Skyline New York 1955

A tour of New York City in late 1954.Footage from this subject is available for licensing from www.globalimageworks.com

[@jacintahiggins6948]

How well I remember my first sight of NY. 1961 - 7 years old. My parents and my 7 brothers and sisters were flown from New Zealand (first class, God knows what it cost them) so my Dad could take up a post with the UN. On the journey we flew on a DC3, Vickers Viscount, Electra turboprop, a Connie and a brand spanking new 707. I will never forget my wonderful childhood and teenage years in the US.

[@NewYorkHabitat]

We love these vintage videos and especially seeing how New York has evolved!

[@tech9803]

1955: "A really satisfying lunch, expertly prepared and tastefully served." 2014: A box lunch that tastes like the cardboard box it came in, sullenly dropped on your tray, that'll be $15.

[@JMMT7022801]

I can't believe how backwards air travel has become. I just took a 5 1/2 hour flight from Orlando to LAX on Delta a couple weeks ago. There were no hot meals. For $8, all I got was a lousy turkey sandwich served on a bagel with sharp cheddar cheese and sliced tomatoes.

[@james5460]

+tech9803 Many things were better back then, but you're right, the food is the one that stands out. Airline meals used to be really good.

[@Tubes12AX7k]

Your recent airline ticket price was, however, WAY lower than it would have been in the pre-deregulation days back then. Ticket prices back then were several times more expensive than they are now. Most people who flew back in the 1950's were business people or were somewhat wealthy. So it should not be surprising that the food service was better then. My mom was a stewardess back in the 60's and flying was a whole different thing back then.

[@thankunext1625]

we barely even have lunch tho, just a bag of pretzels or some peanuts

[@78logistics]

If food is that important fork over the cash for a first class seat..you are getting a bargain there compared to 1955 air fares.

[@2view428]

Less crime downtown. Men and women dressed up .High rise buildings present and big giant yellow taxi cabs. Not as modern but maybe more peaceful back then.Thanks

[@andyelliott8027]

@Asimzmn It's still more than double London.

[@roggeralves94]

That is so nice, it's so glad to know we have this kind of record!

[@JoeSmith1962]

+roggeralves94 - When I see vintage footage like this I can't help but think how complicit people like this were to the institutional neglect and disregard for the dignity of other US citizens. This is less than a decade after the end of WWII. Japanese-Americans had been ruthlessly rounded up and placed in internment "camps". Civil rights reform was still a decade away for some who had bravely fought for the USA during WWII. But these "actors" seem to have been oblivious to all of that. I guess that's why today's Republicans yearn for the 1950's.

[@roggeralves94]

That's sad.

[@james5460]

+Jman2013 Nobody asked you.

[@thrummer1953]

Bitch Bitch Bitch Jman.They were better times.

[@fergie1232]

+tscooter22 speak English you must be a Muslim

[@JMMT7022801]

I got to fly TWA a couple times back in the eighties. It was awesome getting meals on the plane. I had chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies on a flight from Vegas to New York. And on the return flight, I had lasagna and a salad. They even gave us a yummy ice cream dessert. :)

[@kvarnerinfoTV]

Air Austria still does that!

[@johnrobinsoniii4028]

And then ...that all went out of the window after the 9/11 disaster.

[@KillerChair1]

Beautiful times when the city still retained much of its original architectural character. Then came urban renewal, mass demolitions in favor of public housing tower blocks that created dangerous ghettos for the poor. Before the demolition of vast swathes of the city in favor of "progress". The original Penn station was still standing...The buildings of park row were still there, the singer building still stood majestic and tall. I would've loved to wander the streets of this New York, to admire the beauty before it all came crashing down.

[@MustangSam]

Time machine take me back. please! I remember still seeing Constellations flying out of Greater Pittsburgh Airport in the late 60's. So many great memories of the 50's too.

