

[@realitynuggets6204]

Is this posted just to sadden native SF'ers and longer time residents? A real bummer to see what has happened to SF. The reverence held in this film for the city is GONE. SF is so very unique, and must be preserved. Been a lot of places in the world, and I still feel SF is such a gem. Apparently so did others, and real estate has gone ballistic, but all for no improvement to city life in the last decade +. I hope things change for the better...

[@nullvoid564]

Aztlan was California Now it's Aztlan, not California Been a long time gone, Oh California Now it's tent city delight on a moonlit night Every gal in California Lives in Aztlan,Not California So if you've a date in California She'll be waiting in Aztlan Even old New York was once American Why they It changed I can't say. . . "They" just liked it better that way

[@rastaplank17]

“Preserving” San Francisco is the exact mentality that ruined the city. Blocking any and all progress of building, construction & change. Look at NY. Constantly out with the old in with the new which creates an exciting city that overtime, has still retained its identity.

[@nullvoid564]

@@rastaplank17 San Fransisco literally has a human feces with in the street problem, Architecture is the least of their worries

[@rastaplank17]

@null void why do you think that is 😂? There’s no where for them to live because they haven’t built large scale housing in the city since the 1800’s.

[@nullvoid564]

@@rastaplank17 Tonnes of people moving out of California as it becomes worse their buildings are still there

[@justanotheryoutubefan8070]

Born and raised San Franciscan but as a rather young person, I can't even imagine how beautiful the city was to actually live in back in these days. It's not ugly now. It's still physically beautiful with interesting attractions, a beautiful skyline, great areas like the Presidio, Crissy Field, Marina Greens. However it definitely has a feel to it that I imagine was not there in the 40s. I'll be honest, SF is a lot more dirty and crime-ridden than you'd expect for such a previously amazing place. The homelessness is atrocious as well. Everyone suffers except the non-profits who make a huge profit (unfortunately) off the suffering of the homeless. All urban places have got their problems but SF, I believe, to be below average compared to other US metropolitan areas as of right now. However, Mayor Breed seems to be starting to take charge a bit more lately so that's hopeful! And maybe one day (ideally in the near future - say 5-7 years) the city will return to its previous standard of beauty! Good day everyone!

[@socoman99]

There are two things in this video I find intriguing; the first striking point is how Market Street has changed over the decades. It used to be a place for people to go shopping and had lots of movie theaters and entertainment. Now, even before the pandemic, it's mostly a ghost town with homeless people and drug users shooting up in doorways. It was also amusing to see the Ferry Building before the Embarcadero Freeway was built. The other thing was what was not shown in the video. The Sunset District really didn't exist in those days. It would have been cool to see a camera car drive south on Sunset Boulevard from Lincoln to Lake Merced. There were only a few custom built houses on either side of Sunset Boulevard at that time as mass produced subdivisions weren't built until after World War II. Also, the area around Hunter's Point on the bay side was mostly vacant land. The family of a future mayor, George Chistopher, owned the land that the Candlestick Park baseball stadium was built on and it had been a dairy farm.

[@DiBaozi]

The Embaradero freeway must have been gone since the earthquake and not rebuilt. I didn’t get to see it.

[@dbsf2429]

@@DiBaozi It came down in 1991. The Board of Supervisors proposed to tear it down four years before the 1989 earthquake, but their plan was rejected by the voters. After it was closed for safety reasons following the earthquake it became obvious that it wasn't really needed.

[@mousepotatop9767]

And the Cow Palace had a lot of horse stables. Don't forget about Playland at Ocean Beach and the Sutro Baths. Torn down for housing. The Safeway is the only thing that remains.

[@dandronemoan4041]

8:02 just a reminder of how fashion and tastes change!

[@wixostrix]

As a resident of San Francisco, this is fascinating.

[@PartTimeLaowai]

Come back Harry Callahan!

[@keithmoore5306]

and bring friends!!!

