Vintage 8mm Home Movies - Miami, Florida - Circa 1957

[@Seniorap64]

I arrived from Cuba when I was 3 years old in 1968 and grew up in Miami. I still live in Miami and have seen Dade County grow from a laid back small town to what it is today. I like the old days better than today. I remember the zoo and rode on that train. I visited the zoo grounds not too long ago and saw the empty cages. We all grow up too fast and our loved once pass away. Thank you for bringing memories keep posting.

[@nathy0308]

Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this! Your mom was one elegant lady. Gotta love 50's fashions.

[@tamalya]

Thank yo SO much. I thought that I would never again get to see that beloved train of childhood, or a glimpse of Cranden Park zoo again. You made dreams come true!!!

[@aarfeld]

Thanks for posting this video. Having grown up in Miami in the '60s and '70s seeing this footage reminds me of my own memories of old South Florida.

[@ciriduasso9520]

Thank you so much for sharing such a treasure with us. My son and I have truly enjoyed your video. We visit the old zoo almost every single weekend I'm the summer and have done so for many years. I grew up I'm Miami and an originally from Cuba. This video is a true gem.

[@suemccue3329]

Your father had a keen eye. Thank you so much for thw memories.

[@johnreagannumber1]

Vivid pink flamingos, cruises to Havana ... those were the days ... Amazing to see this on KZbin. What a brilliant upload in superb rich color that only Super 8 can deliver.

[@ggrimme32068]

I grew up as a child (Key Rat!) on Key Biscayne 1953-58, so I can't tell you how great it is to see Crandon Park just as it was when I was kid. Very nice work on restoring your 8mm home movie - the colors are so vibrant!

[@kolbpilot]

All these adults would be in their 80s now, if alive at all. The hands of time. Wonderful stuff. I was in south Fla. in the early '60s, at 4 years old.

[@JulianeMcLaughlin]

Thank you for posting this great vintage footage! ... Cheers, Julia

[@Nomoreidsleft]

The old 8mm cameras had such good quality colour and resolution!

[@chuckmanofgod]

@vmax135m, Thank you, I really do appreciate the videos you've added on KZbin. Many videos were black and white until the late 1960's. That's when I realized when black and white was being phased out. There's nothing like watching a 50 year old video and making it look like it is new. Many of us who weren't around back then get to see what it was really like.

[@LostandFoundTravel]

Big props - through time itself - to your father for the GREAT shots.

[@newyorkpianoguy]

WOW! Just for fun I typed in Storyland 1950's and came across your video. I too was in Storyland 1956 and remember it. My dad also did take 8mm movies from that trip when we were vacationing in Miami from New York! Awesome you posted this!

[@cyberteque]

Great footage! I hope this inspires more people to digitise their old movies. I have quite a few 8mm and Super8 cameras, one of them even has sound! It's getting hard to get film and even harder to get it processed these days. Black and white is right out! Thanks for posting!

[@Silverhorse32]

Very nice video, I remember as a kid, born in 1956, going down to Miami. My cousins use to work for Eastern Airlines and lived near the Opa Loca Airport. We use to stay near Hallandale beach near the old Castaways. We stayed at a motel called the Golden Arrow Motel, I'm sure that motel is long gone by now. I remember having to walk under the road (a tunnel) to cross to the other side. I agree about seeing the old train at the Crandon Park zoo, sure brings back some great memories for me.

[@flymia69]

Awesome! Loved the blimp and Airplane!

[@ssake2]

I rode on this train--I was four in 1957. I remembered the corrugated metal sides before I looked it up and found your footage.

[@StoneCold75]

Amazing video , thank you. This is as close as it gets for a "Time Machine" into the past of Miami for us who are too young to know what it was like then. I will say this though I disagree with one poster, Miami is nothing like this anymore..it is sad what happened to this once tranquil quiet beach city.

[@Godscountry2732]

great,America in the 1950's thanks for posting

[@peatones27]

Beautiful!!!...you did a great job!!!!

