Detroit, Michigan 1930s in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added 

Which city in the world would you like to live in the 1930s?

Notice how many of one type of business that you rarely see anymore? Repair shops of all kinds. Shoe, machinery. Household goods. Not a throwaway culture back then.

At one point Detroit was the 3rd largest city in America. My grandmother came here in the 1940's for work. She was born on the kitchen table in a dirt floor shack in Kentucky. She only had a 3rd grade education. She worked in a munitions factory and made parts for the bombs dropped on Japan. After the war she worked at Chrysler as an inspector. Since she was short she inspected the wiring in the trunk. She owned 3 homes and retired with a full pension. She had her dream home built in Florida where she lived out her days.

I grew up in Detroit, watching this was kind of shocking these people have so much class. The streets are lined with new cars and the people you see are upscale, businessman, and workers in the shops. The areas that you’re looking at the main areas are Gratiot Avenue, Grand River Ave. and Woodward Avenue. Very interesting to see the workforce, devotion, work ethic, and quality of these people, These are our grandfathers Fathers, lol, and it would be safe to say that every single one of these people that you see in the videos are deceased. I went to Detroit about a year ago, drove around. Detroit has been. “Coming Back” for 55 years. It’s a roller coaster ride. It’ll never be what it was EVER AGAIN! And with this new generation, you can forget about it.

The first three minutes of this film takes place along Detroit‘s old Skid Row on Michigan Avenue just west of downtown. The movie Federal Manhunt is playing at the theater; it was released in 1938. Koblin’s Cut Rate is visible at 500 Michigan Ave. This whole area was subsequently cleared in an urban renewal scheme that was light on renewal. Thank you for this work. I welcome more from Detroit, but enjoy them all!

The clarity of this is amazing. You can read all the signs clearly and see lots of detail in the people and vehicles.

The late 1930's...Detroit was on it's way to becoming one of the great major cities in the United States. A roaring Auto Industry beckoning with job opportunities that would see people from all over the country and from all walks of life move to the city. I would give anything to time travel back and witness what it was like if only for a week or two.

The color restoration has a realistic "grittyness" in this 1939 footage. Great work as usual NASS.

Crazy how a lot of these folks saw the turn of the century from wagons and horses to automobiles and airplanes.

I’m French but I’ve been to Detroit several times. Since the city didn’t evolve as much as others in the country, and a lot of places have simply been abandoned, you can feel some of this energy from ancient times that hasn’t really been built over like everywhere else. Despite what everyone says about this place, I found Detroit to be one of the most fascinating cities I ever traveled to. It has some mythical aura to it especially in the center. It feels like a time portal sometimes which is really rare for a Western city. I hope you do more videos about them because it’s really a perfect fit for your work. Great job!

My grandpa was born a farmer in Clear Lake, Iowa in 1905. He came back from the army in 1925 and returned to the family farm until the Depression, when the price of corn fell so badly, that they could no longer support themselves by farming. Grandpa had MANY stories about going to Green Bay, Detroit, and Chicago, and doing any job he could find, no matter how short or how menial, and send the money home to his family -My Grandma and aunts -Mom wasn't born until after the war. He ended up working pretty much full time in the Chicago Slaughterhouses from about the time of this footage until the War started. His stories about the slaughterhouse were hair-raising. He saw men get cut and bleed to death, and other guys die in worse ways. He was a tough old bird, and I was lucky enough to have him in my life until 1986, when I was 24. It is fascinating to think that he could be in some of this old footage, or maybe just someone he knew. I miss the old folks. Thanks for this....

It’s amazing the stuff you are putting out lately from the source material to the restoration. Honestly, one of the best channels on YT.

I truly love when people see the camera and they have no idea that one day they would be famous on this thing we call the internet & RU-vid! They are a staple in time. Thank you NASS.

Really enjoyed watching this. All my grandparents were living and raising families in Detroit at this time. Most of my aunts and uncles were born by the late 30's, though my parent's didn't come along for a few more years. My paternal grandmother always talked about how wonderful Detroit was back in the day.