[@curtcollett2893]

And Frank Bullitt and Freebie and the Bean!

[@13ivanogre13]

@@curtcollett2893 And the Rooftop Koreans.

[@wjcj1234]

Amen to that! I don't even know the place....saw it coming years ago, though. My long gone old aunt Mary (rip) had already been knocked over and had her purse snatched three times by 1982. San Francisco is the center of a fifty years plus decline in American society. So very sad.

[@odinmarin]

Wow, what happened to this city?! SF now seems ragged compared to what it looks like in this footage

[@jamesrecknor6752]

The Party

[@Baynewsvideo]

No tents...No cell phones...Bliss!

[@guardianoftheduat]

Nothing wrong with cell phones they have made life easier

[@andrewornelas3033]

When I want info on a plethora of things I no longer need to go to the library.

[@jfgproductions]

Beautiful .

[@BabyBugBug]

A beautiful city. I’m from Oakland. I have no idea what happened to these two cities. They used to be absolutely pristine.

[@johnkoval1898]

Liberalism ruined those cities, like it ruins everything.

[@elliottschertzer876]

@@johnkoval1898 stop the bullshit the same can be said of red states and cities, which btw are on more welfare than the blue. What happened is gentrification and opioid addiction., and your patron saint Ronald Reagan when he was Governor of California closed the State Mental Hospitals without an alternative plan, you know just like Trumps better plan than Obamacare and building a wall making Mexico pay for it. All hot air.

[@luislaplume8261]

@@johnkoval1898 Liberalism is for losers. And they are the most intolerant people I know. Check out who is moving to the red states and what industries and businesses are going there. Can you imagine Chicago having that coming to it? I can't! I rest my case.

[@MR-sq8ez]

Liberals and their sanctuary bs.

[@elliottschertzer876]

@Frigidlava Let’s look at the social issues and from the 1960’s since you mentioned that decade. Until JFK became president only Caucasians were able to get FHA loans. By 1964 we got the Civil Rights Act, 1965 the Voting Rights Act . In 1968 the Fair Housing Act which btw was used to successfully sue Trump and his father with their exclusions of blacks even though they met the criterias. Let’s talk about women, All woman! Once again it was President Kennedy that established the Commission on the Status of Women in 1961 and he appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to head it. This lead women to make strides in society. Did you know a woman couldn’t get a credit card from a bank in the 60’s unless her husband allowed it and co signed? A woman couldn’t serve on a jury in most states it varied by state Utah allowed it in 1879. However it took a Supreme Court decision in 1961 to allow women to get into a jury pool. Then reproductive rights . The birth control pill came out in 1957 but through part of the 1960’s women could only use it if they were married and in between men steal cycles. The pill allowed here to plan her own life. Did you know a women couldn’t get an Ivy League education? Yale and Princton didn’t acc women until 1969. Harvard not until 1977 Brown , Darmounth and Columbia no t until 1971, 1972, 1981.. Finally workplace experience where there was no equality. Pre Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Woman found in 1963 that women made 59 cents on the dollar compared to men. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 included an amendment that you couldn’t discriminate on gender but it wasn’t taken seriously. That’s why NOW was formed ( National Organization of Women) to ensure full equality with men.. One example where they challenge and won . They sued Pan Am airlines that made their female flight attendants keep a certain weight and not be married otherwise lose their jobs. Sorry that I felt the need to lay out examples to some on this thread. However if you want to know how we got where we are you should know the history of it before judging.

[@jfgproductions]

Amazing !

[@SFGUNNER]

This had to he right before WW2

[@wewillwin24]

1950: the metropolis of the west! 2020: a fecalpheliacs haven!

[@Spaceshewarrior]

😆😆😆😆

[@orokro_stuff]

This must be SF before they decided to legalize crime!

[@ElusiveMasquerade]

A stark contrast to San Francisco of today. The people back then would be horrified.

