TRAVEL IN AMERICA IN THE 1840s STEAMSHIPS, CANALS, STAGECOACHES & TRAINS PH40820
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This 1957 color educational film about 1840s travel in the U.S. was produced by Coronet Instructional Films. The educational collaborator was Lewis Paul Todd, Ph.D., author and former Professor of Social Studies at New York University. The film’s narration begins in New York in 1840, where the narrator is working as a blacksmith under his grandfather’s watchful eye. The sound of hammer on anvil is heard (:42-1:20). A stagecoach arrives, having lost a rim from a wheel (1:21-1:53). Stagecoaches were also used in the late 1700s. Depicted are men dressed in capes and tri-corned hats (1:54-2:04). Two horses pull an open carriage. Such vehicles caused roads to be built, connecting towns together (2:05-2:20). Back at the blacksmith shop, the boy rolls a wooden wheel with a metal rim, shown up close as a symbol of how these vehicles travelled. The repaired wheel is put back on the stagecoach and the passengers loaded. The driver hands the narrator a letter from his family in Illinois, which asks him to join them (2:21-4:02). He plans his trip on a map by candlelight, pointing out the three major passages he could take from New York to Illinois. He chooses the northern option of following the Erie Canal. His travelling options shown are alone by horseback or travelling with another family (4:03-5:25). The next morning, he hitched a ride on the stagecoach as far he could before setting out to walk the next seven miles (5:26-6:08). At the Erie Canal, a large barge appeared, hauled by a pair of mules. The captain offered him the job of mule boy. This involved guiding the mules along a tow path on the bank (6:09-7:10). Sometimes they had to go through a lock to raise or lower the barge to meet different water heights. The process is shown, and the film says that trip required going through 83 locks. At Buffalo, the Captain shook his hand and the narrator continued on the last 600 miles he had to travel (7:11-8:13). He next got a job as a fireman’s helper on a lake steamer headed for Detroit. The mooring rope is cast off and the piston is shown moving as the steam whistle blows. Below, his job in the boiler room is to keep the fire hot, adding wood to keep up the steam (8:14-9:50). The Captain’s maps are shown, and the stops on Lake Erie are pointed out: Erie, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo and Detroit (9:51-10:23). A paddleboat steamer on the Mississippi River is shown (10:24-10:35). The small steamer the narrator is on can come close to shore to load and unload passengers and supplies, including wood for the boiler (10:36-11:20). The narrator earned enough to ride the last leg on a steam train (11:21-11:35). A summary of 1840s travel is shown: stagecoach, canal barge, small steamer, big steamers, and long wagon trains, with the steam train as the next avenue (11:36-12:33).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
Пікірлер: 154
Ha ha, when i showed grandpa the letter, he just said go! A sense of relief seemed to come over his face...
@secretsquirrel6718
3 жыл бұрын
He turned to me and said: "Are you still here?"
Didn't know that you could film in colour and with sound in the 1840s ! crazy!
@orgami100
3 жыл бұрын
Nothing is impossible in Hollywood. . You should see the original Paul Bunyan with Babe the Blue Ox home made films.
@whereswaldo5740
3 жыл бұрын
Those darn Americans and their Yankee ingenuity
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
They had cars already too. @8:17
@coloradostrong
3 жыл бұрын
Did you pay your "tele" licence fee yet?
Grew up next to the Barge Canal. Went right through our little village. Where McCormick Reapers were made.
Well done. I've done a lot of time travel in my living history hobby over the last 35 years and I always wanted to travel the Erie Canal, but I've never made it. I'm 72 now, so I don't know if I ever will, but I really appreciate this video. I've travelled by coach in Washington and in California on some of the original roads, which were mainly dirt paths and I've travelled on a few steam trains. I have the occasion to do little sailing in the Pacific on tall ships and also be part of a long boat crew re-enacting Sloat's 1848 landing in Monterey. These are some of my fondest memories.
