Baltimore is one of the few places where the 70-80s flatspin was never corrected, sharing a fate with detroit... except baltimores climate makes it alot more liveable. I think new yorks subway tunnels also helped it because baltimores homeless live out in the open, where NYC's mole people colonies kept them out of sight.
Wow my father raced at westport stadium.. home of the baltimre elite giants.back in 63. We went to see the site and he could not believe what it had turned into
I went back and checked the census data for 1950. Baltimore was about 960 k. They fudged the numbers to include Baltimore County, and perhaps northern Anne Arundel County. I'm originally from Anne Arundel County (Severna Park), though I live in Vermont now. Anyway, still quite interesting.
I lived it and it absolutely was the greatest. I asked my dad what was the best year of his life. He said 1958! There was a recession that year, but he did wonderful things. We took a 30 day vacation that year and went from Maryland to California to see Disneyland and everything in between.
Are you crazy? The country was far poorer both nominally and in real terms back then than today. Technology and medicine were far below today's standard. I don't get the nostalgia for those times, given what's available today.
What this film highlights is the true reason Baltimore has fallen. The city used to be a hub of industrialuzation and manufacturing. But with the loss of factories such as Beth Steel and the Broening Hwy GM plant, all of those well paying blue collar jobs have vanished, creating unemployment and crime.
Dems and Unions ! I got a job at Beth Steel and when I would work fast, they would say slow down! They will want us all to work that hard. The Unions killed it! money for nothing
Wouldn’t change anything the core interests that govern the party politburo are those of the predominant and prevailing local Business leaders even if they’re no longer industry leaders, The ones that pay for the political war chests, that have altogether different interests from that time and from the abandonment long-ago of many of the industries that once supplied the payrolls. The ability to change the destiny of any particular municipality has also been severely impacted by federal taxes from corporate to personal, regulations, meaning that everybody has to be paid more to make the same as before. Local government can actually make the difference, quite a few American Pen and pencil companies still exist and offer lifetime warranties, although many American Pen companies from Franklin Christoph to Speedball call North Carolina home. Interestingly Franklin-Christoph abandoned the now millennial California Democrat infested Houston in 2014. Both Wake forest and Statesville have a population under 50,000.
The people that worked on Baltimore back then would be ashamed at how nearly all of Baltimores neighborhoods have turned out now. It looks like there was a war in Baltimore neighborhoods
Boris Markov...Awww look, Boris thinks he’s clever. He don’t like ole whitey much! He blame him for everything!!!...Good luck with that, Boris. Good luck!
Liberty Tree voting republican won’t change shit. They’ll either force everyone out and turn the entire city into a Soho or neglect it like they do the Deep South.
Liberty Tree people like you fail to realize that cities themselves are liberal inherently. The only major cities with republican majors are Fort Worth, San Diego and Oklahoma City and Fresno Ca. It’s not Democrat’s.
From a 1959 perspective, it seems like Baltimore is an up and coming city. In 1959, it was the 6th largest city in the US. So much changed and not for better. Surprised that the film doesn't mention the Colts, who had just won the 1958 NFL Championship in the famous OT game. Many Colts' players from the 1958 and '59 championship teams put down roots in the Baltimore area after their NFL careers ended.
Thank you for this. I was 4 years old in 1959 and living in Baltimore. My mother worked at Westinghouse, and I was employed there in 1974. What a wonderful place to grow up in the 50s to 70s for me.
Please remember this is a promotional video and even then Baltimore had its problems, just like any other urban area. They never toured Pennsylvania Avenue (poor black area), Pigtown (poor white area) or any other poor neighborhoods. People tend to remember only the good stuff then want to go back to ‘the good ole’ days’ but the truth is that those days weren’t good all the time or good for everyone. My family bought a home in a middle class mixed race neighborhood in 1969 just after the Fair Housing Act outlawed redlining, before then we would not have been allowed to live there. But I must say I was surprised at the amount of industry that existed here before I was born. This video made me think of a lot of things but one thing in particular stood out. I see more clearly now why the rust belt states feel the way they do. Most of those plants they named, no longer exist here but we are lucky that our east coast location has kept some jobs, albeit lower paying than those in the video, in the area. People in the rust belt aren’t that lucky. So what caused this here in Baltimore and all across this nation? Corporate greed, dirty politicians (Democrats and Republicans all the same), automation, white flight, race riots, drug infestation, globalization and the list goes on and on. We can point the finger at other people but the truth is that WE have to take back our nation from Corporate America and make this country work for us again. There are bold plans for radical change out there but unless we believe and support those who are behind those plans then nothing will ever change. WE have to be that change.