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Thanks for the great comments! I'm very happy that my family's home movies have let you re-live some of your own South Florida childhood memories!

[@alejandroomi]

This is a great piece of Miami History... did you notice the fact that on the Crandon Park Train (which I rode many times) there were Cuban and American Flags side by side! It shows the close link both countries had before Castro's Regime. THIS IS PRICELESS!

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@moilman Thanks so much!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the old Miami clips. I still have several more I haven't had time to convert yet, but they're definitely nostalgic... especially if you grew up down here. Thanks again.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Thanks Chris! That's actually the original color from the film. My father used 8mm Kodachrome color film from 1952 on... so, luckily, all of my family's home movies are in color. I have a few more that I'll be uploading when I get some more free time.

[@zaidrim]

Great color footage. The Crandon Park Zoo. What Miami child did not ride that train. I recall taking my frist feild trip there during first grade at Riverside Elementary.

[@thebakerman1]

I transferred my family 8mm video's to DVD three years ago. It was quite an undertaking (50+ reels) but it was fun and well worth it. The film won't last forever but now that it's transferred it can easily be duplicated (which it was many times over for the family), or changed to other formats as time goes by. My fathers Kodak Brownie camera made beautiful video for it's time and the original projector still works to this day. But that film won't last indefinitely. Hence, transfer it !

[@Bullseye5477]

I was born and raised in Broward County in 1954 and still live there. It's a shame that South Florida is now nothing more than a dirty clogged up toilet. As soon as the economy gets a little better we'll be selling our house and moving to north Florida. Great clip. Thanks for the memories.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@thebakerman1 That's awesome! I have quite a few other reels I've converted, I just haven't had the time to edit and upload them yet. The quality of the film is deteriorating fairly fast now, so I'm definitely glad I was able to preserve them all on video.

[@moviemagg]

Some great footage from the early days of Miami before it became a jungle only to be known as the Banana Republic. I also have lots of great footage from the 70s in Miami Beach which have just been transfered to DVD.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@fitzz1971 Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the clip. It's definitely a lot of fun to work on the restoration... I just wish I had more time to do it.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Yep...I had originally transferred them to video back in the late 80's, but that was on Hi8. I wanted to convert them again using an HD camera to get the best quality now... since the original flimstock has begun to deteriorate rapidly over the last few years. Watching these definitely brings back good memories though. I have more clips coming... fishing at Key Colony in Marathon, Tampa/St. Pete, Silver Springs... lot's of fun, vintage Florida stuff.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@inagod I used a small tele-cine converter which allows you to project the film (I used my family's original 8mm film projector from the 50's) into the device and a set of mirrors, inside the converter, re-projects the image onto a backlit screen where you focus your video camera's lens (using the macro setting) and then just record as normal.

[@nathy0308]

This is a Crandon Park I'd love to go to. Not what it is today.

[@kolbpilot]

Born in '58, I was at Homestead AFB w/my parents in '62 thru '66. Though my memory is limited, much that I remember is similar as in this film. I remember there were wide open spaces once we got off base. A much more rural & slower time. All that long gone now, never to return.

[@clintonearlwalker]

@johnreagannumber1 Super 8 did have some kind of vivid color. I worked as a projectionist at a drive-in. My dad had a super 8 with a light on it so bright, whenever he shined it at anyone, they immediately covered their eyes. Got a whole box of films of people covering their eyes. :)

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@moviemagg Thanks so much, Steve! I need to get some more of my family's old movies posted at some point... maybe I'll have some time after this season is over? And, unfortunately, I can't use the AudioSwap feature, because I have the KZbin/Google AdSense revenue sharing option turned on for my videos.

[@LindaKitch]

I love this!!

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@inagod No problem! Glad you enjoyed the clip.