@horseyhorselips3501
3 жыл бұрын
John I live in Western New York, I’m 66 years old soon, I’ve seen parts of the Original Erie Canal that’s no longer in use. There is a newer section still open and I believe Lockport NY is connected to it
@uncleweed
3 жыл бұрын
good living John, thanks for sharing your memories
@jeremybarcelo6486
3 жыл бұрын
We can reenact this video if you want. You can play the narrator and I’ll play Grandpa
@uncleweed
3 жыл бұрын
@@jeremybarcelo6486 its a perfect idea :)
And people complain about traffic jams on highways today. Amazing film series, please keep posting!
@mirzaahmed6589
Жыл бұрын
180 years later, we are still moving at 8 mph.
8:16 a car drives over the bridge. Bet he wished he had one of those.
@mikehughes4969
3 жыл бұрын
Nice catch. I missed it.
@matt_hi
3 жыл бұрын
That was an UDO!
Canal Barges, Now that looks like a relaxing way to travel.
@raffriff42
3 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. People used to take the Erie Canal to Niagara Falls as a vacation or honeymoon trip. According to Wikipedia, the barges were quite luxurious - kind of a cross between a railroad sleeping car (folding bunks etc) and a cruise ship (food service, porters and musicians).
@BrianIsdale
3 жыл бұрын
There are bloggers on KZread who still pleasure cruise the canals in England, like Crusing the Cut. It's a whole different spin in RV life.
My fifth generation Grandpa Jesse Reynolds married a Henson Marshall County Kentucky and worked as a blacksmith. Buying 4000 acres in Metropolis, Illinois and Marshall County Ky. I often wondered how he worked as a blacksmith. Now I am a CNC Programmer for Aerospace and Military. I am sure we will have a lot to talk about in the next life.
I will visit my Great grandfather’s grave today, born in 1842, and came to Oregon by wagon train from Ohio in 1864.
I was born on the I&M canal in Illinois. Same method of transport as seen, here.
Plot twist: grandpa forged the letter to get rid of him. (Pun intended.)
Great video. When I see these recreations, I think little did they know the nation would be almost torn apart in their near future.
@norcal9168
2 жыл бұрын
In what way
@Theorangecrushgamer
2 жыл бұрын
@@norcal9168 world wars
@mirzaahmed6589
Жыл бұрын
@@Theorangecrushgamer pretty sure they meant the Civil War.
This is AMERICA Baby.!!!!!! I Love It.!!!
Astonishing.
@PeriscopeFilm
3 жыл бұрын
Glad you like it! Help us save and post more orphaned films and get the inside scoop on Periscope Film! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Wow! This is like traveling back in time to a time I don’t know much about!
I watched magnificent buildings with electric energy and beautiful trains in Tartaria.
Early cars, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles also used wooden wheels, so the art of building them did not die out when carriages and wagons became obsolete.
@JeffDeWitt
3 жыл бұрын
It still hasn't, the Amish make excellent wagon wheels.
Wow! Great video. Wish more like this was available.
❤️I love this video
@PeriscopeFilm
3 жыл бұрын
Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
mark twain went on cruise to europe and egypt on a paddlewheeler and wrote An Innocent Abroad. It's good reading.
I live in carriage town in Flint, Mi. A lot of stagecoaches built here.
@OldDood
Ай бұрын
I grew up in Flint and it was called 'Vehicle City' in my day.
@Worldopain
Ай бұрын
@@OldDood Carriage town is a neighborhood near UofM flint campus. They used to make Horse drawn carriages there. I grew up and still live in Flint.
At 8:17, in the upper left corner, you can see a car passover the bridge. Oops!
@joshnic6639
3 жыл бұрын
Lol yeah he could’ve just hitchhiked the rest of the way.
Nothing short of fascinating!
Excellent.
