As you may remember, there was an event late last year where old video footage of San Francisco was shown. It was the fourth installment of “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco”, made up of archival footage that Rick Prelinger, of the Prelinger Library, has collected.
I went to the original showing at Herbst Theater and as a San Francisco native, I was fascinated and delighted by what I saw. Some of the highlights included old footage of the Bay Bridge being built, a man riding the north windmill in Golden Gate Park, families on the streets of the Richmond and Sunset districts, labor strikes downtown, “The Battle of Garbage Hill” between USF underclassmen, footage of Ocean Beach and Playland, and much more. On hand were four city historians to narrate what we were seeing.
The footage is now available online. To watch it, go to fora.tv. You’ll see there are different chapters available below the player, just click on one to skip to that section. But your best bet is to grab a cup of coffee, click the full screen icon, and enjoy the entire historic ride through old San Francisco.
Sarah B.
P.S. – If you only have a a little time to watch, don’t miss Chapter 4: The Bay Bridge, Chapter 7: Chinatown and Gee Family Movies, Chapter 13: Lakeshore and Golden Gate Park, and Chapter 16: Ocean Beach and Playland.