Detroit was one of the wealthiest cities in the country back then. Nice video.

Skid row -- yet even there, everyone has a suit and hat on.

i love these videos man. thank you for the work

Nass, Love your channel. The Mobsters nicknamed "The Purple Gang" ruled Detroit Underworld in the 1920's with their bootlegging, extortion and murder but sometime in the 1930's they started to fizzle out due to infighting. They had strong allies including the Al Capone syndicate in Chicago! Plus, I like the men's dress-style in the 1930's with their nice fedora hat, nice suit and nice shoes-It made a nice, snappy look! Thanks for the upload.

At 1:28 - “Kentucky”, starring Richard Greene and Loretta Young, released December 1938.

This is how the streets still looked in the 50s and early mid 60s. By the late 60s and early 70s you could see the culture change, drug users and dealers were trashing everything.

I was trying to figure out exactly where these videos were taken. The only street sign I see in the first street clips is a sign for US-112. That is now Michigan Avenue near downtown. The other clue is a quick clip of a place named the "Triangle Cafe." There are a number of triangular lots along Michigan Avenue between 1st Street and Griswold Streets that could give rise to that name. You can also see a street number on the big pawn shop @1:12, which is 412. If we assume that they are still on Michigan Avenue, that corresponds to the northwest corner of Cass & Michigan; so, if I had to guess, it was taken heading West (assuming most people are walking towards downtown) along Michigan Avenue somewhere between Griswold and Cass. The 'low' character of many of the shops (cheap hotels, pawnshops, bars) are consistent with that area's reputation from back in the day.

What a beautiful solid cars! The nice memories of old cities. A lot of little private business. I love that!🤔🥹As always historical footages,thanks!

Hello from Melbourne,.Australia! 🇦🇺 Absolutely love your work! You are beyond phenomenal. Thankyou for taking us back to these times with exceptional clarity. LOVE,.LOVE LOVE YOUR WORK. Thanks again for your hard work and dedication to bring us these gems of history.

Love the sign "Guns-Typewriters"

What a great snapshot into the era...the businesses small and large and the people showing badges to enter the factory to the skid-row views of the depression. Thank you for sharing your excellent work.

I love the Altes Beer truck in front of the liquor store at 1:56 and the Stroh's Bohemian Beer sign on the street car at 3:45.

What an incredible city Detroit once was.

I’m from Detroit area. That era would’ve been when my dad began his big band musical career. He played in Detroit and all over the country.

This is one of your best reels to date, among many other excellent examples. Just the pace of the people moving around, plus the very high quality of the imaging made this one almost supernatural. My folks and most of my family lived in Detroit 1905-1940ish. Plenty remained in Detroit through the 70's.

Thank you for making these video's

Detroit was beautiful and safe back then.

Toda mi admiración por lo que hacen. Recopilando y emitiendo éstas imágenes. Muchas gracias.Desde España 🇪🇦

Thank you again for everything you do and cheers from New Brunswick Canada👍🏼😎🇨🇦

Wow, what a fantastic job, Nass. Keep up the great work. JoAnn

The portion of the video with everyone hopping off the street car and going to work is (I’m 99% sure) the Ford Highland Park Plant. Designed by Albert Kahn and where over 15 million Model Ts were made. It is situated along Woodward Ave where the street cars used to run. The plant is now abandoned but some of the structures are still there in Highland Park (a city within Detroit). I drive by it all the time. It is a National Historic Landmark.

That was one of your very best clip ever. Sharp, evocative, informative and vivid. Thanks!

I am so thankful to the photographers in that time, who considered filming scenes like this. Really makes me appreciate current day photographers even more, knowing that in the future their footage might be the only way to look back at how we live now.

AS A CAR NUT............ this film has to be darn close to 1938/39 based on the newest car seen. Possibly a car from 1940 (behind the fence @ 4:27). The headlights are the big give-away. Exterior tear drop headlights are usually pre 1940. Little did they know how the world would change very soon.

