Vintage film, TV, documents, and photographic footage from down the years

[Kryztian]

Posted by Tintin (here)
Olga Korbut representing the USSR at the 1972 Olympics performing her "Dead Loop" on uneven bars, demonstrating just how wonderfully flexible the human form is; that this is even possible. Sensational, and I was much too young to have appreciated this at the time, but with the benefit of the recording medium can continue to enjoy it today

I was eleven when 1972 Olympics came on TV and was mesmerized by them. Watching "sports" on television usually meant baseball or football and I had absolutely no interest. The Munich Olympics were, however, completely fascinating: here were these new physical challenges, and all these athletes from around the world. And the gymnasts were the most fascinating of all. We had been told that only horrible things happened behind the Iron Curtain, but then there were these amazing, graceful and charming gymnasts from Russia, Bulgaria, Romania. And Olga Korbut was the most amazing of all, bouncing around like rubber between those un-parallel bars. This was great P.R. for the Soviet Union.

But then there were the women East German swimmers - their broad shoulders and masculine physiques looked terrifying. We assumed that this was from torturous workouts, and only a decade later realized that they were taking massive amounts of steroids. They won all the medals but they still left the world with an unsettling idea of what life was like in East Germany.

East Germany swimmer Kornelia Ender

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Bath is largely unchanged, except for the traffic, parking restrictions, endless bars and cafes, and badly dressed people...

https://x.com/bo66ie29/status/1942338158475018589
Bobbie
@bo66ie29
The timeless beauty of honey coloured Georgian buildings and the charm of British made cars. The City of Bath in the 1960s.

[grapevine]

I'm a Secret Lemonade Drinker - R White's Lemonade

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=hro4AdTYiTA

The R. White's lemonade advert, known as the "Secret Lemonade Drinker," first aired in 1973 and featured a man sneaking downstairs in his pajamas to drink lemonade, only to be caught by his wife. This memorable campaign continued for years and was recognized as one of the greatest TV ads in the UK. This one was made in 1992 and is of slightly better quality.

Probaby my favourite advert of all time although strangely I never drank R Whites' Lemonade. Maybe a good thread would be "do adverts really work?" especially as Vicus commented in another thread what a pain they are.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I remember that ad, it did run for years. It was the days when ads on TV were actually watchable, and sometimes fun, like the above. Those days ended long ago, and I stopped watching ads long ago. Now it's all woke cringe, emotional manipulation, and 'addiction marketing' -- getting people hooked on online gambling. If ever there's something on TV I want to watch, I pre-record it to play back at my leisure, fast-forwarding over the God-awful adverts!

[grapevine]

Should the bikini be banned? (1961) | RetroFocus

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M-m4w_mAxWA

(3:50)
This short video is quite amusing and I also remember not being allowed to wear trousers to school in the 1960s and the skirt had to be a certain length too.

[Kryztian]

99 Years ago today … July 23, 1926

Buster Keaton directed the famous scene from, The General, of the Texas engine crashing into the Row River. The scene was shot on Friday afternoon at 3pm, with six cameras as well as a crowd of 3,000-4,000 spectators. It was the single most expensive 14 seconds of silent film ever shot.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=O6FaRo4ZwUI

I have to wonder if that was an actual person driving the train or a dummy, they seemed to move. It would have been quite a stunt if it was.

Here's the full movie. All 78 minutes of it.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DzspLWK9FEc

[rgray222]

1950s sunny summer in London - notice the gentleman cutting the grass is in a coat and tie.

[Bill Ryan]

