Boston by streetcar, 1903. Boston Elevated Railway trolley and elevated cars..theora

About

Rare video posted by the New England Historical Society shows the busy streets of Boston in 1903. A cameraman boarded a city streetcar and filmed as he rode around the city.

The silent black-and-white footage records sidewalks jammed with pedestrians while horses and buggies share the road with electric streetcars. Seeing Boston By Streetcar was one of the first times the city was filmed, according to the historical society’s website.

The motion picture captures some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, such as the Jordan Marsh Department Store, the Boston Public Library and elevated rail lines.

The images were documented by Massachusetts native Billy Bitzer, a cinematographer who went on to become a major figure in Hollywood. He’s credited with developing early cinematic techniques like the fadeout, soft focus and the close-up.The film, which is eight minutes long, debuted in 1906 at Boston’s first movie theater, the Theatre Comique. It was a unique treat for moviegoers at that time because the American motion picture industry was only about 12 years old.

For today’s audiences, Bitzer’s film is a unique historical record that provides an extraordinary glimpse of one of America’s major cities at the turn of the century.

(Voice of America confirms it was exhibited in Boston before 1923.)

Archive

Wikimedia Commons, in Wikimedia Commons

Licence or status

Public domain, as the Wikimedia Commons states it.

Rights statement

Public domain

Credit

Billy Bitzer

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed