Chinatown as it looked like in 1912. See my other 1150 clips by searching RU-vid with 'michael rogge playlists'. Website 'Man and the Unknown' wichm.home.xs4all.nl/
@Bob Ng: The costumes and pigtails of that time were not traditional Han Chinese, but more Manchu style that was enforced on Chinese males since the Qing Dynasty.
It's amazing how much rebuilding was done in just 6 years after the quake and fires! However, after viewing more of the video and reading the posts below, I would have to say that it is, indeed, at least a composite of different times. The cars shown in the first part are definitely from the 1920s.
MY BEAUTIFUL CHINA TOWN. I LOVED SO MUCH WALKING THE STREETS OF CHINA TOWN AND VISTING IT'S STORES . I JUST LOVE EVEY THING ABOUT CHINA TOWN, THE PEOPLE ARE VERY NICE. I MISS MY CHINA TOWN SO MUCH.
And to think, the Chinese Exclusion Act was still around then and people were being incredibly racist to such a beautiful culture. It's 2021, and we still see the same type of racism now. Very unfortunate. But very happy to be able to see such lovely footage from that time.
You’ll find people like these if you left your mama’s basement. + generalizing based off a 12 minute video is chronically online behavior. Get back to reality☠️
Hey Michael, rather Mr. Rogge, I guess, I do appreciate your effort in putting up all these valuable footages and films. As an ex-Hongkong expat having spent time there in the mid 80's, I also very much appreciate your endeavor putting up here all the wonderful old Hong Kong scenes. My great kudos!! Time flies and sadly things aren't what it used to be in Hong Kong.
Adding my observations with respect to timing - Panama Exposition was held in 1915. SF was entirely rebuild by that time, earning SF the moniker: the city that knows how. - Tuck Key indeed owned a shop in 1911 - Zubelda was a cigarette brand prominent in 1911-1912 and quickly disappeared afterwards. - I'm not an expert in automobiles, but none of the models seemed totally inconsistent with what would have been available in 1912 (Model T came out in 1908) - The Chinese queue disappeared practically over night with the introduction of the republic (1912). - Sound recording was widely available post 1900. The lack of talkies in movies (until 1931) had to do with equipping theaters with projectors that were reliable and could accurately synchronize the sound. It's entirely possible that documentary sound recording could have been taken long before 1930, though that is unusual. Over all I see no reason to say that most of the film is from c. 1912. (see the RU-vid San Francisco -1906 in HD) for a film of SF taken 6 years previously.
The two little Chinese girls at 2:16 are so lovely! That's a western style goodbye kiss not typical for Chinese, they were likely born and educated there.
Thanks for sharing , I saw my grandparents in this video >_< , as a chinese ( HongKonger ) it seem that I am travel a time machine back to my Grandfather meet my Grandmother ^_^ welcome to HK LKF
may be four Generation chinese know how to speak cantonese in USA SF, but definitely not in HK , MU or Canton province , because of the one language policy in PRC (China) ROC (Taiwan), the hakka , mongolian language , tibet language and the other language may be forbidden and destroyed by mandarin Cathay language) similar than Taiwan don't teach(Min) language in school as well .British PM family for Econ reason still learning simplify Chinese writing scripts create in 1949 , in 2017-2023 the cantonese language speaker will likes Romansch language (speak in south-east part of switzerland and Latin language / classical hebrew language ) almost became dead language >_
@@SimonChengHK Cantonese is well and alive all over! After 普通話,it's the most spoken Chinese language: and 閩南語 is very much alive too, in its different forms.
I and many of my living relatives are directly descended from dozens of relatives who lived and raised families in San Francisco in 1912 for decades prior and afterwards. Now, none of us remain there and very rarely even think to go back. Extend this to thousands and thousands of other families with similar heritage stories and you can figure out why the city is a shell of its former self.
The clips that have background sound probably date closer to 1930, Synchronized sound wasn't introduced to film until 1927, and then only big budget movies. It took a few years to phase sound into more mundane films, like travelogues and educational features. The silent clips that have only music overdubs came from earlier years. I wouldn't judge too far back, because the reconstruction after the earthquake looks rather complete.
+J Johnson I agree it's not likely in the 1910s given the number of cars. It won't be too long after 1927 though because the 5-strip China flag shown in the clip was replaced (by the current "Taiwan" flag) shortly after 1927 when KMT were in power.
Parade at 4:00 minutes is turning from Van Ness Avenue, left on to Market Street (east). In Background is Masonic Building still at Van Ness @ Oak St, and Godeau Funeral Home, 41 Van Ness @ Hickory Street (business moved out in 1970's).