Copying this wonderful photo posted by RunningDeer on the Nuggets of Truth thread:

~~~

Frozen Niagara Falls, 1902.

[grapevine]

Posted by rgray222 (here)
1950s sunny summer in London - notice the gentleman cutting the grass is in a coat and tie.

That's Soho Square, rgray222, very near Tottenham Court Road, in London's West Ebd and looks pretty much the same today as it did then, but people not so well dressed of course .

[Tintin]

Posted by grapevine (here)

Posted by rgray222 (here)
1950s sunny summer in London - notice the gentleman cutting the grass is in a coat and tie.

That's Soho Square, rgray222, very near Tottenham Court Road, in London's West Ebd and looks pretty much the same today as it did then, but people not so well dressed of course .

Yes! I know it pretty well. Just off there is The Toucan pub famous for hosting The Jimi Hendrix Experience on one of their earliest UK tours if not their first. I had a Guinness in there once some years ago now.

They played in the basement which is so small a space, pushing 300 square feet or so, but not a lot more, it's a wonder they got Jimi's 4 x 4 Marshall stack (amplifier) in there at all, along with any audience: it will have been packed

[BMJ]

Back When Men Where Men
When safety wasn't an issue but having the last puff of your cigarette was, just before throwing on your helmet and jumping into your car to start the race.

Enjoy a few minutes with some legendary drivers on the track way back when ...

1964 F1 British GP with Onboard of Jim Clark in Lotus 25

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=oGWnhmQZKII

Formula60
20 July 2025

Upscaled race highlights of the 1964 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch (please watch in 1080p60/720p60). The race was won by Jim Clark in a Lotus 25.

P.S. For the aussies out there a little know fact our own Jack Brabham was the only F1 driver to design, build and race his own car and win not only races but also the F1 world championship in 1959, 1960 & 1966.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Brabham

[rgray222]

Warsaw, just before WWII, 1939

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

London, once upon a time. Looks a tad different these days from what I gather.

https://x.com/bo66ie29/status/1954657276041580598
Bobbie
@bo66ie29
Fantastic footage of King’s Road, Chelsea, in 1967.

[grapevine]

Carmen Amaya “ Greatest Flamenco dancer & first woman to master footwork reserved for males (1944)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WzFACGGT2oE

Have to admit that Carmen's footwork is so fast as to be pretty boggling - and no special effects in 1944

[RunningDeer]

Horse Pulled Car— Hoover Vans

The Great Depression (1929–1941) was the time of US President Herbert Hoover's presidency. The media abounded with colorful phrases: cars driven by horses because of the high cost of gasoline were called "Hoover wagons," old newspapers used to shelter the poor on the street were called "Hoover blankets," and empty pockets turned out were called "Hoover flags.”

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"Cow Shoes” were worn by American moonshiners during Prohibition, so that the police could not identify them by their footsteps, 1922.

[Tintin]

Posted by grapevine (here)
Carmen Amaya “ Greatest Flamenco dancer & first woman to master footwork reserved for males (1944)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WzFACGGT2oE

Have to admit that Carmen's footwork is so fast as to be pretty boggling - and no special effects in 1944

Beat that! Wow

[Bill Ryan]

Copying this post by Bluegreen on his thread:

~~~

A Trip to the Seaside: c.1899 Footage HD Colorized w/Sound

Modest.

(3:00)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=o5HwW6yDcv0

Roaring 20s New York: HD Colorized & Restored to Life w/Sound

A little less modest.

(3:12)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IbSqd9bRJNQ

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

A glimpse of quintessential England. London in the 1930s, and Canterbury in the 1950s.

https://x.com/JamesLucasIT/status/1958959989948563638
James Lucas
@JamesLucasIT
20. Canterbury in the 1950s

Canterbury has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with the Roman settlement Durovernum Cantiacorum built on an earlier British town, possibly called Durou̯ernon.

[Kryztian]

Some British Pathe from Palestine:

Jerusalem, as well as other parts of Palestine, ending in the newly built city of Tel Aviv.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gyu7jFnj9Nw

Jaffa sends us oranges - Arabs and Europeans Jewish immigrants work together to harvest the orange crop.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vSwCPbxHRYE

An act of terrorism. No mention of who blew up the train other than bandits. This action was probably the work of the Zionist terrorist group "Lehi" aka "The Stern Gang".

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Holp0GRBjdk

An unnamed man prophetically predicts that European Jews will try to replace all of the Arabs in the country. (1936)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bwx-bX-EDYA

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I don't think any of us can have any idea what WWI was really like.

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1949822146483781846


A WWI German soldier recalls taking the life of a French soldier.

https://x.com/PastUncensored/status/1836791112956051630

A British soldier surrounded by empty shell cases, used in a single day during WWI on the Western Front, France, 1916.


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