Great video
Nice to see the old 'Pioneer' of the Galena & Chicago Union in steam. I bet they don't let her out to play very often nowadays. And I'm not the only person to notice the car crossing the Erie Canal! Is that an example of a time warp?
Great video and all, but where did he go poop?
Wow! If you tried to do that now, you would probably be robbed, shot at or killed!
Interesting. The lake steamers of that time were side wheelers. They often pulled packet boats behind them. Strange that he got on a train at that time. In 1841 there was a horse pulled train between buffalo and black rock. It was constantly coming off the rails. Incidentally, many of the ship blew their boilers-not because of poor workmanship, but because of the drunkenness. Buffalo was called the Queen City because of how the other cities were almost made by buffalo. Even a city like Cincinatti was built by western PA logs that were floated down the Allegheny to the Ohio-although George Washington called the Allegheny the Ohio in his writings. I could write for hours about this subject.
Anybody else notice the time travelers crossing the bridge in the background in their automobile at 8:16?
"My mule Sal She's a real fine gal 15 miles on the Erie Canal"
This film is as old as I am 😂
No advanced transportation no cell phones no computers no TVs But know peace and quiet
@donmcatee45
3 жыл бұрын
Not a single single luxury, like Robinson Caruso they're as primitive as can be.... oh wait, wrong show lol
I'd love to go on an adventure like that. These days you'd need 20 years of education and experience to travel by trade.
Great Factual History.
damn that was comfy
Back than plan a trip that lasts for weeks, now book a plane ticket across the country and be there by dinner. Bruh times have changed😂
Very interesting.
I like these videos and I'm from the UK
@festusbojangles7027
3 жыл бұрын
your nationality is irrelevant to everybody. please be quiet about it
@michaelprobert4014
3 жыл бұрын
@@festusbojangles7027 Your opinion on his nationality being irrelevant to everybody is irrelevant to everybody Please keep quiet.
@festusbojangles7027
3 жыл бұрын
@@michaelprobert4014 its cringe
@zeitghost1321
3 жыл бұрын
I am happy to hear Jim's appreciation for these simpler times. It shows the universal appeal of relating to another time and place. Thank you for your comment Jim.
They had really good cameras back then to capture all of this
@jeremybarcelo6486
3 жыл бұрын
Grandpa is dead
Is this a re-upload? I'm getting some wicked deja vu! Like I've already watched this intro segmentthree times or something.
@PeriscopeFilm
3 жыл бұрын
We did recently upload this, because we had to change the burn-in identifier on this and about 8 other films! Thanks for watching and for noticing. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
@raffriff42
3 жыл бұрын
@@PeriscopeFilm Done! $5/mo - but I try to avoid Patreon - I wish you had a one-time payment system available! (edit - oh, there's the 'Applaud' button up there)
@zaplito3023
3 жыл бұрын
I’m getting some wicked deja vu too but it’s because I probably saw this film in elementary school!
@JeffDeWitt
3 жыл бұрын
@@3ngi_n33r I think it's their logo "burned" into the image, it helps protect them from having their content stolen.
@troemich
2 жыл бұрын
@@3ngi_n33r It's probably that PF# that's baked into the video. They probably put it there to prevent people from downloading this KZread video and using parts of it in their own projects. You need to license the content and pay them to get the "clean version".
Cross county journey and it looks like he had zero supply’s on him at all.
