Bicycles in Los Angeles 1898

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

Thank you for this piece of history.

George Vreeland Hill

[MyGamerTV]

Watching this gives me chills xD

[bettydaw1970]

i bet those street were full of horseshit!!!!

im thinking those bikes if still around would be worth a ton of money..

[nichols4326]

Entertainment Capital of the world, any movie they were watching then and most movies up till now were made right there.

[sweiland75]

It is claimed that Roundhay Garden Scene is the oldest movie, but if that date is correct, THIS is older!

[roberthungry]

@sweiland75 the roundhay garden scene is 1888.

[bphatboyjohn123]

@LeeGeorge08 you know what the mexican cession is, the area of land that mexico signed over to the us after losing the american-mexican war in 1848, 15 years prior to that mexico bearly won its independence from france, so most of the territory they only occupied for 15 years as a country, wasn't even that much, next time don't lose the war

[wks1978]

@bphatboyjohn123 Mexico became independent from Spain, not France.

[bphatboyjohn123]

@wks1978 lol yea thats what i meant, typo

[dldhistory55]

Here is what it says 1 frame: 0:02.29: Fely 24/9 Here is what it says 2 frames combined: 0:03.05-0:03.06: South S Street Los An 1898 Here is what it says a single frame 0:11.19: C HT 18 98 T.A. EDISON PAT'D AUG. 31. 1897

[rbsvy91368]

I believe modern technology will die out too. One day mother nature will wipe out all of it and no one will ever be able to fix that. Mother Nature cannot be defeated.

[Cyanesence]

You would of been so fucking cool if you had a bike back then

[smokinglittlepistol]

It was in the late 1840's when Mexico lost the war and lost the western states thus including California. This is decades later! This picture shows maybe a bit of the Mexicans that stayed but definitely not all Mexican.

[emforty2]

as the traffic gets worse in downtown los angeles only people on bicycles will move

i pray for heavy traffic everyday...ha ha

[Pintac87]

That was Larry King on that bike.

[iphoneguy2012]

oh shit where is star bucks

[vergitacha]

Ooo shit Mexicans like to ride in bicycles back in the day...lol

[zacatetas]

@vergitacha no it was those worthless piece of shit hipsters on their fixies

[ViewTubeOO]

Talk about OLD !

[Canadianabanana]

This was filmed exactly 103 years before I was born. Whoa.

[vtecivicsib18]

pretty stupid why people use horses when they can just use engines i mean people in the late 19th century are dumb

[flyinghotwing]

everyone must have been downtown in those days!

[foilseal]

the bicycles were shocking and awesome

[Classicgamesfan89]

Wow

[TrancetasticWilza]

why did you highlight the bikes?

[niceperson33]

Just turn the captions off you stupid.

[adjusttint]

youve ruined a classic piece of film with ur stupid balloons

[flyinghotwing]

@adjusttint classic my ass, one minute of nothing, so what balloons or not, go stick i finger in it

[adjusttint]

@flyinghotwing go what?

[OldMrMemories]

Surely at least one person in this video must be alive. It's sad to think they are all buried.

[HyruleanaZeldin]

Amazing!! o.o I can't get enough black & white videos, it feels like a travel through time. LOL It sounds very stupid, but in my head I was thinkin' "WOW, grown ups & books were telling the truth, the world was like that in those years, I'm seeing the proof O.O" xD. Thanks for the vid, is incredible.

[rockbottom56]

this film is in excellent condition i must say.

[johnnyhoenee]

Geez, look at the fatty on the carriage, I'm surprised the horses didn't die from exhaustion dragging her lard ass around!

[royaa703]

Lol!

[spirmessi]

if you like old movies watch the *BIRTH OF CINEMA* in youtube and enjoy.

[lapicsie]

Los Angeles en 1898 fue territorio de Mèxico.... toda esa gente que ven ahi era Mexicana no sea lucinen pinches gringos estupidos

[upcycle]

así, Mexico, Canadá y los Estados Unidos de Americal serán uno de todos modos. (sonrisa)

Bueno Dias.

[lonmontel]

Los Angeles en 1898 no fue territorio de Mexico. Dunce.

[Fenderkicksass]

@lapicsie rofl and the mexicans stole the land from the Native Americans....

[vpiedra1]

@lapicsie dude shut up

[rosrychaplet]

@lapicsie california became a state of the union in 1850 idiota. estupido.

[bphatboyjohn123]

@rosrychaplet its not even when ca became a state, we got the territory in 1848, from the mexican cession, so yea, we got alot of land way before we actually made then a state, jsut the time it took for them and the leaders in that area to join the union. . .

[bphatboyjohn123]

@lapicsie the mexican cession was in 1848, which gave ca, nev, ari, nm, states to the u.s. from losing the american-mexican war, so this was america then, sry you lost the war

[cadrolls1]

It's interesting to see that they had a pothole problem even back then. Great piece of history. Thank you for sharing this.

[shiprecords]

i hope this infringes on someone's copyright,

Outlaw bikes! Oil 4 life!

[emforty2]

edison was a film pirate bringing film from england showing it here and making money.

he also abused and killed animals dogs, elephants

he also 'beleived' DC power is the future not 'AC' we all know what happens .. edison is a dummy compared to Tesla

[CountryGentleman83]

You're the only dummy I see. Film pirate my ass ,you liar.

[wwwchimpoutDOTcom]

tesla was a jackass who failed at anything practical

[danschaoticmind]

And Edison was a thief. Actually though, Teslas designs were stolen by edison and later served as a basis for wireless communications as we know it.