[@death2pc]

The people back then were utterly "lacking"........... They were NOT "progressive".

[@troymundy4878]

How did the algorithm know i wanted to see this at 5am? 🤔

[@iFrancescoBarra]

1:34 The elegance of the past

[@fromthesidelines]

Originally released in April 1941.

[@cherkas009]

Little did they know on December 7th all that generosity from Japan was overshadowed by Pearl Harbor

[@scottcass4243]

Born and raised in San Francisco, will not be going back to todays crime ridden streets of SF.

[@Rogue849]

8:05: Full House?

[@johnnyjames2525]

Anyone know where the opening views are taken from? Not twin peaks. Maybe Tank Hill?

[@TheAmericanNostalgist]

Do you guys know the date the Film was Film 1941, ?month, ?day

[@keithmoore5306]

obviously before pearl harbor!!

[@urbanurchin5930]

someone mentioned that this was released in April 1941 - would have been about nine months before the attack on Pearl Harbor

[@pierheadjump]

⚓️ Thanks Periscope 😎 Too bad it didn’t show the real engine of the city at the time - The Port - all that cargo passing thru really left a $mark$ & the Longshoreman the only equal opportunity Union on the coast.

[@oldsaerotech1167]

The Longshoremen,1947. The correlation between their hard work and the absence of heart disease among this particular group of people was the foundation for determining that vigorous regular exercise prevented heart disease.

[@pierheadjump]

@Artie B. Rockin' California Stevedore & Ballast was the big outfit operating the docks… I still live in town, retiring off the tugs next year ⚓️

[@13ivanogre13]

@@pierheadjump Running a tug sounds like a difficult job but what a cool one to be able to lay claim to!

[@pierheadjump]

@@13ivanogre13 Marine Engineer ⚓️

[@macadelic2492]

Pier 43 is still a popular spot i think

[@thetooginator153]

Don’t listen to the trolls bashing San Francisco. If San Francisco wasn’t a great place to live, houses wouldn’t START at $1 million. When I see an ad for a house in San Francisco for less than $300K, THEN I’ll be concerned.

[@greenman8]

So long as the blue collar worker is able to afford a home.

[@andrewornelas3033]

Too goddamn cold.

[@death2pc]

You have no idea whatsoever of the city which you praise that has been destroyed. Crawl back into your hole........

[@thetooginator153]

@@greenman8 - Yep! That’s a serious problem! The whole city is basically a bastion for the rich.

[@thetooginator153]

@@andrewornelas3033 - True, but I kinda liked it (in moderation).

[@DiBaozi]

This needs a before and after. Especially for Market Street

[@kc4cvh]

In the eighty years since, San Francisco has made a lot of progress?

[@dondressel452]

Yea right! More like regressed

[@ZenZaBill]

Parts of SF look like a third-world shithole, and the Tenderloin area resembes Mogadishu!

[@OOICU812]

Typical 'progressive' city.

[@devinspencer6175]

Ya.... progress right into the toilet.

[@keithmoore5306]

in the wrong direction though!!!

[@rma3_3_3]

Nice

[@ww2remembered983]

San Francisco is still the most beautiful city on the world. The people of the old days is what made it legendary. We had a classic, fun character on every corner! Unfortunately, word got out and the unregulated real estate industry did a real number on all the non wealthy locals. Such a shame most of the young people here now are uptight rich kids from anywhere but here.

[@drewseman9389]

Can’t be a video with classic footage without people bashing a city today and lamenting the lost good old days. Seriously, the murder rate in SF peaked in the 70s. 2019 (last full year) was the least violent year there since the 60s. Shoplifting rate is 1/4 what it was in 1990. This is a video designed to make a city look great, so it looks great. You can cherry pick any story you want. That’s what the news today is doing to you when it says how bad cities are today.

[@garyrichmond7404]

Excellent point; I felt the same reading these comments. I've lived here 3.5 years & find it marvelous. I do wish real estate reform could house the unhoused, but I'm not going to pretend that issue is unique to SF...