@coloradostrong
3 жыл бұрын
The camera crew carried all the supplies. 🙄
@gregp103
3 жыл бұрын
supplies*
Considering I grew up in the Jet age literally, on my ninth birthday in 1964 my dad brought me to work with him at Niagara Falls AirForce Base and I met a pilot 👨✈️ who took me for a ride in his F-101 Voodoo Fighter Jet. My 66th birthday is in a few weeks, when I was 17 years old I ran away from home and my third ride brought me to the Pocono Mountain’s Racetrack for Rock Concert #10. Three Dog Night, Humble Pie 🥧 two Days of Music 🎼 for Free. I was heading to Wilksberry Pennsylvania to help with the Flood Disaster July 1972. They opened the gates at said concert because of the Flood. In 1979-1980 I worked at Niagara University till the Physical Plant went on strike and after the strike we all lost our jobs, so I gave a friend a ride to Fairfax Virginia to a carnival 🎡 and I worked with that carnival for a few weeks and left and ended up back in Wilksberry Pennsylvania area and worked at Rocky Glenn’s Ghostown in the Glen that Summer till August then returned to Niagara Falls for few months then gave another friend a ride to Miami and I stopped back to Tampa Florida for 13 months till October 1981. January 1983 I ended up in Basic Training at Fort Benning Georgia 🇬🇪 age 27, and I got out of the Army RNG because I would pass out every time I stood up Six Months Service General Discharge under Honorable Conditions
This is America. The story of a young man who set out on his own to start a new life. He didn't ask for anything but was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal. I wish young people today could wake up and grasp the opportunities that are available to them.
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
Wow, you're so edgy, talking down on "young people today"
@tomservo56954
2 жыл бұрын
@@mikaelgaiason688 Why didn't he go with the rest of his family?
@mikaelgaiason688
2 жыл бұрын
@@tomservo56954 How would I know that and why would I care?
Going west to Detroit😎
its like the adventures of huckleberry finn
That box from China contains umbrellas.
He should have just bought a ticket on Southwest... ...it’s a joke. A stupid joke. But seriously, I drive between Sacramento and Salt Lake City a few times a year and I often think of the Donner party. How difficult traveling back then must have been! Even if it didn’t end in tragedy!
I wonder why the rear wheels on the stagecoaches, wagons and carriages were bigger than the front wheels.
@coloradostrong
3 жыл бұрын
Good question. And here are 2 reasons, as answered by Hansens Wheel and Wagon Shop: As the diameter of the wheel increases, the draft size of the animal needed to pull the vehicle decreases, hence making it easier on the horses, mules, and oxen to pull the wagons and carriages. So, a wagon with 48" wheels will pull easier than a wagon with 24" wheels. Now for the second part of the answer; if all wagons had 48" wheels front and rear, we would have an engineering conflict. When we try to steer the wagon, the front wheel would strike the body and reduce the turning radius. Also, the assembly of the fifth wheel would lift the body high in the front. So, to overcome this conflict, we lower the height of the front wheel just enough to level the wagon and increase the turning radius. The results are a maneuverable, easy pulling vehicle. Hope this helps.
@141poolplayer
3 жыл бұрын
@@coloradostrong Thanks, that makes sense. I don't understand what you mean when you wrote about the assembly of the fifth wheel lifting the body high in front though. Could you explain more? For some reason I find it interesting when I see wagons, stagecoaches and carriages in old movies and TV shows and I wonder about their design.
@141poolplayer
3 жыл бұрын
@@coloradostrong I just Googled fifth wheel so now I understand what you were talking about. Thanks for the info.
Couldn’t the government purchase him a travel ticket and food .
@donmcatee45
3 жыл бұрын
He's not an illegal immigrant (potential blue vote) lol
@gokarty
3 жыл бұрын
Do you have to politicize everything? Railroads and canals were heavily government-subsidized. Taxpayers helped build American business.
@jonyoung6405
3 жыл бұрын
Cart, just trying to be funny. Honestly I can’t imagine sending for a young son to travel like that by himself. Never knowing what happened if he didn’t show up. They were much stronger people then.
Ok so I was getting ready to write some smug comment but after the first few minutes it’s actually kinda interesting
Steam train prolly cost two bits leaving him enough money for a bath and a house when he arrives out west. lol
@CTLanni
3 жыл бұрын
Harris, I mean no disrespect, but if you could learn just one word to spell properly, it would probably be ... "prolly" = "probably". I say that because you sound like an otherwise smart person. Why would you want to sound uneducated over just one word?
