San Francisco cable cars in the 1950's and 1960's [HD]

Nearly one hour of interesting footage of cable cars in San Francisco, filmed around 1955 and later. Source: Prelinger Archive.
The film has been motion-stabilized, speed-corrected and enhanced by using special software

[@macnutz4206]

It is odd to feel nostalgia for something you never experienced. Thanks for posting this.

[@pnwoods]

WoW! We don't know what we've got 'till it's gone! Many thanks for all your efforts. A labour of love!

[@lauriebarnaby7132]

I was in San Francisco all through the fifties and early sixties when my Dad worked for Bechtel ...wonderful memories of a then beautiful city. Great to see all the cars- we had a Nash Rambler ! I wouldn't want to see it now, I'll keep my memories . Thank you for the nostalgia trip🥰

[@MichaelJames-zm8qc]

You , my friend, are the Rick Steves, of time travel. Outstanding.

[@canman5060]

My very first impression about San Francisco when I was a boy from Hong Kong in the 1950's is the classic cable car.

[@WormTimeProductions]

what an incredible portfolio of videos. such fantastic work. thank you so much for sharing!!!

[@samtam8771]

Some random factories bursted into flames Music : happy relaxing jazz

[@shootfirst2097]

Just imagine living in San Fran in the early '60s before it turned into the dump it is now and has been since the 1980s

[@ricardosuarez8023]

Brilliant! Thanks for posting.

[@sportsmedia25]

other than the older cars and not being able to board while the Cable Car is on the turntable, you can still get this experience today!

[@sundreev]

Those awesome looking cars... There are so beautiful and stylish, as for me.

[@8176morgan]

The title should read: "San Francisco Cable Cars and other sights in the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's", as the Trans-America Pyramid can be seen in several background shots and wasn't completed until the year 1972.

[@jamianmateja5574]

@1:10 starts the cable car fashion show.

[@kayhyde2161]

Nice SF!!!!!!!

[@timothyhernandez745]

Amphicar @22:00

[@Handidude]

Back when Sf was nice, clean, and friendly. Unlike today.

[@canman5060]

Today the city is full of illegals and homeless people.

[@steph4954]

Lar M bruh lmao you see that in every big city.

[@scarystories190]

Yup, my buddy moved there and is ready to leave. You cant walk anywhere without getting robbed and seeing junkies shitting in the streets.

[@paulstevens6043]

Until the early 2000s the city of San Francisco really wasn't all that different than what came before. The Tenderloin, Castro, and South of Market were like 70s New York, Pacific Heights still felt like old school money, The Mission along 24th street and Mission was still an immigrant neighborhood, and the Financial District was bustling downtown with people dressed up for work...and so on. Now it's completely lost it's spirit. It's almost painful to see. It's been ruined by bikelanes, parking meters, neon playground-style cones everywhere, coffee shops and foodtrucks, parklets....they are turning it into a suburb.

[@TohaBgood2]

Lol, this is a nonsense comment. The Tenderloin has been full of opium dens and hookers since the Gold Rush. North Beach still has a suspicious concentration of strip clubs, including the oldest "nudie bar" in the world. Up until the late 90s even most places in Russian Hill and what today is billionaires' row had metal bars on all street-facing windows. On, and Market st was full of neon! It was literally like Vegas back in the 50s. You just don't know what you're talking about. SF has quite literally never been safer in its entire history than it is today.

[@trekkeruss]

@@TohaBgood2I agree that most of the OP’s comment is nonsense, but saying San Francisco is safer now than ever before? I seriously doubt that. But let’s say it is. Surely you cannot deny that non-violent crime is way up. I grew up on the Bay Area in the 60’s and 70’s, and my parents took us into the city pretty much weekly; my mother’s family was in Chinatown. I never felt unsafe back then. But I was in San Francisco a couple of years ago, and I could tell there was a difference. The group I was with experienced crime firsthand; one of their vans was broken into. San Francisco has always been on the wild and liberal side, but it has come down a few notches for sure. If it were not so, businesses and companies would not be closing down or leaving.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@trekkeruss I'm sorry, but the stats just don't agree with you. SF was waaaaaaaaay more dangerous in the 70s-90s and only started improving in the 2000s-2010s. It's now about 3x safer that it was in the 70s and 80s and about 2x safer than in the 90s-2000s. Yes, there was brief spike in non-violent crime during the pandemic. But that was mostly car breakins and shoplifting. And it's already gone. Car breakins were cut in half and shoplifting is basically gone completely compared to the pandemic. So crime rates in SF are around the same place they were pre-pandemic, which is a lot safer than most red state cities and generally pretty damned safe. I understand that this might sound shocking compared to the media frenzy from just a few months ago. But even Fox News gave up trying to convince us that SF is somehow "dangerous". That rhetoric is just too comically out of step with reality. When even Fox News throws in the towel you know it's game over.

[@trekkeruss]

@@TohaBgood2 I’d argue the stats are down because a lot of it goes unreported. Because why bother when you know nothing is going to happen? But my supposition aside, you would have to show my evidence to your claims. I did a quick search which seems to indicate that recently crime of all sorts has gone up in the last year. I could not find anything quickly that compares now to past decades. Do you work for the city? It sure sounds like it.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@trekkeruss Nope. Over the last 12 months crime has gone down to or below pre-pandemic levels, which were themselves the lowest crime levels in SF's history. "We have the lowest crime rate in 2023 than we had in 10 years, not including in 2020 when we shut the city down," Breed said. According to SFPD publicly available data released by the mayor's office, when comparing January 2024 to January 2023, property crime is down 32 percent and violent crime is down 11 percent. (CBS News - San Francisco crime drops but public perceptions slow to change)

[@onecolossalrubikscube2554]

👌

[@Bryanccc3]

Some of the vehicles are from the 1970's

[@bergydermeister5616]

late 60's early 70's is my guess

[@Aussiblue]

@@bergydermeister5616 VW Passat seen in oncoming traffic at 33.30 and elsewhere e.g. following the yellow Mustang at 36.51 was not released until 1973 in Europe but olny released in the US in 1974 as the VW Dasher. So Mid 70's I think.

[@desbrittain9952]

So many Volkswagen Beetles in San Francisco then...how come? (I even spotted a Triumph Herald.)

[@jamespeck276]

They were in fad style everywhere back then then and $2k brand new in 1969. Cheap on gas, and reliable as hell, and fun/fast cornering... compared to larger cars.

[@suefanelli]

The part where Mt. Diablo (5:13) is in the video doesn’t make sense!! Things seem to not be in the right place!

[@TaplatureGuitarGlue]

Interesting ... tell us more!

[@suefanelli]

Discover Taplature with Old Swanner maybe it’s just a weird photographic effect but Mt. Diablo isn’t that close to the city. You can see it from San Francisco but this just doesn’t look right.

[@TaplatureGuitarGlue]

@@suefanelli Thanks. Perhaps this surreal presentation (also in San Francisco) is related: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boKYf6ioa5lleLc One of the most absurd films I've ever seen and certainly seems faked in parts at the least (see trams crossing the screen without tracks at 3:07 and 4:44.

[@Rick88888888]

@@TaplatureGuitarGlue 03:07 shows a tower and 04:44 shows an aircraft carrier. Nothing is faked in this video. What a strange comment to make.

[@chemtrailscleared]

@@Rick88888888 The timestamps referenced relate to the video linked, not to your video here.

[@nobrang5146]

Meanwhile, Los Angeles gets rid of their cable cars. Now it is just a car city, boring