Video of the day: New York City 1938

Today’s Video of The Day takes us all the back to the year 1938, when New York City was ‘The Wonder City’. Watch this video through to the end and take note of all the changes you see. Not only is New York City very different these days than it was back then (even more people, even more speeding cars), but, naturally, the people of New York are different these days, too. But the differences, after they have been accounted for, aren’t actually what I find to be so striking about this video. It’s the similarities that get me. Watch as the video guides you through the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street, take note of how easily you connect with the traffic on the streets. If you have ever lived in or visited NYC, this video takes you back in time but simultaneously serves to show that NYC is, as always, pretty timeless.

Take a 1930’s tour of Havana, Cuba

It’s hard to imagine a Cuba different than the one we have now. You know, that country 90 miles from Florida that Americans can’t visit? It’s a travel embargo that’s been in place over 50 years. But back in the 1930’s, Cuba’s capital city, Havana, was poised to take its place among the Caribbean’s foremost tourist destinations.

At least that is, according to this vintage travel film, curated by an organization called the Travel Film Archive. It’s fascinating to see this bustling city as it once was, bustling with tuxedo-clad waiters, humming trolley cars and open air businesses. Give it a watch and prepare to be taken back to another era, an era when Cuba was “just another destination” competing for tourist dollars. There’s plenty more vintage tourist movies over at the Travel Film Archive YouTube channel.

[Via MetaFilter]