# Must See! Video taken from the front of a cable car in 1906 SF. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381 "2010-05-14T02:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/1 "2010-05-14T02:24:41Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NINOxRxze9k) I guess this was before traffic laws. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/2 "2010-05-14T02:32:24Z")
I kept waiting for the earthquake to strike, but no such luck. ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/3 "2010-05-14T02:39:43Z")
Notice the people standing in itā€™s path staring? At first I couldnā€™t figure out why they were doing that, but I think they were probably staring at the giant high-tech camera thingy on the front of the cable car. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/4 "2010-05-14T02:49:13Z")
Thatā€™s amazing. Everyone is so well dressed. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/5 "2010-05-14T02:54:42Z")
I just noticed that all or most of the cars are right hand drive. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/6 "2010-05-14T03:04:14Z")
Yeah traffic laws are definitely not present. Pretty cool video. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/7 "2010-05-14T03:14:26Z")
Nitpick: Thatā€™s not a streetcar ā€“ itā€™s a cable car. Note that there are no wires for power above and thereā€™s a slot for the cable between the tracks. The cars even look like current cable cars. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/8 "2010-05-14T03:15:18Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Yeah traffic laws are definitely not present. Itā€™s a common theme in books set in, say, New York City a decade or so earlier how dangerous it is to cross a major street, and how people were constantly getting knocked down by carriages or streetcars. The trope of ā€œhelping a little old lady across the streetā€ dates back to these days when an elderly or infirm person really **needed** somebody actively guiding them to make it across a street in safety! ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/9 "2010-05-14T03:15:19Z")
That is very cool. And all those people and cars and horses and wagons crossing right in front of the cable car! Do you think they were as close as they looked? How fast do you think the cable cars were going? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/10 "2010-05-14T03:17:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nitpick: Thatā€™s not a streetcar ā€“ itā€™s a cable car. Note that there are no wires for power above and thereā€™s a slot for the cable between the tracks. The cars even look like current cable cars. Who said it was a streetcar? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/11 "2010-05-14T03:26:10Z")
Hereā€™s a fascinating article about how it was dated to 1906 (shortly before the earthquake). It was originally believed to be from 1905. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/stew/detail?entry\_id=62237](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/stew/detail?entry_id=62237) This was the kicker: > [@](#): > > That would appear to confirm the date for the film but Kiehn dug deeper by dating the early license plates on cars in the film. The DMV told him that the records no longer existed but he found them in the California State Archives in Sacramento. He eventually found one of the plate numbers from the film, 4867, and traced it to a Jay Anway who registered his car in early 1906 which further verified his research. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/12 "2010-05-14T03:26:31Z")
Have bookmarked this to show parents during next visit. Thanks for sharing this, **davidm**! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/13 "2010-05-14T03:33:17Z")
I already started a thread on this same video a year and a half ago. See it [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=504280&highlight=Francisco). But I canā€™t get the video to work anymore in the website that I linked to in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/14 "2010-05-14T03:37:32Z")
I didnā€™t intend to duplicate an old thread. I just ran across this and was fascinated by it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/15 "2010-05-14T03:41:30Z")
No, thatā€™s okay, especially since I canā€™t get that link to work anymore. Itā€™s a great video and should be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/16 "2010-05-14T03:44:48Z")
Great video. It made me imagine walking along that street in 1906 trying to picture what it would be like in 2006. Probably a person living in 2106 will find a similar present day video even more distant and fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/17 "2010-05-14T03:55:51Z")
That was awesomeā€“thanks! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/18 "2010-05-14T03:56:30Z")
I wonder if anyone who saw that camera imagined that people would be looking at the film over 100 years later. I think itā€™s entirely possible that some of them may have imagined that, but I think itā€™s highly unlikely that any of them imagined _how_ weā€™d be looking at it, let alone how weā€™re discussing it together from all over the globe. It probably wouldnā€™t even have been possible to explain computers and the internet in terms they would have understood. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/19 "2010-05-14T03:58:00Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I wonder if anyone who saw that camera imagined that people would be looking at the film over 100 years later. > > I think itā€™s entirely possible that some of them may have imagined that, but I think itā€™s highly unlikely that any of them imagined _how_ weā€™d be looking at it, let alone how weā€™re discussing it together from all over the globe. It probably wouldnā€™t even have been possible to explain computers and the internet in terms they would have understood. It makes you wonder how people 100 years from now will be looking at videos and stuff of us. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381/20 "2010-05-14T04:06:16Z")
Fascinating video, thanks, **davidm**. Though I wish they hadnā€™t added the soundtrack. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-video-taken-from-the-front-of-a-cable-car-in-1906-sf/539381.md?page=2)