[upcycle]

interesnting trivia... Henry Ford was a "Chief Engineer" at the Edison Illumination Company before he started the Ford Motor company. and one of Henry Ford's first cars was an electric car.... Who killed the electric car?

[danschaoticmind]

It is immensly interesting how these actions in the past have helped to shape the present day and the lines of logic major corporations use.

[ilikemyhandsbloody]

people back then were a lot better off, much much more value for their dollar

[ilikemyhandsbloody]

the oil companies

[Billabongs122988]

@upcycle

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR is one of my favorite documentary.

[lander4545]

@upcycle Henry Ford's first internal combustion engine ran on ethanol. His idea was to grow the fuel source here in America and help the farmer out at the same time. The oil barrons put a holt to that real quick!

[wdashwor]

Out of curiosity how are you guys getting it stopped at that spot? I can see it go by, guess my reflexes aren't fast enough.

[fromthesidelines]

That "frame" at :12 was Edison's "watermark" on the film {"Copyright 18 - 98 T.A. Edison Pat'd. Aug. 31, 1897"}. He was legally protecting himself against unscrupulous "rivals" [and "imitators"]. His "kinetoscope" had become such a big business by the end of the 1890's, other manufacturers and film producers were "horning in" on his "territory", without paying him royalities or the rights to use his film process and machines. Edison was not only a smart inventor, he had "legal smarts" as well!

[ArmesPryein]

This was made on August 31st 1897. Pause it on 0:12 and you'll see.

[upcycle]

Thanks for pointing out the frame at 0:12. What I see at that frame is "19 ?? 98 T.A. EDISON PAT'D AUG.31.1997"

So it appears that the 1997 date may represent the date of the patenting of the processing of the recording and developing of film, and that the 1998 date may represent the date of the copyright and recording(or developing of this film. Any thoughts?

[BSNFabricating]

I think it says "18" and "98"... And they're separated because when it was written on the film in white letters, it wouldn't show up against the bright sky...so Edison (or whoever wrote on the film) moved the "98" over to where it would show up, against the buildings. That's just my theory...

[rosrychaplet]

@upcycle 1897 and 1898.

[markst]

@upcycle

What! your about a 100 years off with the date! Learn your history!

[DalekQueen]

@upcycle it says:T.A. EDISON PAT'D AUG.31.1897 actually....not 1997

[MooPotPie]

@upcycle Well THAT sure cleared it up … LOL

[sexxyperv]

@ArmesPryein HOW THE HELL DID YOU PAUSE IT THAT QUICKLY???!!!

[DalekQueen]

@sexxyperv i was able to do it,took like 50 tries though...lool

[ShamilBasayev]

These recordings are priceless

[DouglasUrantia]

Looks like that street is a very dangerous place to be!

[WarriorFootball]

I wish they had a longer video of downtown la in those times. Really amazing to see a small glimpz of life 110 years aga.

[skatexpress]

yeah i wish i could live in that time era for a day...!

[LadyAdokenai]

I wish they had ANY from Chicago. You're lucky you have at least a few from your city. :)

[reedunculous]

Drive-by shootings must've been tricky back in the day with those horse-drawn carriages.

The streets must've been ankle deep in horse poop. Hope the "Department of Horse Poop Picker-uppers" had a good health plan.

[DouglasUrantia]

Horse dropings were a terrible problem in those old days. .... the flies, the smell were beyond belief.

Now we can breathe the smoke of the trucks and buses. Improvement?

[IDLERACER]

Amazing. It has no sound, it's blurry, it's poorly lit, it's less than half a minute long, and yet it's still more entertaining than any Adam Sandler movie that I know of.

[gordyt99]

LA's population was less than 103,000 when this video was shot.

[eeppeliteloop]

damn.. my friend came again. also: why didn't those people buy any cars? come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn­nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn­nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

[MenstrualBubbles]

look at all the mexicans and rodney king's ancestors there... oh wait, it wasnt flooded with them yet, those were the good ol' days

[Gouldeyecandy]

Awesome Post. I fund a collection of early vids of Edison's after watching this, and e-mailed the people who run the conservancy to see where EXACTLY on Spring this was shot. They said a guy by the name of 'Charles Musser studied the footage for a book he wrote on Edison's early films. He determined the sign on the left was a place called 'Tally's Phonograph Parlour', 311 South Spring Street.

[lonmontel]

Thanks for the info! I'll check out 3rd & Spring next time I'm downtown.

[lovingrock4life]

Sweet! LOL But I'm glad I live in 2008... :)

[bphutchins]

hey look its china

[Warnergurl]

It's so amazing! Their main traffic were horses pulling everything! It's hard to imagine traffic consisting of mostly horses, bicycles and an occasional trolley! Fascinating!

[TrancetasticWilza]

i'd love to go back in time 110 years or so and just have a walk around places i know and show someone my Digi camera!

[stoogeswoman]

That's so cool! Thanks for posting this!

[knight996]

What about distances exceeding 100 miles?

[upcycle]

knight996 wrote:

"What about distances exceeding 100 miles?"

Today, we can augment power with electric motors for longer range. See "hybrid bike" on youtube.

[knight996]

I'll check it out

[ManRayDali]

Over 100 years ago, the bicycle was an extremely efficient, economical and convenient way to get around a city. Today, the bicycle is still one of, if not THE most efficient, economical and convenient means of transportation. I personally would rather ride a bike than drive a car.

[NGS712]

ManRay: or for that matter a subway.

[Brentonarms]

@ManRayDali Well i lived in the dominican republic and i would sweat just from walking, sometimes its better to drive a car. i did get a 70cc motorcycle and that was a pretty good option, efficient and you dont get to class soaked in sweat!!