[@nadinecrupi5481]

Wow...that brought back memories!! I was about 10 yo when I flew on TWA to Kansas City from Boston. I fell in love with flying & the stewardesses...I wanted to be one!! HAA! Best time of my life! xox

[@robertbonter1190]

This world of 1955 is better than The Land Of Oz to me, now.

[@DRF1001]

+Robert Bonter Was it a perfect time or is it nostalgia ?

[@bboucharde]

+Down Range Film It is nostalgia and romanticism, but I love it. The world of 1955 was not all roses.

[@benjoseph8387]

+bboucharde lots of really bad parenting

[@E3Racer1]

Yes, it was fine... ..........in between the occasional "Duck & Cover". LOL.

[@HimJimRimDim]

I love and romanticize the 1950's, But it wasn't all great. Lot of bad things, bad ideas, etc. happened then just as they do today, No point in history was ever great,

[@joeysixtysix]

Damn, I thought she was going to come out to her parents, and announce that her friend was her lover.

[@rayarena879]

ROTFLMAO!

[@rayarena879]

Craig Mansfield I was laughing at Joey's. :-)

[@moodyplus]

Craig Mansfield No you didn't.

[@richardgray8593]

+Joeysixtysix That is EXACTLY what popped into my head. In 1955 they were ignorant as to how wonderful and normal gay sex really is, and Obama had not yet made America great.

[@noone-ft9lw]

no she's banging the brother

[@musicom67]

0:48 - Sally hasn't learned how to brake properly.

[@fergie1232]

Where's Wolly Clever when u need him?

[@sanjayraju988]

Did they drive automatics even back then?

[@Felix-mp2vj]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@flip1sba]

I'm from Manila. I had the chance to visit NY last year and had a great time. And me coming from the other side of the globe, I still find it as vibrant as it was back in the decade when this video was filmed.

[@encellon]

Nowadays, if you look around the cabin during a flight, pretty much everyone seems to see air travel as little more than a painfully slow teleportation system. The airlines may as well get rid of the windows. Nobody could care less that they are airborne or where they are flying at any given moment. 50-100 years from now, people will ignore space travel the same way.

[@smarthawk9373]

i'am really facinated by what was happening and how life used to be before i existed

[@yuritam8488]

Wow to be there in the 50's..amazing....

[@vkmetz]

Too bad the Native Americans didn't have movie cameras to show you the land from before the time the European settler came.

[@james5460]

+V Kmetz Just go anywhere north of White Plains and you'll see the same thing today.

[@dabrain7045]

PS: I loved the film of the Constellation flying over the city. That was the most beautiful aircraft ever built (especially the lines of the Super Constellation).

[@tokugawashogun6197]

Golden Era of America

[@a_can_of_soda]

For minorities, the 1950s was far from the golden age. I consider the golden age of America to be from 1981 to 2001.

[@JustaGamerT2]

SodaBoy628 The 80's were the worst time because of organized crime rates were at it's highest and drug trade of crack was introduced during that time.

[@a_can_of_soda]

branstan100 No, the worst decade was the 30s.

[@amazinmets8439]

SodaBoy628 Why do you think they call it "the golden age" to begin with? Because minorities weren't around to destroy everything, dumbass.

[@a_can_of_soda]

John John Bullshit. Minorities aren't destroying everything; stupid people are, including you.

[@bulldogbarks55]

The two narrators of this film were at the start veteran voice talent and actor Art Gilmore. Gilmore narrated hundreds of film trailers and was a member of Jack Webb's repertory company of actors that appeared in Webb shows like "Dragnet," "Adam-12" and "Emergency." The NYC narrator is actor Marshall Thompson. Thompson appeared in many war movies such as "They Were Expendable," "Battleground" and "To Hell and Back" (the Audie Murphy story).

[@hansel1jensen]

Ohhh! The moment at minute 24:57 at the young lady´s farewell, when she is saying good bye is touching! Isn´t it?

