It's very strange watching pictures of young people at the beach almost 100 years ago. They we're in the prime of their life and had an entire life in front of them to live. Now all of them are long gone. Everyone thinks they'll be young forever...time tells a different story.
Interesting to observe how people were more playful and "familiar" and laid back back then. Were this today, I'm sure most would be eyes down, looking at their phones, not interacting with each other, or doing so very cautiously. When I watch crowds today I'm struck by the absence of general cheer and how people remain more isolated even among many. How times have changed.
What a great piece of film. They all look so happy without mobile phones, fast food and chemicals in just about everything. Many of the girls are so naturally pretty, no huge painted on eyebrows, tattooes, fat or tight leggings. Just families and young people having a fantastic time. I know that the Wall Street Crash and World War Two were not that far away but this seems like a little piece of heaven.
my dad was born in 1926 , but in england , we moved here to australia in 1970 he was born in december , so this video was done a month before his birth day literally . he came here with the english navy in ww2 and loved the place , he was stationed at woolamaloo . not far from there . so he decided to live here , best move ever .
@@StarsManny i went there once with a group on a course . i saw his ship on the wall at the pub there . that was really cool . it was after he died , which was a shame , as i dont think he knew the photo was even there . we actually had the australian navy take his ashes out to sea and scattered them . which was also very cool .
My mum was a Waverley girl. Raised in Arden St. My father's French grandmother lived right next door. So many of the rellies are buried at Waverley Cemetery. Bronte was the beach. And why my whole family supports the Chooks. These must've been glorious times.
Wow what a fantastic video! So refreshing after all the photos from around that era when no one smiled in photos. Hard to believe all those people, so full of life are now mostly long gone. Thank you for posting this, NFSA.
Love this video. Born in Waverley War Memorial hospital in the late 50's. Spent the next 25 years growing up there. Living in Bondi was great ! Till the early 80's To me it changed. I left to find the wonders of the world. Found it ! I love the view from the top of the Astra being built Anyone notice, No Rock at North Bondi. Some of the fishermen the one that caught the fish where fishing at the "Wedge" my Pop used to call it. Is the only place on the whole east coast of Australia that the Continental Shelf meets Land. Trivia Fact !
By a lot of accounts a good time in the 1920s wedged between WW1, the Depression then WW2. I also believe the 1960s, 1980s and late 1990s also good. Now it’s civil unrest, working poor and uncertain casual jobs, fast pace little time,, being easily offended, pandemics and little care.
Amazing footage so well preserved. The crowds at the beach show how much the surf was and is an important part of the Australian culture and character. My Dad lived in the Eastern Suburbs all his life and Bondi Beach was his favourite haunt. He and some of his mates had a small shack on the North Bondi headland and all their weekends would be spent in the surf. He could have been there in 1926, and was a life member of North Bondi Surf Club. He was on duty on Black Sunday at Bondi in the thirties. Amazing too how the pool at Bronte in 1926 looked pretty much how it looked in the 70s and 80s, and even today.
Mesmerising. Great that you didn't add music. Watching without sound, as it was made was terrific. Thank you NFSA Films for sharing this gem. BTW I didn't see one fat person.
FYI silent movies were not actually silent, they had someone playing live music in the theatre, on a big theatre organ for a grand movie house, or maybe an upright piano for a smaller place. Major movie houses competed over who had the loudest, most sophisticated organ, it was considered an essential part of the experience. If you are watching a "silent" movie in actual silence, you are NOT watching it as it was intended to be seen.
There was a LOT of bad stuff too. Like there is now. Like two world wars. Last of the salad days, just before the Great Depression hits. My dad took off to New Guinea the year after and didn't get back until 1935. Missed the whole thing!
One thing I immediately notice is that there doesn't appear to be anyone suffering obesity. I was at the beach this past summer and I was struck by the fact that there were so many people with weight issues.
Thank you - my family used to own the land that is now Waverley Public School / Police Station. A wonderful insight into their lifestyle in those times.
They were fishing the sewer outlet so heavy clothes were a must. If they fell in with that gear on they'd go straight to the bottom. Better to save the embarassment of floating around in the murk yelling out "Good god kill me man, kill me. Someone put me out of my misery!".
Amazing. Almost hard to believe that all these folks are dust and gone now. Lived through interesting and hard times. When the world was still mysterious and you had more questions than answers. Even the babies in that video must have died already by (hopefully) an high age.
Well was is filmed about 5 to 6 years after the flu pandemic staring in 1918...so there's hope we will all get over this covid obsudity, learn to live with it and enjoy life one again without fear...these people prove it.
Thats a very good point but what u have to factor in is the different era . People back then had far greater resilience to things . U had the war which killed a generation of young folk coupled with the Spanish flu a double whammy of misfortune so to speak. And yet a little over 5 or 6 years as u say ppl seem to be having a carefree time @ the beach. I just cant imagine this being the case in todays society where ppl get triggered over the slightest of things.
