Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/14/fantastic-film-of-paris-in-the.html
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The moving walkway as mass transit at 4:49 is the best part of this. I had no idea such a thing existed.
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AND, it seemed to have a faster outer lane, for those who want to hop on and then proceed apace. Very cool! I wonder if there’s more info about that somewhere…
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I agree with what you’re saying, but colorization is a grave offence against humanity.
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Right there, at the beginning, I wanted to see Eric Idle banging two coconut shells together.
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Right out of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caves_of_Steel
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https://parisianfields.com/2012/02/05/astounding-moving-electrical-sidewalk/ Seems it was built for the Universal Exposition of 1900. Sadly but a 2 mile example of future (for 1900) possibilities.
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Surely, you mean, right out of The Roads Must Roll.
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This gizmondo article has some good info about the moving walkway, if you can stomach the ad-littering.
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The part that made me laugh happens at the 4:20 mark; the cameraman pokes the kid out of the way with his umbrella. “Beat it runt, you’re ruining my shot!”
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Multi-speed moving sidewalks, where inner rings reached freeway speeds, were a major feature of Caves of Steel that really stuck with me over the years.
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Aren’t those wonderful boats, too! I would sometimes go out to the model boat pond in Golden Gate Park, but never saw any as beautiful as those.
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Them microphones they had back then were something, eh?
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The most amazing thing is that that pond is still there today (in the Jardins du Luxembourg) and so are the boats. Kids can still rend those for a few euros and that pond is always crowed.
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The last horse drawn firetruck has something in its wagon that is seriously steaming. I think I’ve seen that before. Anyone have any idea what that is?
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Certainly a steam engine which would be used to pump water upon reaching the scene.
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Steam powered water pump. Makes sense. Thanks for the quick reply, @Ratel!
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Pneumatic tires were only invented in 1887. Early bicycles were known as “boneshakers” for a reason. Most of the streets look to have asphalt but there’s a few cobbled ones. I’ve ridden a bike with largish, softish pneumatic tires on cobblestones, and that was quite enough (in fact, the one place you see someone walking their bike is on cobblestones, at 3:50 or so).
The tailoring is maybe somewhat elaborate compared to a lot of what we wear now, but the garments themselves still look fairly straightforward - blouse and skirt or dress / shirt, pants, and jacket. They’d have had a few more buttons and laces to do up since elastic waistbands, zippers, and snaps weren’t around yet, but other than that I’m not sure absolute number of garments they’re wearing, and the number of places they have to be fastened, is all that much higher than a modern three piece suit or skirt and blouse…
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But it did have the values of existing and working…
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