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
@@CTLanni Use less commas and work on your sentence structure if you're going to critique others.
@CTLanni
3 жыл бұрын
@@mikaelgaiason688 Ok, that's "prolly" a good idea. LOL!
Little crime because people had to do right or die
Good old days😊
Grandpa was soon dead after he left for Illinois
Wow! Got way too many tv commercials on here!
@lembriggs1075
3 жыл бұрын
Lance Leavitt Ok. Thanks for info! I’ll check into that! Does it work on iPhone as well? Have you used it?
@lanceleavitt7472
3 жыл бұрын
@@lembriggs1075 Hi Lem, have not tried Brave browser on iphone but have used it for 3-years on desk top and have not had to suffer through even one boring advert, so far. Good luck, fellow traveler.
Is he still alive?
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
Of course. People used to live for hundreds of years, or did you not read your bible? ;)
How did people travel with money? Did they have to bring all their money? What if they got robbed, how would they get back home?
ဒီvdoက အမှန်ကန်ပဲလား တကယ်ပဲ သဘာဝကျတယ်နော် သိချင်တယ်ဗျာ
No Uber?
A modern stage coach is call a greyhound busline.
@8:17 a car goes by on the bridge above...ruined the whole mood for me...
@COIcultist
3 жыл бұрын
So it does. I hope you are joking, that would be terribly mean or silly.
@Wildstar40
3 жыл бұрын
What ruined the mood for me is realizing slavery was still a thing in the 1840's.
@lwilton
3 жыл бұрын
@@Wildstar40 But not in any of the areas this kid passed thru. It was illegal there. Does it ruin your mood to know that there are places in Africa and the Middle East where slavery exists today?
@COIcultist
3 жыл бұрын
@@Wildstar40 I would be very careful what products you buy from China then but all the people who talk about the legacy effects of slavery tend to ignore modern slavery.
@Daledavispratt
3 жыл бұрын
@@Wildstar40 I've known that since elementary school.
Too many adds.
I loved watching this video. You know it had to be hot as hell down by the boiler and be constantly stirring and adding more wood. Nice to watch but I would pass on living in that time. But I wouldn't have to go through getting the vaccine for Covid-19!! LOL
@JeffDeWitt
3 жыл бұрын
No Covid but... malaria, smallpox, polio, choloria, no antibiotics, only primitive anesthetics... and of course no phones, no lights no motorcars. I'll take the early 21st century any day!
@booklover6753
2 жыл бұрын
@@JeffDeWitt So true Jeff. The infant mortality rate was very high. No vaccines back then. Today's children have to be vaccinated to attend public schools. The anti-vaxxers didn't gripe about that.
I like the titles that Periscope Films have, and wish I could watch them, however, the addition of the PF# and timer drives me nuts! It is a shame they had to put their labels in every frame, in an obtrusive and distracting spot, really!! These are important historical films and should not have been destroyed this way! All for a copyright, that i would not be surprised to learn that they acquired for free...
@coloradostrong
3 жыл бұрын
They restore old films such as this. The marking is to keep it from being rebroadcast without proper dues being given. Restoration costs money and you can buy most of these without the "labels" imbedded in them from Periscope Films. Now pipe down.
I’d bet even with this technology trumpeters would yell MAGA. Lol
Worst! Blacksmithing! EVER!
No BLM.
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
pssst, your bigotry is showing
@jasoncrandall
3 жыл бұрын
@@mikaelgaiason688 ha. Only the ignorant buy Into political tricks like BLM.
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
@@jasoncrandall Only the pathetic feel the need to constantly whine and cry
@jasoncrandall
3 жыл бұрын
@@mikaelgaiason688 where did I whine and cry? You’re the one offended by my post.
@mikaelgaiason688
3 жыл бұрын
@@jasoncrandall Ah the immature reductionist stance of an idiot. XD
No blacks?
2000’s SUCKS!!!!!