[@williamsnyder5616]

Couldn't agree more. I moved here 42 years ago and haven't regretted it for one day. One thing the bashers fail to realize is that in the "good old days" they miss so much, San Francisco welcomed a "Live and let live" life, that is in the form of the Barbary Coast. Today's bashers are sending out veiled complaint about the LGBTQ community. Well, we saved Polk St. and helped lift a dying Castro Street with a little paint on the Victorians. And, hell, the 49ers started winning once we moved in, lol.

[@steverogers8163]

It's cause the "good ole" days they're talking about is when the city literally tried to evict all the Chinese to Oakland.

[@nataliep.9047]

@@williamsnyder5616 ; At least you have the San FranFreako Fruity-niners.

[@dennisp.2147]

REPORTED shoplifting rate. Crime statistics only mean something if they are the same across the board. Most police in California don't report petty theft anymore and stores don't bother. They just shut down and move. If you want to pretend the city is a clean safe place I'm sure you can somehow figure out that cognitive dissonance. There's such a thing as being so open-minded that your brain falls out.

[@leowashington8991]

just Imagine how much were the Properties around Pacific Heights and Sea Cliff Area back then

[@Unknown-uk7nk]

$5,000

[@Spaceshewarrior]

I lived there 18 years and I left 20 years ago. Like many places in the western world, degrade took over…🙁

[@weinerinc.9344]

tbh a lot of stuff looks the same, really nice to see

[@jj5jj5]

They talk about traffic and congestion like it’s a *good* thing. Amazing.

[@noname-by3qz]

Woah. The only statues in the Sutro park NOW are two lions and a buck. No human statues anymore. That's very odd.

[@julianhermanubis6800]

Marxists don't like statues that celebrate Western culture.

[@noname-by3qz]

@@julianhermanubis6800 what Marxists??

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@noname-by3qz I always find it funny when the parts of the country that provide 70% of the GNP are called Marxist. That is what we call *Capitalism!*

[@odietamo9376]

@@noname-by3qz - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the current DA, the people that run many city departments, countless activists that have huge influence in SF, some of the media, and many of the voters who demonstrate it by whom and what they vote for.

[@noname-by3qz]

@@odietamo9376 you're saying that the current DA had something to do with removing the statues? Probably not at all.

[@MarcosAntonius]

Was such a beautiful city. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen…” Perhaps she will someday shine again. Namaste 🙏🏻

[@sneadh1]

They've been saying that since since it's earliest days!

[@RebekahCurielAlessi]

Just perfect... I live here and approve heartily! Bona fide!!🏆

[@invictaluxe2351]

whoa!

[@kevinmoore.7426]

The storm cleaned the streets. Nancy says send oatmeal, watermelon and cabbage.

[@cashed-out2192]

You should see the streets of SF now

[@lf.8433]

Reminds me of one of the other videos showing life in pre-war Berlin. People seemed to dress up more then,and society was more advanced & civilized. These days, globalism and liberalism have taken things back, unfortunately.

[@markjones3213]

I think conservatism means to resist progression. Who wants to be stuck in the past. Oh wait conservatives. They want to live like it’s 1876 for some reason. Guns and Jesus!

[@vpking77]

Somehow I feel when this was filmed people weren't using the streets as toilets, discarding needles, deciding to curb their dog on any sidewalk, going into department stores wearing masks to hide their identity and stealing everything they could, and you could walk safely around anywhere you pleased without being attacked and mugged. How as a society we have regressed.

[@nativetexanful]

We have the liberals to thank for that.

[@jamesrecknor6752]

The Party

[@rilke3266]

I wish SF would be revitalized kind of like how Detroit was and still is being turned around.

[@timothydillow3160]

That City Hall looks pretty weathered for a building that's only 35 years old.