Thank you for posting these.

Aside from the superb restoration, the audio is just the ticket. I imagine that part takes quite an effort to recreate. Well done and SUBSCRIBED!

Thank you for posting , loved it 💯🧐🤨😆🤣 but was that George Baily , AKA Jimmy Stewart crossing the street?

I grew up in Detroit on the southwest side in the 70's and 80's. I always wondered what it looked like in the 20's through the 40's. Detroit was once the 4th largest city in the country. It was right up there with Chicago but, man, did it fall hard. It was tough growing up in Detroit. I'm not gonna lie about it but it had its occasional moments.

Thanks for the trip back in time NASS, if only for a few minutes, it’s worth it.

Okay, took a few minutes, but this is beginning of April, 1939. The Lyric movie theater at 1:12 was located at 421 Michigan Ave. and was playing Lone Star Pioneers, part of a movie series about Wild Bill Hickock starring Wild Bill Elliot. More importantly, at 1:24, the movie theater on the right is the Loop Theater, 418 Michigan Ave. Playing are Kentucky with Loretta Young, and a B-movie on the bottom half of the bill, Federal Manhunt, which played there at the beginning of April for a few days. There are some nice photos of the Loop if you search the name of the theater, Michigan Avenue, and Detroit, Michigan on Google. Virtually none of this exists anymore, not a single building. THAT'S progress.

Wonderful work on the colourisation, definitely adds to the ambience. Felt as if I could step into the scene. Thanks so much for sharing.

The first 3 minutes of this is the 500-600 block of Michigan Avenue. You can see The Salvation Army Headquarters in some of the shots. But from the cars in the video, it looks more like the late 1930's than the 1920's. And, at least the first 3 minutes would be prior to 1938 when The Salvation Army's Headquarters moved to Bagley and Second.

Very realistic!!! Great restoration job, man! ❤😊👍👍👍

Great video! Lots of very good detail in this video. Excellent quality. The signs,vehicles and people are all so very interesting. Great prices on the advertised items along the main thoroughfare. There has, however, been some inflation since this video was shot....

Like And Share Please!

Love your videos, thanks!😊

How tragic all of this is gone now. Detroit is in the midst of a rebirth but so much has been destroyed and torn down that it will never be the vibrant city Detroit once was.

You can see the license plates, dark blue and white letters, with the vertical "MICH" on the left side and along the bottom "PASS EXP X-XX-39" Pretty cool.

Unbelievable number of people were employed. Motown Rockin.

People were thinner back then. My grandparents lived in Detroit during that time.

Some of the people walking on the sidewalk turn black and white for few seconds, it’s kinda trippy

Oh my, this was wonderful to watch, love this so much. Such talent to create this.

What always haunts me about these old recordings is the realization that all of the adults have since passed away. It's like watching ghosts,kinda cool.

They really hit alot of peaks with style that era

Ahhh yes, the once beautiful Detroit. In 1961 it was the wealthiest city in the United States, and in 1961 a particular party took over and has completely been in control ever since, and look at it today.

Beautiful work, everyone's movement is so fluid, like it was filmed yesterday.

Just wow. So amazing to have footage of this in such clear quality.

Geez, how many people fit into those trolleys??? It was like unloading a clown car 🚗🤣🤣🤣

Incroyablement enrichissant !! 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Merci ! 🙏🏻

Excellent video as always.

Great video nass, incredible footage, amazing work 👌👍😀

We were at the brink of war then, a lot of those men went to war and never came home. Detroit was turned into an airplane maker.

Virtually every single car you see parked on the street was born in that city. Side note: where are all the waddling tubs of lard? Obesity is the norm today, sadly.

A rarity. Stock footage FACING FORWARD in the vehicle instead of looking back. And what clarity. Your work gets better and better.

Thank you for those stunning images.

