Woman Born in 1878 Talks About Her Childhood Part 2: Los Angeles and Beverly Hills in the 1880s

0:00 Introduction
1:05 Belle Buford Thom Collins Speaking
Music in this video:
• Dreams Are Ageless: Bl...
This is Belle Buford Thom Collins, born in 1878, speaking about her childhood in 1880s Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. It is part 2 of the recording.
Here is part 1:
• Woman Born in 1878 Tal...
Her father, Cameron E. Thom, was the Mayor of Los Angeles between 1882 and 1884. Mrs. Collins' niece, Rowena, is the second person speaking in the recording. Audio has been remastered. This was recorded on November 26, 1964. All photographs are of early Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, California.
Source:
The Huntington Library
californiarevealed.org/island...
My new history channel "The History Zone"
Historical videos from all time periods.
/ @thehistoryzone272

[@KelseyDrummer]

My grandmother spoke like this. This brings back so many memories.

[@vm.999]

❤❤❤❤

[@seandelap8587]

It's amazing to hear people speak about their account of what they witnessed during those times this is way better than reading a history book

[@seandelap8587]

I could sit down and listen to this sort of stuff all day

[@spectre-8]

The people laughing in the background from time to time was nice. 'and that was that!'

[@TheMirrorYouDeserve]

A world we will never see again. A unique treasure.

[@dorothywillis1]

My grandmother was born in 1883. Her family moved to Los Angeles about 1893. I can't express how much I regret that I never made any recordings even of her voice, not to mention of her memories! She lived with us and we were close, so I do know many things she told me, but it is not the same as a recording.

[@paxtoncargill4661]

I absolutely love the laughter in this, its like the recording was yesterday

[@jtoland2333]

These recordings are very helpfull to me. I am doing research for my first novel, which will be set primarily in 1897, and listening to the way people of that era spoke is a gift as well as a tool.

[@r.a.contrerasma8578]

I love her sarcasm and wise humor. I could listen to her for hours. What history!

[@theoneandonly1158]

Thank you for uploading such a beautiful voice that is no longer with us.

[@Lifeinthe1800s]

My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it.

[@emelle9705]

The whole of “Hollywood” is an architectural “Folly.” Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas or the Hammel/Denker Ranch is why the famous shopping street in Beverly Hills is called Rodeo Drive.

[@joedaw3003]

So crisp and well enunciated speech. Lovely.

[@jenniferlawrence2988]

I listened to both parts, and I could listen to many more! She has such interesting stories, reminds me of my grandmother. Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing these.

[@kellie5476]

What fantastic humour she has and so well spoken.

[@vm.999]

❤

[@deprogramr]

This channel is an absolute gem and must be protected at all costs!

[@Lifeinthe1800s]

Lifeinthe1800s is not monetized. To help keep the channel going, please consider supporting it on www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K9FRYU2E9LTU8 Thank you.

[@cdynes385]

Lovely.. my great aunt spoke in this very refined way....its almost like listening to her stories as a kid.

[@melissademarco5271]

So incredible and the best time capsule since Belle is very sharp even at 86 years old. So sad what has happened to our beautiful cities.

[@sammencia7945]

16:10 South Pembrook Lane still exists. It runs into the I-10 where the 110 meets. Her father owned a square mile (or two) of what became Downtown Los Angeles. Near 'Venice Hope Park'.

[@elisajohnson9907]

You can also find Catesby Lane and Cameron Lane just east of Pembroke Lane!

[@janecarolhogue3140]

I find it so fascinating to hear these people from back in those old days speaking

[@WrightsW5]

This reminded me of the Douglas Aircraft Company, their first proper factory was built at Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, when the area was mostly just fields. Eventually, as planes got bigger it was difficult to take off because of surrounding trees. Instead of doing what would happen today, cutting all the trees down, Douglas moved out, and the land was kept undeveloped as Douglas Park, which it still is today.

[@vm.999]

❤

[@linamarie84]

I just LOVE the way they convey their experiences with such simplicity. ❤Since I was about 7 I've had this obsession with the late 1800s..I was a weird kid lol I remember entering a dress pattern contest and mine was of an old Victorian dress lol..I loved it so much I volunteered at every World War reenactment, and December Christmas event..To churn butter..dress the part and to teach kids crafts..❤❤😂😂 I love listening to these stories so much. I'd say it takes me back but I've never been..

[@stevemolina5470]

This video is amazing. I work for the City of Los Angeles and Im in all these areas daily and to see how underdeveloped these areas were is so interesting. I now need to pay attention to Hope st and Olympic to see if that old building on the photo is still there. So cool.

[@chrisboyer4194]

Ah LA. I'm moving back in a couple of months. I've been in Bakersfield the last 6 and a half years. I feel like I'm in prison

[@stevemolina5470]

@@chrisboyer4194 Good luck. Hope your ready! LOL

[@chrisboyer4194]

@@stevemolina5470 trust me, I am. Bakersfield is worse. I lived in LA for ten years before going there

[@stevemolina5470]

Okay..... I hope you find what your looking for, or I hope you lose who may be looking for you.... LOL

[@chrisboyer4194]

@@stevemolina5470 hmmm....not sure about that 2nd part but ok , thanks 👍

[@woodspirit98]

I used to listen to my grandfather all the time and he was born in the 1880's.