[@js5deucedeuce]

Went to San Francisco two years ago, saw city hall and a guy smoking crack in broad daylight there what a time to be alive ….

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Quality of life crimes have ruined the city. Don't keep anything in your car you don't want stolen. Smash and Grab car burglaries are rampant.

[@ronmartin1375]

Cars are colonialism

[@THECLARENCES]

San Francisco died in the 90’s. Sad. xoxo The Clarences

[@troyelliott390]

Sharing

[@bretz9276]

Thanks gold miners

[@joeees7790]

To go from one of the cleanest cities in the country to a literal open sewer replete with bipedal leeches (managers for other cities used to visit SF to learn how to run a clean city). This all started going downhill when the city received a never ending STD in the form of the Summer of Love and the ensuing political rocket surgeons.

[@smokingjoe9864]

Barbary Coast, San Francisco & Sydney Town. That is the San Francisco I want back.

[@smokingjoe9864]

Ya you do-gooders ruined the town.

[@ronmartin1375]

Bridges, trains, cable cars and buildings are colonialism. Illegal now.

[@comiskey2005]

We’ve advanced so much that SF residents can now take what they want from stores with out paying.

[@jaxcell]

The Future is awesome! Well maybe not so much.

[@Max63385]

Don't forget a totally approved urinating and defecating on any street of SF. Ahh... That smell of liberalism...

[@darkwoodmovies]

San Francisco is one of the few American cities that went from booming to gloom. The tech boom was the last hurrah, now it feels like it's over and it will never be a great city again.

[@DustinBKerensky97]

8:23 Oof; filmed just a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. I bet that part of the newsreel didn't age well. But cool it's all still there now that everything is in the past.

[@colors6692]

Hi, the creator here🧝🏼‍♀️

[@johnkoval1898]

Every time I watch one of these old films I am reminded of how much I hate the 21st century.

[@1cnevarez]

My godparents lived in sf during this time.. It was a difrent time.😁

[@danielcarroll3358]

The film's title begins with "San Francisco" and that triggered every dexterously oriented soul to the horizon. I guessed it would, and a quick perusal of the effusions confirms.

[@SacWebDeveloper]

Most unique and eclectic city in the world. Greatest place that I've ever visited and nearly boundless supply of sights to see and learn about, even after having visited annually. Have not been to New York yet, but being from the West Coast, something tells me I would still prefer the vibes of SF over NYC.

[@d.Arbelles]

Market Street street cars, wish they were still around. The Sutro gardens , across from the Cliff House, long gone. Cliff House closed down during covid. Civic Center.. stay away when darkness falls. Chinatown looked awesome...not so anymore. Japanese Tea gardens.. the family who operated it were sent to internment camp as all American Japenese were. SF now overbuilt with these ugly overpriced skycrappers

[@RJS1974]

NYC and SF are apples and oranges. NYC proper has population of 8 million. SF population proper is just under 1 million. Nevertheless, SF has a big city vibe thanks to its density. It has that same hemmed in feeling as Manhattan. Manhattan and SF are more likely comparisons. I prefer the Wild West and bohemian feel of SF over the polished and buttoned up feeling of Manhattan.

[@theprogressivegoldbug1134]

All those sailors on leave heading to the Ramrod for a little action..It was a simpler time back then.

[@jamild]

“San Francisco's changed. The things that spell San Francisco to me are disappearing fast. […] I’d like to have lived here then. The color and excitement... the power... the freedom.” (Vertigo, 1957) Some things change, but the one thing that stays the same is every generation of San Franciscans thinking they’re the last ones to see the city be great. The beauty of SF is the next generation takes it over to forge the future. It’s like America as a whole: constantly evolving, changing, with all its faults and flaws, but a welcome home to everyone who thinks differently and wants to start life new. Still in love with this city.

[@tubester4567]

San Fransisco never had bums and homeless sleeping on the streets and shitting on footpaths and shooting up.