[@ABigOneLikeDaddys]

@vmax135 Dear Michael, Thanks for your response. Thanks for your information about the Cruises. . Keep up the good work. The Christmas Tree (elsewhere on You-Tube) in Rockefella Plaza, 1954; looks good. . Cheers. from, del-boy.

[@cmf1965]

Michael, Great video! The year could not have been 1956. In the opening scene, that's a white, 4-door 1958 Oldsmobile that's driving by...Thus, it can't be earlier, than the fall of 1957, when the 1958 cars were released for public sale... Cheers! AL :)

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Hi AL! That makes sense. 1956 was just a 'guesstimate', though, looking at my brother's age in this clip, suggests it's probably not later than sometime in 1957. My family's home movies (using this particular camera) span 1952-1958. Anyway, I'll change the year to 1957.. thanks again for the insight.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@ABigOneLikeDaddys Thanks so much! Miami has certainly changed a lot since the mid-50's but it's still has it's own unique style... and there are still some places in South Florida that evoke the feeling of an earlier era. Weekly cruises to the Bahamas and Cuba were very popular in the 40's and 50's but I'm not sure what was included in the $75 that is being advertised in this clip... it may not have been a per person rate, they may be advertising a double-occupancy rate.

[@fsberney]

You and your family must have lived in Miami around the same time as I was living there. My parents moved to Miami in 1944 which I was five years old. I've got hours of 8mm home movies of Miami during the 1950's. I've already post some of Miami High School activities. I'll try and post more. It is kind of neat seeing other people who lived there at the same time. Maybe I'll find someone who I know from back then. Fred

[@SandraCurtis]

brings back the memories. Grew up in Miami then. Citrus Grove elementary, Jr. H.S., Miami High class of '58. I instantly recognized Crandon Park! wondered if I would be in those, lol. Where is the FB page of growing up in S.Fla ??? I lived on NW 7th St and 25th Ave, when 7th Street was 2 lanes, no sidewalk. Thanks for posting this.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@jeffreyalman Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the clip. I checked out your FB page and it's awesome.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@Nomoreidsleft Yeah, there's nothing quite like the texture and saturation of old 8mm Kodachrome film.

[@ABigOneLikeDaddys]

Great ! Thanks for posting. . I would love to move to Miami, it is such a nice place; in your video, there are nice things that are still there today, elements of a slow and easygoing holiday lifestyle, things that are there today, too. . I like the weekly (week long) boat tour to Cuba and Nassau. As advertised for $75. on the wall of the building near the pier? . Is that much? sounds a lot for 1956, but maybe not; what say you? . Cheers. from, del-boy.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

@uberwaffle The super-saturated feel Kodachrome provided was definitely amazing. I frequently try to emulate that look in my current videos.

[@johnreagannumber1]

Haha what a terrific story! I'm only just getting into Super8 filming and I expect to blind plenty of people for indoor shots ;)

[@liquidstl]

wow... how did u add color? This stuff is really cool.. almost like taking a time machine back 50 years

[@moviemagg]

Michael, this video is awesome. You should add some music to this. Click on Audio Swap and make a selection.

[@TropmetStormChasing]

Thanks, Steve! You should post your '70s footage of the beach! I can't remember now, did you film during David?

[@spaceboy537]

Did you digitize these yourself? They look great. I've done two by just recording the projection off a wall with my video camera. I was wondering if there was a better way that didn't cost a fortune.

[@Classic689]

the guy in the 3:30 looks very modern to be the 50's

[@bizzjoe]

what was that flying around at 3:10 ?

[@Godscountry2732]

how did you convert it ?

[@Vahmrick60]

Family Home Movies 1964 67

[@TropmetStormChasing]

That appears to be a white heron.

[@jeffreyalman]

very cool - please visit our FB page about growing up in south florida seems I can not attach link sorry

[@marigold1930]

All the motel row motels are gone now. Replaced by Trump condos. It is very sad. Especially since the condos aren't even selling or renting well. I used to stay on Collins at the Colonial Inn every year (3 x per year) as a kid.