Where's the fire?
Via Carl comes this film clip of the Albany Fire Department from 1901. From the Library of Congress' American Memory page for the clip: "A sidewalk crowd on a main street of Albany, N.Y., watches as fourteen pieces of horse-drawn fire equipment quickly pass by."
There's no sound (of course), but we can imagine the rumble and racket there must have been -- all those horses and wagon wheels clack-clack-clacking as they rushed along the paving stones.
The clip is credited to Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
(Thanks, Carl!)
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That's awesome! I was recently pointed to a similarly old film shot in San Fransisco, the camera mounted to a cable car and traveling down I believe it was Market Street. Several landmarks were visible; I wish we had a similarly moving shot to compare to Albany today.
I notice how many people are in the street. Not sure if the camera or the fire trucks drew them, but we don't see those crowds on the streets these days when there isn't a parade or festival.
... said B on May 28, 2010 at 4:31 PM | link
That is seriously awesome. Anyone know precisely where in Albany that was?
... said Summer on Jun 1, 2010 at 4:57 PM | link
Amazing video. and to think that some of the firehouses that these apparatus came out of are still being used today. I think the crowd is so large not only because more people were living in the city in those days, but because this was planned for the filming. Otherwise 14 wagons from departments located all over the city would never be going down the street 14 in a row. Awesome awesome stuff.
... said Chris on Jun 1, 2010 at 5:13 PM | link