I would guess that this is a compilation of clips taken from at least 3 different decades. Maybe we should all just agree that it's "old" and leave it at that. Interesting historical footage, nonetheless. My girlfriend and I went to SF last year and, of course, went to Chinatown. It was interesting to see many Chinese teenagers selling fireworks on the street corners and in front of stores. I enjoyed Chinatown and SF as a whole very much. I'm curious as to what the man is cutting at the end.
As a Chinese person I can definitely tell you right now that, that part of the clip was taken at a Chinese medicine store where they prepare and weigh etc. herbal medicine for people. That guy was probably cutting some ingredients into smaller pieces. The drawers in back hold herbal medicine as well. The drawers and the way he’s weighing the herbs is how it’s traditionally used back when there were kings and queens back in China and till this day, this is still how most traditional Chinese medicines store do it and the drawers too!
@@dddddw9590 Thank you. I was thinking it looked like a Chinese herbal store with the drawers as storage. The magical wonders of herbs is long lost on us in modern day. I took some Chinese herbs once for an affliction I had for years and had never felt such relief. Sadly the store I purchased from is gone and I don't have the name of product line.
That last bit is in a Chinese herbalist shop. It hasn't changed one iota, except in the dress and hairstyle of the workers there.There's on on 10th and Webster in Oakland. I can't promise its efficacy, but it's a very interesting place.
Notwithstanding the tourist trap now - which it is in spades, you can't even get a decent bowl of won ton - for someone who grew up in and around SF Chinatown in the 50s, this is quite moving emotionally...
I am certain this is more recent than 1912.....those cars are much more modern than 1912 models, and the City in general looks more advanced than just six years after the earthquake. I would place this at 1920, maybe 1919 at the absolute earliest.
I say a guy still wearing a long pigtale, a typical of the Qing Dynasty and also part of the town still have wooden horse carriages so it maybe around 1912.
Lar M I tried to read the newspaper in the final frames to see if that would give a clue. I could only read one: "Passengers held while doctors vaccinate." To me, also, the city seems much too built up for only six years after the earthquake and fire.
The film is actually a composite of different time periods. Most of the footage was produced by Captain HJ Lewis in 1912 (he's the white guy kissing the Chinese children for whatever reason at 2:20). I agree the cars seen around 2:40 are certainly probably not pre-1920
Chinatown in 2023 is a ghost town. Its a shell of what it once was. Many empty store fronts. Grant street is deserted. Only a few gift shops and ice cream stores, one camera store, and a few jewelry stores. Stockton street is still alive and well with several produce stores and a few small dim sum shops for to go orders. Many older Chinese still come to buy cheap produce and groceries. Many poor Chinese families still lived in those SRO's buildings. I can' imagine a family of four living in a single room but they still do.
1912, one of the most important years in Chinese history. I'm sure the overseas Chinese were excited about the future! You can tell by all the ROC flags waving atop the buildings.
@@abueloraton That's interesting. The five-colour flag lasted until 1928, but the current ROC flag was introduced in 1924, yet I don't see any here. Also, the cars, clothing, etc don't look very mid-'20s to me, more like the '10s at the latest.
@1:44 and 2:37 those automobiles were 1920 Ford models. Also @11:00 people in the Chinese herbal drug store dressed in traditional Chinese costumes and hair style with a pig tail which were before 1911. However, Chinese oversea may took a little longer to adjust the new changes. Therefore 1915 to 1925 time frame is about right.
Nice to see the 5 color flag when China was more inclusive: Red the Han, yellow for the Manchus, blue for the Mongols, white for the Hui Muslims and black for the Tibetans. Those were more hopeful times under Sun Yatsen (or Sun Zhongshan 孙中山 if you prefer). I think Hong Kong protestors show that 1911 revolutionary spirit of Sun Yatsen and we, freedom lovers of the world, are with them.
Thank you for sharing, Mike :) Just by observing the architecture, I can't infer the era. However, as a Southerner (Cantonese) who grew up in Hong Kong, I noticed, in couple of scenes (the grocery store, the temple, the smoking gathering, the farewell and the herbal pharmacy), people were acting very un-natural (the cultural practice, frame speed and lighting). The Cantonese opera scene was the most outrageous! :D
That was my great grandfather's company. His name was Tong Bong. FBI accused him of smuggling opium into USA - bullcrap! But he was too old to fight, so he closed the entire chain of Sing Fat Bazaars in USA and returned to China. Today, CIA is the world's biggest opium grower in Afghanistan, and US government is the world's biggest opium smuggler in the world.