[@RonJohn63]

"Only a few hours away" "fly coast to coast in 8 hours" That's called Female Math... :)

[@markross9781]

Lol :)

[@JAVIER94050]

I love watching these kind of old videos, it gives me a good feeling just to imagine what a beautiful life was like back then, We can notice that there was not as much of violence as it is now. *GOD Bless The United States of America!

[@sammey1919]

How times have changed. There wasn't an obese person to be found in New York.

[@tsakiree]

People dressed so nice back then.

[@Animalwon]

Those are movies of middle class people working in midtown New York, where almost everyone works in an office or office building - where you always have to be dressed your best. Any one else in the area is either a well-dressed tourist or well-to-do shopper,since that is where the expensive stores reside.

[@formerbritneyfan]

it seemed like such a better time of the world , a simple more innocent time , what ever happened to that time , i wish i was around in the 50's ,i regret the fact that i missed it.

[@RTT8001]

My dad was of of NYPD's finest in 1955. RIP dad.

[@inceptionclause]

...i watch this whole footage with out blinking an eye. what can i say, im in love with Manhattan. i go and buy every single movie in my local record store just because it was film in New York (and to my pleasure and surprise theres many many movies filmed in manhattan, i just love it). i live in the west coast but to me, New York is the place to be. you are beautifull N.Y.C.!!!!!!!

[@yankeesman14]

I wish New York City could still be like that!

[@187BURNZY]

America was so classy back then wtf went wrong now we have memes and yolo

[@adamhauskins6407]

Westin Taylor blacks, jews, Mexicans, asians are not a problem. Until liberals come along

[@captaincoconut3031]

Its always those liberal sons of bitches...

[@charlestonsc96]

Yolo should be yodo we live everyday

[@yolamontalvan9502]

THAT WAS BEFORE BLACKS INDEPENDENCE IN 1976, TWO HUNDRED YEARS TOO LATE. Now Trump wants to bring back this era. So he can build more expensive housing and more ghettos.

[@thomasbarn4361]

Weird how everything good or bad in the 50's is because of black people huh? It's the only thing people are taught about that decade so they think it was the reason for everything.

[@JAVIER94050]

travelerfilmarchive... Thank you very much for sharing this beautiful short film.

[@michaeljackson6742]

I lived in that era. It was wonderful.

[@7SeaJay11]

i love the highway shots of the old cars.

[@goodkarma33]

Hard to believe that just one year later, TWA flight 2 & United flight 718 would crash mid-air over the grand canyon killing all. The Connie would have it's tail cut off by United. After that, advertising by TWA for the Constellation would nearly completely disappear. This investigation would change flight safety regulations in ways unimaginable proir to 1956. Great video of a bye-gone era.

[@IsItEarthYet]

It's the 2nd day of Sally's stay in NYC & already her friend's brother is putting the moves on her... in Coney Island he's already calling her 'my girl' and the innuendo of them scrunched up together (16:24m to 16:35m) is x-rated! - "Sally loved it...I can't say that I was unhappy about it either" - as Sally sits tightly on the dude's CROTCH! OMG, did people not pick up on what was going on here or what?

[@andyelliott8027]

It's called life,try it.

[@cadrolls]

I have seen this at least 10 times. I never bore of it.

[@miltsar]

My dad used to take me to Steeplechase Park at Coney...it was a great treat....I still have a postcard from a Borden's Milk Elsie the Cow promotion that was there one summer... Riding the horses that ringed around the park is still one of my happiest memories .

[@patertre]

Congratulations for this marvelous and interesting video. New York, my city.

[@robertbonter1190]

If this travelogue were from today, they would have announced to the parents of one of them that they are getting married and going to NYC for their honeymoon. lol.