I graduated from a Baltimore high school the same year your family bought the home mentioned. Even in the later 1960s, all types of jobs were still fairly easy to find in Baltimore. Several big industries like Bethlehem Steel also had apprenticeship programs which offered on-the-job training to inexperienced people who wanted to learn a trade. Too, Baltimore always had a lot of construction going on back then that offered a lot of job opportunities. I feel for the kids graduating from Balto. high schools today. The job market just isn't there to support all the students coming out of school who wish to enter the working world instead of attending college, as I did.
The change these radicals are talking about is not the kind of change you want to see. Its about less power and more government. In other words communism.
@@kevinmiller4486 That's the narrative you've been fed from the Corporate controlled politicians. The same ones who are convincing you not to remove them from power and stay with the status quo. The same status quo that made them billionaires and destroyed the middle class. If you desire to continue to pay taxes and watch the billionaire class pay nothing and reap all the benefits then by all means go right ahead.
I am a foreigner and been first time at last week.Scary place,not good looking. But now I know I wasn't everytime. It was great city I wish it rise again.
Was a great city, my mother loved her hometown. "Went by streetcar all by myself all the way downtown to Peabody Institute for music lessons as a 8yo." Beautiful, useful, and safe and civil.
Yes. There are too many houses for the population. Some areas need to be razed and turn into public areas. Also landlords and speculators would not allow building of more units. The gentrified parts of the city are good though. The big problem is the schools. Until Baltimore City really turns the schools around (big If) people are not going to start moving into the city to expand the tax base. Baltimore is still a good place to be. Housing is still more affordable than in any city from Boston to Atlanta in the I-95 corridor. Maryland in general is ranked among the top states in education, income, business growth and housing. The places that are really struggling today apart from some areas of the city are several counties in the far northwest part of the state and the rural Chesapeake bay. A lot of drugs and lack of jobs are draining people out of there. Many come to Baltimore for better jobs and education.
Born on the westside of Bawlmer, Merlin in 1950, I still fondly remember those days growing up there. I loved shopping trips downtown in the big department stores. The shopping district around Howard & Lexington was always busy, but especially during the holidays. Any type of store you were looking for could be found there. Back then, stores and movie theatres extended east on Lexington all the way to Charles St. before Charles Center was created. My sister's father-in-law was a traffic policeman who usually worked the Howard/Fayette intersection. I was sorry to see the old streetcars go near the end of 1963. Glad some were saved to ride on at the streetcar museum. I would love to relive one day again from my childhood hometown. Just thinking about it makes me hungry for a good ol' crabcake sandwich and slice of Baltimore peach cake for dessert.
America was once a great country where a mans salary could raise a family while owning a home, car and take vacations. All on a HS drop out salary. America will never be this great again.
And then Republicans moved all the jobs overseas,, and gifted our tax dollars to the super rich instead of building infrastructure the way they used to, causing economic despair for the majority of Americans and building an ever-widening gap between the Haves and the Have Nots.
@Ken MacDonald It was Reagan who took out quotas to keep away Cheap foreign steel out of the US. Free trade policies began with Reagan and continued with Dems..
