Ride Through the Streets of Barcelona in 1908

1. Christophe
   March 28th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

   Neat find!

   What surprized me the most is the overall use of hats.

   Also, following the path with google Earth shows us the lack of trees today.

2. ragazzambulante
   March 28th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

   Does anyone know what the title of the piano piece in the background was? I really like it!

3. Lupus
   March 28th, 2009 at 10:47 pm

   OK things weren't all that great back then, but nobody in this video got skin cancer from sun exposure!

   This vid really made me appreciate narrow streets somehow. Notice how people are actually interacting with each other.

4. SenorMysterioso
   March 28th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

   Great piece of footage.

   Interesting that even in its early days, people would do anything to get on film, like stand in front of a trolley

5. Sassafras
   March 29th, 2009 at 2:12 am

   Here is a similar (short) film showing London streets in the early 20th century:

   http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/21/early-20th-century-l.html

   What I like best is that everyone is so normal and human...laughing, frowning, slouching...so different from the stiff posed people we see in photos from that era.

6. Ali S.
   March 29th, 2009 at 2:35 am

   I love this video. I had actually stumbled upon it through Dark Roast Blend. I am just fascinated by how all the folks are so excited by the camera recording them as it is something they haven't seen before. That and all the folks out in their best suits and dresses.

7. rossini138
   March 29th, 2009 at 4:05 am

   That was the most fascinating thing I've seen in ages! Some things never change- people leaping around and waving at the camera... and people still haven't learned not to wander out in front of a moving vehicle!

8. Evilbeagle
   March 29th, 2009 at 5:08 am

   This was amazing. I loved the footage, but the music is what really set the mood and made it all the more special.

9. mR pSYcHo
   March 29th, 2009 at 5:29 am

   Beautiful video! It's great being able to see these streets as they were a century ago: full of bicycles, no cars,... It's a pity they didn't show more of Pl. Lesseps.

10. jim
    March 29th, 2009 at 5:55 am

    Madrid is a beautiful city,even today.

    I found a couple of interesting things: everyone dresses the same, everyone dresses very formally-hats,coats,ties (or what we would consider formal today),and the style of dress is very drab. considering there were few or no colors in clothes back then,it was even drabber.

    I also noticed how few women there were on the street.

    Last,it occurred to me that every single one of those people,even the young children,are now dead.

11. seefish3
    March 29th, 2009 at 7:15 am

    It always amazes me how soundtracks can create a specific mood. Try watching this with a Ministry song or something by Nine Inch Nails, instead of that wistful, nostalgic piano piece. Then see how you feel about the video.

12. jonas
    March 29th, 2009 at 7:42 am

    It's really sad how no one on the internet seems to know the title of the music played...

13. ted
    March 29th, 2009 at 8:22 am

    People still get in front of the camera as much as possible. That street looked chaotic, as people drove, biked, and ran in front of the trolley.

    Yes, seefish, they should have played Flight of the Valkyries. Then it would have been - "Who will they run down next? All flee from the slavering jaws of Progress!"

14. Andrew in Toronto
    March 29th, 2009 at 8:27 am

    I have a Catalan husband who lived in Barcelona for many years so I will show it to him!

    Famed Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí, died in hospital a few days after being run over by a tram in Barcelona in 1926. He was dressed in a shabby way when run over and no one helped him to the hospital at first because people thought he was a homeless man. When he died, masses poured out on the streets to mourn and he was buried at his unfinished La Sagrada Familia.

15. seefish3
    March 29th, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Right on, ted !!! LMAO !!!

16. Lorenzo Sortorros
    March 29th, 2009 at 9:15 am

    That's really fascinating. Great Stuff !!

17. dutchboy
    March 29th, 2009 at 9:44 am

    At 1:23 there is a PHOTOGRAFIA kiosk, anyone know about this?

18. Nicole B.
    March 29th, 2009 at 9:49 am

    @ jim - actually you are wrong about the colors of clothing back then. I am getting my masters in fashion history so have been studying this sort of thing quite a bit. The clothes of the turn of the century were extraordinarily colored. The discovery of aniline dyes came about in the late 1850s and revolutionized the textile industry. Bright greens, pinks, purples blues - you name it were everywhere. One of the reasons why people tend to think everything was so drab then is that for the most part all we have to look at is old black and white pictures that don't hint at the brightness of the colors, or the existent clothes that the average person comes across are horribly faded from time.

    Now onto the women in the street thing. 1908 was the beginning of a transitory period where women were just starting to be allowed on the street without a man accompanying them. To be clear, this was only the case in Europe. In America women had been walking around outside on their own for some time. So this video is a great example of the starts of Modernism and the freedom of movement for women.

    Sorry to be so long winded, i'm writing a paper about this sort of stuff today so it is definitely on the mind

19. dutchboy
    March 29th, 2009 at 9:58 am

    Notice no bike helmets -Awesome, of course it's still like that over there.

20. emmakate
    March 29th, 2009 at 11:29 am

    I would love to see a modern version of this being played right next to it. Just to see if the same buildings are still there and if the streets are wider now.

21. Kalel
    March 29th, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    I wanted to step off the trolley and go for a stroll there.

22. richmond
    March 29th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    here is the same idea from Vancouver Canada 1907 (note the roads are RHD NOT LHD like USA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHbMNDw3CMc&NR=1

23. Johnny Cat
    March 29th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    Yes, richmond. But that music is hideous.

24. InSpain
    March 29th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    In Spain, we have Google street view ¡hurra!

25. Moon
    March 29th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    If I was driving that tram, I be saying "Get outta the way, assholes!" all the time.

    It sure was a beautiful city, though.

    Graywinckel Street?? If your winckel is gray, see a doctor immediately!!!

    

26. David Govett
    March 29th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Note that being filmed is fatal. All of the people on this film later died dead. Beware!

27. monia
    March 29th, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    This was really cool and unusual. I couldn't help but thinking how all these people are dead and gone now. They were so full of life then.

28. Babycakes
    March 29th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    why is it after watching this clip, that it pops into the brain that all these people are dead? I just think it's funny that a majority of the comments have noted that the people are dead. Think about it, 100 years from now, people will look at footage from today and say; "they're all dead." It's beautiful yet sad at the same time.

29. Johnny Cat
    March 29th, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    Yeah really. While those who are concerned about the death toll they just watched, consider this: canned laughter on most modern sitcoms are recordings of audiences from the 1950s. Oh noes! More deathses!

30. padieg
    March 30th, 2009 at 8:13 am

    Someone already made a video comparing this footage with the modern Barcelona. Here it is:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxiiS8ZgAmU

    Regarding the music, in the Europa Film Treasures website says the composer is Antonio Coppola, not sure if ti refers to the music, though:

    http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/FT/245/about-the-film-barcelona_by_t ram

31. Sweet Jesus
    March 30th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    No traffic laws whatsoever.

32. Starving Artist
    March 30th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    Did anyone notice the kid mooning the camera 5 minutes into the video?

33. Kntaja
    March 31st, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Here's a similar clip of Helsinki, Finland. The year is 1906.

    http://www.yle.fi/player/player.jsp?name=El%E4v%E4+arkisto%2F00017_1

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