[@bulldogbarks55]

You're right. The girl's car is a '55 Ford Fairlane Sunliner convertible with a 272-CID Y-Block V-8 and Ford-O-Matic. A great AMERICAN-made car. And the airliner is the Lockheed Constellation, AMERICAN-built from 1943-58 in Burbank, Cal. "The Connie" flew supplies to Berlin during the 1948 crisis. A Connie also served as President Eisenhower's plane from 1953-59. The '50s were the greatest decade. I had the privilege to grow up then. Like Fonzie said, "I wish it could be 1955 forever!"

[@mbtg112]

Although the Air Force had an inventory of C-121's in '48 and '49, there were no Constellations directly involved with the Berlin Airlift.

[@dickmaxkenzy9999]

i love u america...one day i must come to new york.....im from KL malaysia...

[@marcosgarcia2643]

Really beautiful. Wonder!

[@BradfordPost]

Awsome film. My parents were married in 1955 and Iam from NY. Rockland County,a suburb of NYC.

[@edp4638]

If not mistaken the plane landed at Idlewild Airport, known today as JFK International Airport.

[@Willthrill8]

Ponce Rican at first I was like why aren't they calling it JFK then I realized it was 1955 lol

[@johnrobinsoniii4028]

Because Kennedy was alive (and of course not President yet) back then.

[@friendlysky7674]

After Kennedy’s death, it was named JFK airport

[@burkiadrian5518]

The 50's, a great and wonderfull Time! 🗽

[@zorroalphonso4354]

The real marvel is the Lockeed Constellation plane, a fine engineering artifact!

[@aarfeld]

1955 was the year that my mother married and moved from New York with my dad to Florida, where I grew up and she still resides. It's fun to see it as she knew it.

[@edp4638]

A Lockheed "Super Constelation" I flew in one of them babies when my family migrated to New York City.

[@1L6E6VHF]

3:15: And on your left, a United DC-sev.........

[@MargotDarby]

Art Gilmore! What a beautiful film. What a beautiful America. Let's make America look like that again. Yes!

[@Hudson-1947]

Daughter is driving a new Sunliner and flies to New York. Our family didn't have enough money for an ice cream cone more than once a week in those days.

[@aon10003]

The Constellation, only the Caravelle can match it in Beauty.

[@james5460]

+aon10003 I flew a Caravelle. Small bugger, stairs in the back. Not a bad ride at all.

[@edp4638]

Is a "Super Constallation" the "Constellation" had a shorter nose.

[@modblogger1]

i agree but in comparison to the 1950's income levels, the rent in NYC was high as well in relation.

[@nfelvis68]

Everything looked so fresh and clean!

[@spb7883]

Great to see what appears to be actual color footage from the 50s rather than this disturbing rash of colorization that’s currently littering KZbin.

[@burkewhb]

Grand Canyon one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Not quite, the Europeans didn't know the Grand Canyon existed. I notice with just two seats on each side of the aisle you had a lot more room in your seat in 1955!

[@lucho4565]

This video is amazing, is a window to the past, when the United States was the first power and not the decaying empire that is now

[@HR5308]

That was the best time of New York. So much has changed since those times; for all the people.

[@thegreatoutdoors1000]

3:56 wow they don't give us food like that on flights now a days lol!!

[@1L6E6VHF]

Because you're too cheap to buy a business class ticket.

[@BoudiccaBlanc]

@skymunro...Actually, that is how many of us lived in the 50s. Men who had returned home from the war wanted to move their families to places with fresh air and sunshine (instead of crowded cities and noise). Voila...the suburbs. Our mothers stayed home, had kids and cooked. Dad worked for a big corporation or owned his own business We had a house built in a former potato field in Hicksville, NY (L.I.). It's hard to believe that in the early 50's that part of L.I. was rural!

[@fromthesidelines]

This was a "commerical travelogue", produced primarily to promote Trans World Airlines {TWA}. The opening narrator is Art Gilmore, veteran radio, TV and movie trailer announcer.

[@johnfarr2738]

The brother was definitely getting off from sally! Lol

[@johnfarr2738]

I bet it was just swell!

