Rolandangler Many thanks for this clip. I am English and have memories of that time. My sister married a GI from Connecticut. What struck me was the demeanor of the crowds - apart from their clothes. They walk with a level of dignity and confidence that you wouldn't find among crowds now - public behavior meant observing a few conventions - you didn't behave as if you were in your own living (or bedroom) when out in public. I have sent a link to my niece in Utah - she loves the clip too.
Thanks for posting this. My late mother was 11 when she, her parents, and 4 older brothers went to the fair. She talked about the experience her whole life. I scour the old films looking for a glimpse of the family. I know it's a 7 in 44 million chance, but you never know.
It always amazes me how radically different people and things looked in these old films and yet they're still essentially the same. I'm fascinated by these historic old movies, thank you for posting them.
Looking at the older people in the video it's crazy to imagine that anyone 75 yrs or older were alive during the Civil War. Anyone over 80 wold most likely remember it.
I’ve said it before, I’d say it a thousand times over, they can put it down, call it what you will, but the old times cannot be beaten. Times of that era represented life, aspirations, hope for the future.
You have a terrible memory. By the way, the last living eye-witness to the Lincoln assassination was on the TV Show "I've Got a Secret," about 15 years AFTER this film was made.
@historygeeek You have made a VERY good point. Their votes DO count as much as ours. I think it is too late to change anything. We are on the decks of the sinking Titanic sipping brandly while the band is playing....
I loved this video. In three brief minutes, it captured a different era of 1939. Having been born slightly there after in the mid 1940's, I remember this time period as being much different from today. There was more conformity within society back then but it came with a feeling of security and stability. The present freedoms of today only seem to free us to live in a more fearful world. Children of today have no concept of self sacrifice or cooperation for the common good. If you don't believe me ask a teenager. Their reply will probably be, "Common good???? Huh??, What's that?"
Boy the way Glenn Miller played Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us we had it made, Those were the days. And you knew who you were then, Girls were girls and men were men, Mister we could use a man Like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight. Gee our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days. {In the longer version} People seemed to be content, Fifty dollars paid the rent, Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days. Take a little Sunday spin, Go to watch the Dodgers win. Have yourself a dandy day, That cost you under a fin.
women in dresses and men in suits---what a novel idea! Being young,I'm used to over-fed slobs in sweats and spandex with advertisements across their chests and backs. And of course no outfit is complete without a baseball cap bearing a logo of some sort. The "World of Tomorrow" is here!
An era where Christianity was very strong in our society. Modest dress and demeanour. Children behaving themselves walking along very obediently. Boys and girls always separated in school groups etc. Everything very proper. Clothing very lovely. People cared about their public appearance. Ironed shirts and dresses, gloves and hats, love it!!
Going to the fair was a big deal. Even at baseball games into the fifties, men wore suits and dress hats. Bluejeans were dungarees, and those were worn by farmhands only.
how clean and beautiful :-)...ladies with make up,hair;glamour and beautiful dresses and gentlemen with suit,....decent and polite..no the trash that you see around New York with flip flops and screaming obcenities..now is great cause the technology...but people changed too much...beautiful people...well now is the past
+dave rg If youre referring to the young boys (one of which could have been me) the answer is ----- they got to go to war in Korea. Bob Smith Korean War Vet 1951 Now happily alive because my dad moved from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the Long Beach California Navy Yard while I was in Korea,
Wonderful. Very evocative of the age in a more personal way, than the "Industrial" piece; people remain the constant that makes history live, I suppose. I don't know if the people were actually much more "proper", but the average Joe or Jane surely looked more glamorous. Great work. Thank you JDProductions. ksbookman
I noticed some men still wore all white suits like Colonel Sanders. No fast food cups and straws, but the drinking fountains were a hit. And it looked like the school kids were carrying sack lunches.
Back then, the food processing and packaging companies did not add HFCS and MSG, etc. to the food they were selling. And there were no fast food joints, or convenience stores. Whoa, did we hit the brick wall, or what?
@ThoughtTraveler Unfortunately for us you have described modern America with a perfect accuracy. Wish very much that it were not so. But what do we do now? There are so many of them. And their votes carry the same power as yours or mine.
Life then actually was easier, despite it seeming today with all the tech to supposedly make life easy...Today we know to much about each other and are to busy trying to be what were not....
The world today lacks this sort of vision for public attractions. The Disney parks exemplify how every new attraction must be based on a movie, so that basically you're riding through a movie trailer. Too much commercialism and not enough vision.
@ThoughtTraveler Would like to invite you to my personal "Titanic". I own and operate a museum and photographic studio. The 1930's are alive and well here! Get on facebook, and look for Liberty studio and museum. I think you would like it. We have to start somewhere!
Back then everyone wore dresses and suits all the time when they went out. I don't see any t-shirts, shorts and flip flops....such a change from what people wear when they go out today. People were more proper back then. :-)
It's too bad that this wonderful world's fair had to coincide with the start of WWIi, with all its horrors and with the appalling events in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, as well as with the last part of the Depression in the US. At leaat this made people happy, temporarily.
What people forget is that NYC had a population of African-Americans forever, but it was much smaller than when the Democrats decided to bus up thousands from the deep south to go on welfare and vote Democrat.
The two main things that stood out to me in this video ... No fat/over-weight people ... and everyone was dressed so well ... Boy have times changed ... and society is on a decline.
There were plenty of fat people in this video. Besides, you don't look all that svelte yourself, so why even bring it up? So tired of piner's for the past like you who only want it to be this way again so you can freely discriminate against those you don't like. Donny Dotard voter? I am pretty sure you are.
@@evanhughes1510 the trippy part is your watching someone who no longer exists as if they're right there in front of you. try it with old family footage from a birthday and see the loved ones who are gone and you;l see what i mean.
It's weird watching this cause I know what minorities were going through at that time...I hate how everyone just totally disregard"s ALOT about the past ......uh
Yeah a "fat" person in that day probably weighed 170, not 370 or 470 like today. I have pictures of my Grandmother at that fair and she's always dressed in Sunday best. we all are such slobs by comparison.
Oh, it looked great, but there's a dark side, too. We really live in the best of times and worst of times in every era you look at. We never had so much at our disposal in history, enjoy it while it lasts.
