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Historic Film: Market Street 1906

October 17, 2010 5:00 PM

Morley Safer reports on a mystery that was solved about a 100-year-old film that we now know was made on San Francisco's Market Street just days before the 1906 earthquake.

Historic 1906 Film Captures S.F.'s Market Street
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by kelvinpguy October 26, 2010 10:53 AM EDT
this is an amazing film! I've been to San Francisco three time and have travelled along market street.what a fantastic city you have
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by jfnall October 21, 2010 8:02 PM EDT
For anyone interested in this film, please google "san francisco earthquake" and find a film (at the Library of Congress archives?) showing a similar film, although AFTER the earthquake. Together, you have an amazing before-and-after document.
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by Silverick October 20, 2010 2:21 PM EDT
I agree with PatF as, I also enjoyed watching this, again, and I agree with that more credit should have been given to the SF Library. The SF History section is amazing and I saw this film clip there about 10 yrs. ago.
I also found a picture of my 1910 house, in the Avenues,....taken in 1925! Geary at 39th Ave and there are a couple of brand new Model T's parked in front!
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by marty daymude October 20, 2010 7:01 AM EDT
seeing this film is like winning the lottery. i cannot stop watching it. this is the single best post that i have seen in a very long time. thank you so much for airing this, thank you!
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by mceer October 19, 2010 1:55 PM EDT
Not only was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake one of the worst natural disasters in US history, but it was also one of the world's first to be recorded by still photography. You may be interested in a unique web resource documenting the event, devastation, and social and economic impacts that utilizes a collection of scholarly research, personal anecdotes, and historical photographs: http://mceer.buffalo.edu/1906_earthquake/san-francisco-earthquake.asp
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by cash4792 October 19, 2010 10:57 AM EDT
I loved this film especially because I know that my grandparents were there at exactly that time. They had arrived by ship from New Zealand with their infant daughter, my Aunt Kitty. As my grandfather was the inventor of the diamond drill compass(Goteburg, Sweden) he was coming to America to look for work in the mining industry. He was going to Minnesota to join up with his brother to look for work and since it was a long journey my grandmother and him flipped a coin to see if she would travel with him or come later. As fate had it she went with him. The next day the hotel they were staying at burned down. Now I look at this film and try to see if I recognize the "young" faces of my grandparents in the film. It gives me chills everytime I see it. Needless to say none of my family would be here if the flip had turned out differently. CA - Toronto
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by PatF2650 October 19, 2010 8:58 AM EDT
Loved this segment of 60 Minutes. I wish Morley Safer had given more credit to the San Francisco Public Library and its microfilm collection of historic newspapers. It was there that Mr. Kiehn found the advertisement that identified the film, not the internet.
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by ErikMNelson October 19, 2010 1:03 AM EDT
My Grandfather was in the 1906 earthquake. Every Thanksgiving he would tell the story of the great earthquake, the great fire that followed engulfing the city, and how they escaped the flames by rowing out on the Bay. I am very familiar with this film. My Grandpa truly loved those Cable Cars and was sad when many of their routes were taken away. As a child, he used to take me to San Francisco to ride the Cable Cars. I always had fond memories of that. That probably explains why I love Cable Cars so much and eventually made an entire tv show with them, just like Thomas The Tank Engine, but with Cable Cars set in 1890 San Francisco. Take a look at a clip here. http://www.cubbietown.com
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by Gracemom October 18, 2010 5:47 PM EDT
Thank you 60 Minutes for allowing me and my 10-year-old daughter to step back in time, and for airing a segment that caught her attention as much as mine.
The fact that it was filmed a few weeks before the great earthquake is almost irrelevant.
Exceptional is our bility to step back 104 years to board that cable car and see life just happening, business as usual. That alone makes it endlessly fascinating.
I kept thinking, "My grandparents weren't even born yet, it was six years before the Titanic, that my greatgrandparents still lived in Italy, etc.
And my 10-year-old's perspective? Well, 60 Minutes might as well have aired footage from the Crusades. She loved watching live action from "so long ago."
Thanks again!
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by GinnymayP October 18, 2010 4:58 PM EDT
This has been very exciting and touching. I am a descendent of survivors of the great quake and heard many stories on both sides of my family about it.
I attended the centennial of the event and the many displays made me realize what a tremendously traumatic event this was. It was a massive destructive experience. How delightful to see the liveliness and cheerfulness people expressed about these new inventions changing our lives.
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