[@FakeAssHandsomeMcGee_]

Seemed like a simpler time, but a tad boring. I suppose one has to fit into a certain age group to really admire. We are only shown the bright side of the 50s. Kind of like fifty or sixty years from now, people will look back at the 2000s to 2010s and see some commercials from Disney Channel or whatever showing team work and how we should all accept everyone for who they are, or car commercials showing a family all close, going on family trips together. Good family values and all that. Those future people will only catch a glimpse of this and not the bad stuff (since its impossible to see everything that happened), and perhaps say that "wow the 2000s to 2010s were a Golden Age for America, not compared to now and all the teenage rebellion, with their loud music and flying cars".

[@ingibingi2000]

there was the fear of a world War 3 with russia and the use of the atomic bomb. not to mention the civil rights movement in it's infancy black players had just been being accepted into the mlb. not that boring of a time

[@benjoseph8387]

+ingibingi2000 TV was boring... My 3 Sons with Fred Macmurray... Leave it to Beaver... Game shows... Lawrence Welk... Sing Along With Mitch... Gagging tv... But we had air raid drills at school to remind us of mans invented great threat of nuclear annihilation so...not TOO boring...💤👀 Then came JFK and things started to happen...💫✨💥🌟

[@Runsillas89]

notice the black guy seated alone at 17:33 :(

[@brianferguson7403]

The good ol days!

[@AleCompton]

What a sad

[@captaincoconut3031]

that is pretty depressing

[@julianof.c.1316]

Her friends are in front. And right behind there is a white man alone.

[@jameslarkin6267]

Looks like Summer, can’t be late 54, that would be winter, that’s a 55 Ford sunliner convertible at the start 😎

[@Vidiot1955]

Love those candleholders in the early dinner scene. Yikes. And since it's 1955, there's no way the New York friend actually lives in NYC -- the suburbs were where it's at. So showing off the city means visiting the same tourist sites Sally from San Remo would have visited if she'd flown to NYC alone with nothing but a travel guide. Sheesh.

[@dadsoldtapes]

Also cool to see the George Washington Bridge with only one deck... it was built originally with the intention of adding a second deck later as they did in 1961.

[@anomalousclouds]

perhaps not - although I can see the new WTC One from my abode about 16 miles east on LI (I live near JFK) so that kind of filled the void left from the old towers. I'm still for tastefully bringing back some of the early 20th century architectural styles. Wow... and in reading my previous comment, I need someone to take away the keyboard when I've been drinking :3

[@barbcard]

Thanks for reminding me of when JFK airport was called Idlewild...so much more poetic. O what a happy, naive time, one big Smile Button, more Victorian than many younger people would believe.

[@KuiellaTaldama]

Just takes my breath away.

[@florret2003]

Check out the rolling, pitching suspension on the '55 Ford convertible when it comes to a stop. Thank goodness for today's automobile suspension.

[@casmatori]

Arrr! I love theses old movies!

[@raoulcruz4404]

Did you see that lunch at 4:00? That was only lunch. Modern airline flying is a tiny bag with 5 mini-pretzels and one cup of soda. We've come a long way, baby.

[@jean-lucpicard3012]

This seemed decently normal until everyone started talking

[@OoYesIKnowOoYesIKnow]

cadrolls1 5 years ago Awesome video. Thank you for sharing this with us. It is quite historical. One question if anyone knows the answer. I thought back then it was illegal to photograph the U.N. building. Does anyone know when that law changed? . .............. Dear cadrolls, Nope, never illegal. It was a public type building, not something that was ever off limits. There were many donations of things for the building, which made the building a great public tourist attraction, there were free-of-charge tours of the building and its artifacts several times a day. . The land was donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The first United Nations Meeting was held in Methodist Hall, London, SW1. After then, it was decided to make the headquaters for the organization in New York. . . Cheers. from, del-boy

[@thunderstruck665]

Boy, everything was just sunshine and lolipops in 1955, wasn't it? LOL, This is such an awesome piece of Americana!