[@ThomasPerezGhost]

I wish more people understood this. People love to rip on SF for not being what it used to be. The fact is, it's never what it used to be. Somethings have gotten much better, some things much worse.

[@tubester4567]

@@ThomasPerezGhost Not really. They never had homeless sleeping everywhere on the streets, they never had people pooping on the streets and shooting up drugs in the open.

[@ThomasPerezGhost]

​@@tubester4567 When? the 1830s?

[@polarbear6064]

Cable cars, bridges, the port, the wharf, Palace of Fine Arts, Nob Hill, parks, Palace of the Legion of Honor, Twin Peaks, Coit Tower, a veritable "Baghdad by the Bay", yet filled with homeless living on the sidewalks, brazen criminals, social inequality, and portrayed in the national media as an unfixable mess.

[@terrorbulyfe]

Pretty on the outside, dirty on the inside. Sadly,that’s how it is right now in The City.

[@sharonpolikoff7282]

Ironic to hear about a beautiful gift to the city from the Emperor of Japan ... in a travelogue made just a few months before Pearl Harbor. And those sparkling neon signs in Chinatown must have been blacked out for all four years of the war....

[@joeees7790]

To be fair the Emperor that was connected to the tea garden was Meiji who died in 1912 - not Hirohito.

[@crazybenzy3426]

I left my poop in San Francisco

[@annhalton1963]

🤣🤣🤣

[@christianstewart5865]

uh.. was that hitler at 3:26?

[@ugaais]

Now that’s diversity

[@sjh60633]

Can you imagine what the people of 1941 would think and say about the city today? Such a shame. It is this country's most beautiful city, totally ruined.

[@WSNO]

yeah, sure is a shame what gentrification did to New York City

[@keithmoore5306]

yeah well folks back then weren't afraid to set things right i'm sure they'd find the ones responsible and send them to hell for it!!!

[@WSNO]

@@keithmoore5306 ok keith get back to taking your meds, we have enough idiots thinking they need to "find the ones responsible" and "send them to hell". literally what's actually ruining america.

[@kwd3109]

@@WSNO No, not holding people responsible for crime is "what's actually ruining america". Smash and grab robberies, petty crimes and shoplifting going unpunished, rampant drug use on the streets... this is what the low brow progressives have done to the once great city of San Francisco.

[@cherkas009]

@@kwd3109 in San Francisco they want more socialism and have people in charge because of their race not because of their qualifications

[@mdevidograndpacificlumbera1539]

That's a far cry from the shit and needle filled streets of today. Sad!

[@CarsandCats]

Well, you saved me a post at least.

[@dondressel452]

Me too

[@onazram1]

It is really a shame what has happened to that beautiful city, I've always wanted to visit but not now....

[@OOICU812]

It's called 'progress'. Thank a 'progressive'.

[@keithmoore5306]

just posted basically the same thing!!!

[@hubbifrubbins3719]

Ummm... 3:25 mark, is that Hitler walking down the street with his hands in his pockets? :D

[@BelieverofJC777]

Where are all the black people?

[@13ivanogre13]

That's like asking, Where's the Tenderloin? in this video.

[@andrewornelas3033]

That's like asking where's the Castro district

[@enzomthethwa5861]

Black people came to the Bay Area in *droves* for jobs once the US got involved in World War II. Which would have been in the following year after this film was made. This film was made in April 1941. Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941. Up until that point, San Francisco--like most cities colonized by Europe--started out as a metropolis built exclusively for white people. Everyone else simply existed for white people's labor or entertainment.

[@vlaekershner7305]

Not many until the war started a few months later and SF became a shipbuilding center.

[@steverogers8163]

It's a tourist propaganda film. They literally only filmed in the ritzy parts of the city. Note how they only talk about the port (the single most important part of the city) instead of showing it, since that's where all the working class people are.

[@SFsailingbiking]

No homeless& drugs back then, how nice!

[@ThinkLascivious]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