[@lavenderoil2922]

Aww I wish there was more of this woman! This helps me and my toddler drift to sleep. Hope shes resting peacefully 😊

[@UncleDuTheWatchman]

Wow. I go to sleep to these 1800s videos too!!! There's just something so peaceful about their energy.

[@pamartin]

Quite delightful to hear. Thank you.

[@CL-we8tn]

It's amazing how accents change generationally even when the geography doesn't.

[@enlightenedhummingbird4764]

She was speaking with a "Continental" accent. This "accent" was created and taught to children of the elite and super wealthy, whose children went to elite schools. This "accent" was created so people on the ground (those in the lower / poorer classes) would make no mistake of the high(er) class of the speaker. It stopped being taught / used once the poorer classes became wise to the slaveholder mentality the elite hold. Once "those families" started being attacked regularly (public attacks; bricks through their windows; arson to their homes and / or places of business; etc.) they realised it was better to hide in plain site, and stop intentionally setting themselves apart (and above.)That's why we never hear *that* accent anymore...

[@CL-we8tn]

@@enlightenedhummingbird4764 thank you so much for explaining. I thought she sounded as if she'd been educated in the UK, where accents differ widely and there are still several 'posh' accents.

[@secretsquirrel6718]

Thankyou rap music....😂

[@31sarrie]

​@@secretsquirrel6718for what? I don't get it

[@nilevalleyafrican9451]

Yes. I noticed everyone, from this era sound the same.

[@willacairns2593]

Thank you so much Ms. Belle Thom Colins

[@tarran4596]

I love this lady. This has prompted me to record more people telling stories

[@hayleystratus7713]

They seem so calm and respectful

[@stars6610]

Very nice video ❤ I noticed myself picturing this entire story as she told it

[@douglaskbrown1154]

Wonderful to watch and listen to such a production...learning amazing Los Angeles history!

[@TheoTheTimeTravelingMagician]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@CarolinaLeonxD]

I looked up the streets she was mentioning. The alley named after her brother is still there.

[@jenni8759]

Thank you for sharing this, what an incredible piece of history!

[@bitchimgordie]

I’m so excited it’s up!!!

[@jacobedecruz5350]

Precious video! I thank God for youtube and for those who out of the kindness of their hearts, share pearls like this footage. God bless you!

[@julegate]

Thank you so much. It was nice listening to her speak.

[@juliepeterson6639]

Beyond Lovely, and informative. I’m awestruck!

[@Jennifer-jf6dm]

Thank you so much

[@hp-fh9cy]

Thank you!

[@Handcockmcgee]

that outro song was epic, thank you for that

[@Praycalmjoy]

I wish there were photos from her.

[@dhtsoaedsdhtnadi9575]

there is a photo of her near the end of the vid.

[@sammencia7945]

Stories from 1886 would be just a few years before "The Modern Era" began with all that you see in 2023 starting to be built from 1883 to 1895. She is describing the world as it had been for thousands of years up to that point. It is 5.6 miles from West 3rd Street to Beverly Hills Hotel. 90 minutes on awful rutted muddy roads. 3 or 4 mph. Walking speeds.

[@antonego8356]

They’d be appalled at modern day Beverly Hills- would be unrecognizable.

[@candygirl7586]

Thank you Belle. Buford...

[@martyc4599]

Shame its still not like that today.

[@trandom2083]

wow she said there were no resturaunts! Another change of society we never think about. Was it because noone could get far from home by horse? or was hospitality & community that much more common that there was no need? Im sure the hotels served food

[@randomvintagefilm273]

Her accent sounds half British, half American. The way she says laugh is purely British "laaf"

[@Yanks1005]

I think it's due to her parents actually being from Virginia.

[@seven471]

Isnt that accent called transatlantic

[@latayantheazran]

​@@seven471transatlantic accent is one made for movies, not a real spoken one. It was designed so the greatest ammount of people could understand, so it mixes american and brittish elements

[@chrisboyer4194]

She doesn't sound British at all 😂

[@vertigo_topples]

​@@chrisboyer4194 She does

[@mtns7036]

Note to father, dont let that little scamp loose, a real sense of mischievousness about her even in this interview!

[@marifahtf8656]

How interesting 😮

[@katzolitamason6729]

Such a Lovely accent and storyteller

[@vm.999]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@frebajj9769]

@lifeinthe1880’s Hello. Loved this. Could you tell me who the singer is and the song she is singing (end of video). Thank you!

[@Lifeinthe1800s]

The song is called "Dreams Are Ageless" by the band Bluestar. The singer is Molly Johnston. Here is the music video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKrQgZaQqNpsmsk

[@watchmanonthewall14]

Listening to history. Amazing.

[@justme8837]

I wish I could have lived back then.... when dreams could actually become a reality.

[@fc4660]

“My dear niece Rowena is a slave driver” 😂

[@anonymoussource3664]

Delightful, we are not remotely close to this sadly now.

