#OTD in 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco

[mahatmakanejeeves]

#OTD in 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

Link to tweet

I'm avoiding the versions with the added sound tracks.

000MIIX
Published on Oct 6, 2017

The MIles Brothers footage four days before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

I downloaded the source file from Archive.org and edited it to improve and save the quality the best I can.

This is currently the highest quality version on the web.

If you know of similar files / old footage, please let me know.

Cary Knoop
Published on Apr 1, 2019

"A Trip Down Market Street" - Miles Brothers (Prelinger Archives).
Based on a 4K scan which was delivered in 24p. The source was restored to the original 16p framerate followed by stabilization, then several adjustments and cleanups were processed and then rendered as 60p using an AAA,BBBB,CCCC,DDDD cadence.
Tools used: #vapoursynth, #davinciresolve

[hunter]

1. My great aunt was born in San Francisco before the earthquake...

... my grandma after.

My great aunt remembered getting lost while shopping with her mom in the ad-hoc markets set up in the aftermath of the earthquake.

She was found playing with some black kids, remembered having a wonderful time, and the racist horror of the adults when she was found.

My great grandparent's house survived the earthquake, as did much of my great grandfather's business. My grandma and her sister had what was then considered an upper middle class lifestyle. Their parents largely protected them from any exposure to the horrors of the earthquake's aftermath. They remembered the Chinese laundry man who would come into the house to pick up the dirty laundry, and put away the clean laundry, strictly supervised by the housekeeper. They would look forward to his visits. He would give them exotic candies.

The house was sold long ago, and has been subdivided into apartments. The last time I talked to the residents they didn't believe it had been a single family home, and pointed to the fact it had two front doors. Yep, there are two front doors. One was for the servants -- the laundry men, the housekeepers, the cooks, the nannies. The other door was for family and guests.