Thursday, April 19, 2018

A Trip Through New York City Over 100 Years Ago

Stunning high-quality video shows 1911 NYC when horses and trams filled the streets and everyone wore a HAT 

New York City has gone through a lot of changes - and now people are getting a the chance to see what the Big Apple looked like more than 100 years ago.

The Museum of Modern Art released surprisingly clear footage of what life was like in New York in 1911. 

The video, a part of the museum's June 2017 collection, was filmed by a team of cameramen with the Swedish company Svenska Biografteatern. The cameramen were sent around the world to take photos and videos of well-known places.

'Produced only three years before the outbreak of World War I, the everyday life of the city recorded here - street traffic, people going about their business - has a casual, almost pastoral quality,' the museum wrote. 

YouTuber Guy Jones recently edited the footage to slow it down to a natural rate and add sounds for ambiance.

While in New York, the team with Svenska Biografteatern shot video of the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, the New York Harbor and the famous Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue.

Some of the landmarks - like the Statue of Liberty - look very much similar to how it was in 1911. Other areas have changed drastically over the past century.

Fifth Avenue in 1911 wasn't as busy as it is now. People back then weren't always in a hurry and dressed up in suits. Now, Fifth Avenue is a major tourist attraction and shopping destination.

The Brooklyn Bridge has also gone through a lot of changes in the past 100 years. When the video was filmed in 1911, the bridge had a lot of space for commuters crossing the bridge. The bridge now has about half the space for those walking across the bridge.

Herald Square in 1911 and Herald Square in 2018  have very few similarities. In the film, the New York Herald Building is seen but the building no longer exists. The area is still known as Herald Square, but it's now full of restaurants and shopping stores.

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