[@aloysiusdevanderabercrombi470]

Why is the destruction and decay, delightful?

[@anonymoussource3664]

@@aloysiusdevanderabercrombi470 satire

[@mistermelorious]

You can kindly of hear more English accent in her voice

[@chrisboyer4194]

Im laughing because people are saying she sounds British. She doesn't sound British whatsoever 🤣🤣🤣😂 People need to go to a dialect class

[@vertigo_topples]

She does

[@sadsixersfan]

She sounds similar to an early 20th century posh British person.

[@chrisboyer4194]

Good god! You people need to go to an ear doctor. For real

[@enlightenedhummingbird4764]

She's speaking with a "continental" accent, which was taught to children of the elite for many years. It was easy for the peons (us) to quickly recognize that "they" hailed from a higher station than the rest of us, just by hearing them speak. It stopped being taught around the 1950's, and the last person I can remember hearing speak it was John F. Kennedy. Fitting that the continental accent seems to have died along with him. The US changed massively, in so many ways, after that event.

[@trandom2083]

her parents were likely immigrants from a European country so I would expect most folks of that age to retain an "accent". My own Grandmother is only second generation born in US from England. Except the indiginous people of course we are all immigrants and even they share DNA most similar to Japanese. Interesting

[@zaymoney252]

So odd hearing someone say the 70s, 80s and 90s but instead talking about the 1870s 80s and 90s.. KZbin is literally a Time Machine.. We’ll never kno what the future hold but can always visit the past within a click..

[@Warwck24]

Gorgeous

[@crashkdd889]

I got a question

[@Fatboypool]

When American English was proper English.

[@mrocean8139]

Doesn’t make sense.

[@chrisboyer4194]

Yeah I agree, that didn't make sense whatsoever

[@gracecollins8415]

I understand what you mean.

[@Fatboypool]

@@chrisboyer4194 my point exactly. You just aren’t educated

[@louism.3435]

What a beautiful time

[@sheepdog1102]

Boy have things changed and not for the good 😮

[@CrystalLarsh-ds9gu]

Would have been interesting if they'd asked her about the cabbage patch babies, orphan trains and such.

[@katie3657]

What are orphan trains

[@dorothywillis1]

I have read the comments about this lady's accent. It would be interesting to hear what a student of linguistics would say about her accent.

[@LynxSouth]

I'm a linguist, advanced degree and the whole bit; good at discerning accents though that's not a professional specialty. She speaks in an American-leaning version of the Mid-Atlantic Accent with some words more British English, which is exactly what one would expect of an American of her era who was married to an Englishman and who had lived in London. I detected a slight (US) Southern influence from the beginning, before she mentioned her grandfather was from Virginia. That accent meshes easily with both Mid-Atlantic and British English accents. I'd say that her accent was acquired more naturally from her upbringing in California with a Virginia-influenced mother and from her life experiences rather than intentionally cultivated.

[@dorothywillis1]

@@LynxSouth I looked her up, and there is another factor I think is relevant. She was an actress and received training in acting.

[@LynxSouth]

@@dorothywillis1 Ah, yes, that would be a factor. That's probably how she met her playwright husband. Any idea how long she was an actress?

[@dorothywillis1]

@@LynxSouth I had the impression that it was not for long, but the article I read indicated she was trained. The only problem is I can't remember the source of my information! I didn't think it mattered and now I can't find it. If I find it I will tell you. Sorry!

[@LynxSouth]

@@dorothywillis1 No apology necessary -- I've done the same.🤔 Thanks for replying.

[@panatypical]

With some of her speech she uses the 'deep a' sound instead of the 'flat a'.

[@iceberg789]

and men born in 1980s listening to it. 😵‍💫

[@WrightsW5]

I thought she sounded English or English-like straight away, then I noticed she said half as harf, not as Haf.

[@Lifeinthe1800s]

Yes, I think she picked up a lot of her English accent when living with her husband in England.

[@JCKay]

Trans-Atlantic accent ...

[@WAFishQuest]

Lol was that a coke joke?!

[@Andromeda_M31]

I don't hear a British accent. It sounds like a southern accent.

[@chrisboyer4194]

Exactly. Sounds like my grandmother. She was from Alabama

[@mr.mojorisin9999]

​@@chrisboyer4194well.....alabama is closer to great brittan than california 🤪

[@enlightenedhummingbird4764]

It's a "continental accent" taught to children of the elite until around the 1940' to 1950's.

[@trandom2083]

why would they teach a made up accent​@@enlightenedhummingbird4764I guess they tried to standardize the English language in the states and pronounciation during the period when silent movies gained sound because of the dialects and slang springing up in different parts of the country. It was actually a Canadian who initiated efforts to establish the proper continental accent used in Hollywood. To me it sounds like hints of Brittish & Irish

[@eileenbilynsky9865]

Her father was from Virginia, so it is likely she picked up the accent he would have had.

[@wellitsherenow]

I listened to the first video.Shouldn't say anything about anything that this video is about to sing

[@crashkdd889]

False

[@rickcruz5582]

Low key racist narration . 😎

[@dawnreneegmail]

Delightful part 2!