Petticoat Lane, London (1926)

Petticoat Lane, London (1926). Subscribe: bit.ly/subscrib...
This extract comes from Claude Friese-Greene's 'The Open Road' - originally filmed in 1925/6 and now re-edited and digitally restored by the BFI National Archive. Britain seen in colour for the first time was heralded as a great technical advance for the cinema audience - now we can view a much improved image, but one which still stays true to the principles of the colour process.
The rather haphazard journey from Land's End to John O'Groats creates a series of moving picture postcards. Look out for shots containing the component colours - red and blue-green - such as when a little girl in a red coat and hat walks among peacocks in the grounds of a castle, and three girls with red curly hair pose by the sea at Torquay.
The car is a Vauxhall D-type - considered a sporty model at the time. A long-distance journey by car was a relatively new concept, with none of the amenities en route now taken for granted. The visit to a petrol station shows smoking on the forecourt: no health and safety issues back then! The travelogue ends with a series of recognisable London landmarks. Much remains the same - one major exception being the volume of traffic on the roads. (Jan Faull)
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All titles on the BFI Films channel are preserved in the vast collections of the BFI National Archive. To find out more about the Archive visit www.bfi.org.uk/...
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[@GARRYKINGLIVE]

I love their intrigued glances its like waving at them through the lens of time! this peice of footage has more humanity than your average hollywood blockbuster, invaluable indeed.

[@2stepsteve]

What a lovely sight. I couldn't be more serious.

[@netomartins9507]

Rip all of you

[@dhksrksalem]

awesome

[@LambrettaFunk]

why are these so short? Would love to see more.

[@chasmFL]

The world was a better place when everyone wore hats.

[@MrOceaneagle]

@twoslices Yes mate, always a possibility, my old Mum is 88 and although weak, blind, deaf and very infirm she's still here. She claims that her 40 a day cigarettes habit helped.

[@redfred70]

Bit different these days - like a different country all together.

[@bethnalgreeen]

Oh my East End....what has become of you today. By the way, I think I saw my grandad in this clip. He was the bloke wearing the hat, ha ha!

[@Laura55sere]

My dad always wore a flat ‘cap’.

[@MrOceaneagle]

Just think, everyone in this video is now dead along with their dreams, hopes and worries. Even the ginger haired kid at the start would be nearly 100 if alive today.

[@jaflischannel]

He would probably be hundred by now if he was alive

[@Northstander]

I have always believed that racism meant distinguishing in a negative way against a person or group because of their ethnicity or colour, you did precisely that so it is hardly a cheap shot and more a statement of fact. Many of my family members are immigrants, they have all assimilated into British society and make a decent contribution to the communities where they live. Things have changed a lot since we arrived in the 60s and 70s, but there is a very long way to go.

[@gerwiseman]

It appears that this clip was filmed in Middlesex St. Heading towards Bishopsgate. I think the Port of London Authority warehouse is in the distance.

[@hunkydoryize1]

hats to keep the heat in.

[@twoslices]

@MrOceaneagle I reckon the ginger haired girl to be about 4 possible she was born in 1922 which would make her 90 now,might still be alive.

[@strapazin]

"Attention, the Google-Earth car is coming!"

[@SingleButHappy]

OMG, where are all those people now?! We must take lessons from such clips: everyone of us will die sooner or later. What remains is our deeds, whether good deeds or bad deeds. So why not do good deeds as much as we can?!

[@Frey_2026]

-SMILE people! this is going to youtube! -Going to what?

[@dermot51]

was it compulsory to wear a cloth cap in those days

[@an8ification]

I am an asian person .. Its sad to know what migrantss have done to such nice country ... I hate going to london ... some areas are filthy ....

[@tonyb374]

I often ask what Winston Churchill would think of today's England ?

[@rexluminus9867]

Hats are getting smaller. Thanks.

[@100percentgradeA]

cute bunnys

[@savedbygodsgrace.9058]

Recommend? 6 yrs after posting? I don't mind that part. .but some of the comments are more than just observations. ..

[@ktmggg]

The sheer number of men! I think I count only a dozen women in that footage.

[@stencil62]

this in 2 strip technocolor?

[@ramboram03]

OMG its as crowded as Calcutta lol RIP all you people

[@terrytalktometibbs]

The poor people didn't know what to think as they witnessed the first ever Google street view van coming towards them. Sniggle Snort

[@trevor_1963]

Some of them aren't wearing hats, It's indecent!

[@JimTLonW6]

Is there an organisation for people who's hobby is looking for old films of London on KZbin and posting comments on the absence of black people in them? Probably, I suppose.

[@PBSmithy]

Makes me laugh that some people are leaving comments saying how unsafe Lpondon now is, compared to the past. Especially given the fact that this is Petticoat Lane of all places! This is footage taken 4 decades after Jack The Ripper used to roam these very streets carving people up!

[@GirMittens]

Wow, look at those fox furs... the policeman...rabbits c:

[@NoctisEreptor]

"Cor bloody hell look 'arry a car!" " I've read about 'em nithe paper"

[@inkstersco]

@kevjkx Yes.

[@bizzjoe]

your right ... its swedish..

[@maldobostero12]

@heerwa2 hahaha

[@menacinghat]

we woz always multicultural innit

[@dhksrksalem]

More naive than present

[@mmmbeachlover]

interesting that the street scene resembles a modern one in many '3rd world' countries today that have patriachal societies. no women.

[@pauls9440]

mmmbeachlover there are women in the film though not many, you need to know why the film was shot and why men were in the street in the film to make this sort of statement.

[@incadanman18]

kk i know im tall! no need to stair

[@CookingFunt]

@blackandproud75 sarcasm OVERLOAD detected

[@xpat73]

Where is the "diversity"??? - remember "diversity is strength" --sounds so Orwellian :)