[@Willthrill8]

thunderstruck665 try going down south in 1955..

[@saeedurrahman2056]

A young 18 year old in that video is now 83 wow time pass quickly

[@Deleanredtiger]

@yankeesman14 I had actually thought before that the WTC was being built at the time this video was being filmed though it was built in the 60's. I wish they were still there!

[@RRaquello]

Yay! Narrated by Art Gilmore!!

[@123paulmac]

love it!!!!

[@wcstflyer]

The opening music leads one to think this will be a sports biography of football great Bronko Nagurski. Also titled "Sally Flies To New York", this 1956 film was paid for by Trans World Airlines. I would love to go back in time just to ride aboard a 1049 Super Constellation, explore "Idlewild" airport and drive that 1956 Ford Fairlaine Sally so abruptly stops in the opening shot.

[@arufai]

Back then when flying was fun. people actually dress up in their finest clothing. not nowadays were people literally travel in their pajamas

[@fglantern]

Was telling a younger friend how people who lived along Fifth Ave wd go to the park after church on Sundays & be dressed up - everybody dressed for Central Park, or even going to the airport. Now it's spandex at parent/teacher conferences! No, it wasn't perfect back then more surely more civilized. I appreciate it more now than ever.

[@LalinDissanayaka]

The Queen was a young lady during this era, I could imagine her in dresses like these and taking these kinds of flights

[@crissy214]

@ramblergarage I totally agree

[@jontibloom6125]

Wonder what Fran and Sally would have made of the TSA

[@mikebdb1]

***** not really

[@robertbonter1190]

At Belmont Park, Sally had her "form sheet" out and had picked a winner before I could get to the ticket window." What he didn't say is that Sally picked the favorite to Show in a six-horse field. It paid $2.10.

[@bigl4201]

Sally and Fran. Those names stayed put. Right in the 50's where they best fit.

[@blackfgb]

I like the complete absence of irony! For those of you who decry this video for being a whitewashed version of life, you're right, but...think about people's aversion to throwing everything public view. There was decorum and you aspired to put a better face on things. There was still a sense of wonder and awe.

[@TheReviewSpace]

I bet new york was even more beautiful in the 1500s and before.

[@sunnysangjiji]

actually "tallest" something is just a game for some developing areas - see Asia now. don't beleive nowadays NYC needs that.

[@burbank]

Wow how NYC has changed since then.

[@keensterd3654]

Wonderful footage

[@community1949]

See the difference between then and now? No one is taking their shoes off and propping up their legs onto the seat in front of them. No one is screaming and causing a scene. Everyone is sitting quietly and enjoying the flight. And back then you either had the cash to fly or you didn't go. No charge cards back then. No MasterCard, Visa, or anything else - it was cash only.

[@cosycleaner]

"Well, Mother and Dad, we may as well confess, we have a plan - we're lovers and we're moving to New York"

[@1947Desoto]

I believe September, according to the movie "Christine". It could be a little earlier though. Normally next year models always came out later in the year. September sounds right though.

[@chiparoo222]

FANTASTIC ! ! !

[@eydie57]

not many people are respectful these days, it's true. i was born in 1957 and people make fun of the era i grew up in, but i know how awesome it really was. i think it must have been so wonderful to grow up in the time of this video, too. so pretty and people were much sweeter and less rude.

[@MrBackoftheface]

"If you were white"

[@farizavianto4990]

This Story was based on Chapter 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 and 15 and takes 5.4 Years after December 1949 from the Game based on loosely Mafia 2 it is Called Masterchef Junior U.S. S7: Shannen's New York Noir ©SEGA CORPORATION Mafia 2 ©2011 2K Games

[@WAL_DC-6B]

In addition to the '55 Ford Sunliner convertable, Sally flew back to the west coast on a TWA Super "G" Lockheed Constellation which first entered service with TWA in 1955. So this TWA promotional movie probably was produced in '55.