Wow! Look at how orderly everything was. No knockout games, carjackings, looting. Wonder how things changed 🤔

The white man built a wonderful country and wonderful cities. Look at them now.

Like another world compared to today. I love these vintage clips. Film resolution is surprisingly good.

No one in their pajamas.

After watching numerous of such films from the 20s and 30s, there is something strange I noticed: in scenes with crowds or city streets with a lot of pedestrians, you see very few black people. Like in this scene of the factory gate, there are hardly any. I really wonder why. Ther restauration and coloring has worked pretty well this time. Even the sound was ok, may be a bit loud but ok. Some famous film director once said "The sound and music in a film is good if you dont notice it." Meaning, if you start thinking about the sound while you watch, there is something wrong with it.

This video is truly amazing!

My great grandfather, along with his siblings and parents emigrated from Hungary to Detroit in the 1920s. He became a presser for Ford. I still live in mid Michigan and will never leave. This video is amazing to me! Thank you so much, as I've never been able to meet any of my family members from that side, as my grandfather killed himself whilst my mother was a toddler. This makes me feel what they lived and breathed!!

It’s crazy to think that maybe a viewers relative is getting off that trolly and they don’t even know it..

Great stuff! Was that possibly the Edison Conners Creek plant at the end of the film?

Really wonderful clarity to this one and all those wonderful neon signs. I could almost feel like I could jump out onto that sidewalk.

Fellow Detroiter here; This footage in incredible!!! Great vibes. Loved the “open AI” hidden placement 😊

2:02 look at that guy, he's approaching like a gangster.

Wow, Detroit used to be a really nice place. I wonder what happened?

All I can say is thank you so much for the video about Michigan way back in the thirties I am an old lady now I'm 77 years old my mother was born in Allentown Pennsylvania on a farm my grandparents had seven children they came to Michigan 1939 so my mother would remember some of this stuff my mother never drove a car till she was 6 years old and she was to ride the streetcars and so my mother would remember this I remember when Michigan Avenue was paved so all those little railroad tracks in the middle I think we're just covered over I love the people walking in the streets my uncle used to wear hats like some of these men thank you all so much for the beautiful wonderful video in my mom was here she will chew you enjoy it again thank you so much for this video❤😂🥰👍

Superb. Good work NASS. Most enjoyable.

I see a certain Demographic in this video that left Detroit a long time ago. The one that remained tore it down.

It was all fun and games until everything went to hell...

I grew up in northwest Detroit in the early sixties , love looking at this video and seeing all the mom and pop stores from the 1930's on Michigan ave....a snippet in time.

These amazing films are a moving testimony to the past and we are so grateful for their production. What a rare glimpse into the history of the common population and culture. Thank you!

They called this era the depression, but it looks like "mom and pop" were doing far better back then..... Today it's nothing but the "bigs"...

Просто ВАУ!!!!!! какая чистота на улицах, люди , культура. А сейчас одни наркоманы, алкоголики и бомжи.......😢

People walking safely on the streets of the downtown area without fear of being shot, robbed like now. Lots of small businesses. I would love to live back in the 1930s - the good old days.

Great video thanks I was just thinking of my dad he was born in 1930 he is now passed but he told me how it was growing up in Detroit and how it was again thanks for the video felt like I was with my dad👍

Notice the store that sells everything from guns to typewriters.

25 cent hotel rooms! outrageous.

NASS, ThanksMuch for posting !

Thanks for this. A capture of life and time preserved,

Another great one. Thanks for your work. Lets make America great again. NASS Reply: thank you!!

PRETTY FUNNY @1:43......a store sign upper left stating that they sell "Guns & typewriters" . That's quite an odd combination

I'm always amazed at how tightly they parallel parked those old tubs without benefit of power assists and automatic transmissions. (Maybe it wasn't quite as taboo to touch bumpers in the process as it is today?) One nit-picky item: The whistle of the approaching steam locomotive at the end is definitely a European-style "tea kettle" engine whistle, not a full-throated American one.

Nice sound design.. love the modern car horns 😊