What Happened On 23rd Street, New York City

[maddogspc]

H...o...r...r...i...b..l...e video

[ThleTruth]

son of bitch, im 25 and am merged with technology in every way, but just looking at that makes me wish i could live back then, so slow and steady, worksmanship was at a high level, for example look at the worksmanship of egyptians, the further from technology, the more natural life's events were.

[Fryitonapanandstuff]

...Looks like a lovely impressionistic painting at 1:07.

[dietrich10441]

What does this video?.

[scottkrys]

I was waiting for a screamer.

[rashturner]

hey that guy made an illegal u-turn!!..lol

[TheNorseLegend]

And to think that zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[gunniesack]

Wow! I never seen the wind blow. They had wind at the turn of the 20th century, But it was only on 23rd street!

[gunniesack]

Big whoop! I don't get it

[h8h8hate]

didn't see much fat people walking around.

[aid4all]

the first porn movie ever.. LOL hahaha

[thugnage1]

the guy on the right dissaperd i think that was timed so no 1 would notice him all eyes on the women unstead

[Daveyengland]

I saw ankles!!!

[TannerG1989]

I just love these kind of vids, they are so cool like wow thats what that guy did right at that moment 100 years ago. sounds weird i know. point is they are very cool vids ^^

[AolaniAnvita1]

uuhwarmhearted girl who is searching for a man who would be able to satisfy my needs

[jehouse]

It's rigged!!

[wetmakeup]

23 SKIDOOO!

[freereeder]

As a born & bred New Yorker, I never noted a wind,strong enough to do such things, coming out of subway ventilators (except in "Seven Year Itch", of course). Furthermore, how did the cameraman, with the heavy equipment of those days, know enough to wait right there, while the gal walked dircec;lly into the frame? Lastly, the wind on 23 St. was mostliy around the Flatiron building, where it WAS strong enough to inspire male interest, even with the shorter skirts of my time!

[Daveyengland]

@freereeder - I only visited the city once and felt very strong winds coming from the subway ventilators, when the trains were passing through of course... then the air would be pushed out with force.

[Impalamark64]

The air coming up from the ventilation shaft isn't a blower, it's probably a subway train passing by under the street, assuming this film was made after 1904.

[brutusmuerto]

Scandalous!

Outrageous display of leg!! =)

[BobWXXI]

Anticipates Marilyn in "Seven Year itch" by about 53 years. :)

[webboffin]

This is the original Marilyn Monroe

[cocgle]

23rd street near Broadway was famous for it's wind and the effect it had on women's skirts. Boys and men would hang out there to catch a peak and the police kept an eye out for loiterers and chased them away. This gave rise to an expression whenever you got a thrill "23 SKIDOO!"

[danydj41]

IS SO COOOL THIS VID. :P

[hrhlynn]

Exactly!

[ThleTruth]

@cocgle looks like we got a wise guy

[Appule69]

It's pretty funny how back then people dressed like that didn't seem odd at the time, but now if you dressed like that out in public, you'd probably get put away LOL

[RaptorsNBA12]

are those people still alive?

[ceddyced39]

@RaptorsNBA12 asked are those people still alive?

As far as I know, I am the only person still alive. You see that little kid standing in the middle of the sidewalk, with the black pants and white shirt? That was me.

As some other posters stated, this was all staged for the camera, unbeknown to the young lady. I was paid 1 bit to stand there as a reference for the guy, who walked his girlfriend over the vent. I remember this like it was yesterday.The chap conjured this scheme to see her legs.

[buslady]

"to her horror"??? Sure didnt look like it, she was laughing as she passed the camera.

[babz1991]

omg just watching this makes me awe..its hard to people dressed like this on 23rd street! which is like right near me! weeirdddddd

[issareign]

i'm from the place where jesus alegedly turned water into wine or whatever it was he did. lol too bad there were no cameras around then.

[icartoon2]

I wonder if the couple at the end was 'set up.' I think it may have been. Did you all notice how most of the folk avoided the camera? They must have thought he was taking a still shot so they stayed out of the way but the folk at the end walked straight toward the camera. VERY interesting. Thanks for posting!

[gpc]

Come on; use some common sense. They walked straight toward the camera because they were actors paid to do exactly what they did -- not because they were "set up."

[Anguilla2001]

i like it that everyone whore suit, tie and hat back then.

[avcomth]

I believed I spotted a dinosaur walking in the background. LOL It's that old.

[panama77]

so that's where Marilyn Monroe got that blowin' the skirt up gimmick.

[Narragansett55]

More likely, they were headed for a nice big steak at Delmonico's.

[ThleTruth]

@Narragansett55 HEY!!!...forgetuhbout it

[83survivor]

There was no Starbucks back then. They were cafes, grande hotels, town houses, personal mansions, and fancy restaurants. New York in the early 20th Century was less comercialized back then. They didn't need to rely on so many popular venues like Starbucks, Applebees, Friday's, Mc D's, etc. Back then, these venues were less publicized than what you see in today's New York society.

[alanhowitzer]

In the early 90's there was hardly a McDonald's in Manhattan.

[83survivor]

Now you have more McDonald's everywhere!

[gpc]

No Starbucks back then? Surely you jest.

[TECHKLEC]

Nobody in jeans, sneakers or tee shirts either!

[gpc]

Filming complete, they ducked into the nearest Starbucks.

[dogshitlover]

amazing video!!! where are all the people now? LOL>>>>

[wilkes85]

"WE'RE SORRY, THIS VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE"... I've been seeing this on almost every video i tried to watch. WHAT THE HELL?

[wyattvictor]

I know, that has been happening to me lately. It seems like the videos I want to watch won't play, but the ones that I don't really care about watching do.

[NihilNominis]

Everyone in this film is dead. What a thought.

[jack4740]

Little did the people in this video know 108 years later that this video would be posted on the world's most famous video site.

[Pikminking56]

Everyone who was alive at that time is dead.

[TONYDANGERtv]

pikmink I always think about that something so intriguing about it

[oixor387]

No wonder hardcore porn (i.e. "stag loops") were invented not long afterward.

So THAT'S where "skidoo" came from. I've been watching "Skidoo" (1968), and thinking of the lyrics, "And between the 1 and 3/there is a 2!"

[RupesM]

Young men used to cluster on 23rd Street near the air vents in the sidewalk to see the women's dresses blown up over their knees (and higher!) as they passed by. The policeman on foot patrol would break up any crowds of by shouting "23-skidoo!"

[RLviddy]

Is THAT where that comes from? I'll never look at 23rd Street the same way again.

[hillcrestG]

nice footage.

[hakem1125]

Very Old. I never knew video this old could still be played.

[L4zyVi3t]

thats cool but i dont really get it can someone msg me?

[cha5]

A remarkable piece of history.