It is very privileged to see photos on the wall in frames, come to life, amazing NFSA Films, cause of NFSA films we get to see the 1800's, 1900's come to life. Australia was beautiful in the day, all Europeans only,I love the old Australia, modern day Multiculturalism has failed down the toilet.
My family originated in this area. Mum's from Waverley and Dad's from Bronte. Dad would have been 3 years old when this was filmed and Mum 2...!!! Dad died in 2000 (78) and Mum (80) 2004...!! Recognised the Bogie Hole at Bronte. My Dad's family lived in Pacific St, just near there...a god awful apartment building now sits where they lived. We went to Bronte, Bondi and Tamarama in the 50,60s and 70s. Dad met Mum on a well aimed body surf by him collision at Bronte.... And dig the swimming togs of everyone!!!
@@AlwaysPossible100 and where has this technology lead us to become? a Nation of snitches and a loss of Humanity towards each other. yeah Great advancements.
@@kerrybarnes7289 sadly for all the promise technology provides it still requires people to have a semblance of intelligence. A vast number of people lack the critical thinking skills to determine what is truth and lie. So yes the world is in a bad place, only because technology has amplified the asinine.
Oh my God. The girl in the middle at 2:42 minutes. I think she is in her early twenties. I need a time machine to go to 1990, to put my 20 year old self into the time machine and then send her to 1926 to get to know this beautiful girl. She certainly won't want to know anything from me. But it would be worth a try. 😜
What a stunning film and it brings back many memories of Sydney in the 1970s when it was still a free and very relaxed city . Now in 2021 it is unrecognisable as people live a completely controlled existense with little freedom
Amazingly, 90 years later, the method of construction shown at the 12:36 mark, of Mr Shaw's International Hotel is still in use today in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The wooden shuttering for the reinforced concrete pour (by hand held buckets), mild steel rods for reinforcement, wooden formwork & scaffolding, columns and horizontal beams with brick infill, all regularly used, even to the extent of having eucalyptus poles grown locally for such temporary structures for the concrete pour.
Amazingly, even guys covered up their chests on the beach! Many are wearing a one-piece suit that covers lower and upper body parts. How times have changed!
Assim como estarmos vendo essas imagens do passado eles jamais imaginava que gente do futuro como estarmos vendo hoje ! E podemos imaginar que gente do futuro também estão olhando para nós lá na frente
Yikes! Electric wires strung out over a public swimming pool! Men walking around on the upper floor of a half finished building and not a hard hat, safety boot, hi vis vest or safety harness in sight! Clouds of smoke wafting up from cigarettes merrily combusting indoors! Those were the days.
My Grandmother was born on 4 March 1921 on Austinmer Beach just north of Wollongong. Her parents were squatters. In this day and age it is very hard to understand the conditions of the 1920's
If the English and Irish knew of Australia's beauty, potential and bounty; more would've arrived in passenger ships than prison ships. Absolutely stunning.
Excellent video. The babies featured would be close to 100 years old now. The crude resuscitation technique is a wonder to see. I don't think CPR was invented as a standard resuscitation technique back then in 1926.
Makes ya want to build theorize a time machine, build it, go back in time, just to go up to them on the beach at that moment, shoot them a wink, flash a smile and say, "Hey, what's up?"
Appart from the great depression, the roaring 20's would of been one of the best era's ever, society has crashed on it's knees in this country, australia is not Australia anymore mate.
Note how very few people (on the beach scenes) are carrying any weight, the men especially look almost skinny by todays standards - know doubt their carrying their proper body weight/mass. No take aways and convenience junk food like we have today.
@@adamnowak7232Maybe the babies might still be alive, but I doubt it. I agree with @dennisneo1608. They're all dead now for sure. And the people at 3:07 would probably be push 120+ so yes, they're dead too.
I was born in Waverley General Hospital but I didn’t stay there. I was brought up in Maroubra, a better beach than Bondi. However, it is good to see where I come from.
And now you live in a dystopian hell hole. North Korea has more freedoms. This is what happens when you tell a nation they live on the best country in the world - apathy sets in.
@@bieni78 Tell me seriously, which country would you really want to live in, do you think you would have the freedom to make a criticism like this in North Korea and not face a serious penalty? (Like death).....
Some of those young girls (teenagers) are beautiful. The one with the long dark hair (3:00) next to the young man is a looker. I may add that her swimsuit is a little daring for the 1920s. Nice shape. Gorgeous smile. Makes me wonder whatever became of her. Bondi Beach is in Australia.
The beach sure was crowded. More crowded than other similar places and times I have seen, and growing up on an island I have a feel. People really escape the heat or what?