I was 6 yrs old when this film was made. My mothers family lived and had a business in South Baltimore. I had so much fun playing with my cousins and relatives. The streets were so safe you could play outside and go on your own to the corner store and get penny candy, baseball cards and comic books. My fathers family was on the west side of town. Streetcar ran in front of my Grandmothers house. I use to walk on the Wall surrounding Loudoun Park Cemetery which was across the street. Walk up to local store and buy airplane models to build. My Grandmother raised chickens, grew grapes, and vegetables. It was a wonderful life. Its all gone now, never to return
If America is to have a future it must repeal the 19th amendment, dissolve the welfare state and all public sector unions and their pensions and replace them with 401k's. Otherwise our grandchildren will be working for the CCP and we'll all be $hitting in ditches. Laugh all you want now but you will be crying later. Of course by then the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will be nothing more than letters to Santa.
The late 80s and 90s were a mess. Over 300 murders a year every single year in the 90s. Crack and murder were rampant. We had some improvement in the 2000s but since 2015 it’s been worse than ever.
Other then the rampant corruption, sky high crime rate, murderous gangs, unstoppable open air drug markets, fatherless homes, failing schools, massive poverty and 1 million less citizens, it hasn't changed at all.
@F. Friedrich Kling Hauss Young African American males in Balto. City have nearly unlimited opportunities. Never mind that murder and violent crime was much lower and family units were much stronger in America’s urban black communities back when there was more discrimination, less opportunity, and more poverty. Today, Balto. City schools spend $18,000.00 per child per year-about the third highest spending rate in the country. And the children aren’t learning. Inner city kids today have tons of resources provided by federal, state, and local government, elite liberal non-profit foundations such as the Annie Casey and Ford Foundations, and churches. George Soros spends money like it’s going out of style to train prosecutors such as Maryln Mosby to NOT prosecute prostitution, illicit drug use, public urination, and squeegee harassers, and Bloomberg filters big bucks into the neighborhood to get guns off the street. But in spite of having unlimited opportunities to succeed, every year since 2015 when Freddie Gray was stopped from destroying the lives of neighborhood youths and adults-he was arrested more than twenty times-Balto. City has registered more than 300 murders. I believe there were one or two years when Baltimore’s murder total approached the total for New York, a city ten or fifteen times bigger. Police are standing down from an Obama-era, BLM inspired consent decree which only hurts the many thousands of law abiding African Americans who need protection.
Racial Population in Baltimore: Black or African American: 62.26% White: 29.72% Two or more races: 3.20% Asian: 2.48% The white population was once 79% which is reduced to 29% now. Now you know what went wrong! As the Black population increases the city goes backward :)
My grandfather was 19 when this video was taken and it just blows my mind. This city wad so beautiful. I could never picture it like this when my gpa would tell me stories.
As someone who has spent their whole life so far growing up in Baltimore, MD, it's wild to see this. It makes me a little down though since so much has changed and not for the better. I know all comments are saying that and I'm way too late for this video. Thanks for sharing, it's nice to see a little glimpse of how my grandmother grew up. It looked more like a dream than it is/was, but the promotion of WJZ didn't include any negative stuff that was happening at that time (which understandable it's an ad). Also it gives me a tad bit more context behind Hairspray, and what John Waters' inspiration was.
The crazy thing about Hairspray is that John Waters didn't need to make anything up--the styles, the attitudes, the quirkiness was all real life in B-more back then..
In fairness this promo didn't show the poor neighborhoods that were already neglected in 1959. What happened to Baltimore is the loss of jobs. Unfair taxes and regulations caused business to move away, which it did wholesale. You can only push businesses so far until they are no longer close enough to push.
Unfare taxes and regulations?? Stop with the GOP spin. The major contributor to the city downfall like so many others was trade policies, decoupling of the USD from gold, and racial tensions with flight.
I grew up in Baltimore. After enlisting in the Marines I always thought I would go back and live the rest of my life in Baltimore. I loved it there. By the time I got out of the Marines in 1990 it had changed so much and become such a dangerous place to live. Reminds me of the old phrase "You can never go home".
First of all thank ya from the bottom of my heart for your service!! I agree sooo much with your comment. My mama and uncles grew up from birth to 18 years old in south Baltimore. Mama left in 1980 and loooved it there. Now as much as we would love to go past her childhood house, we are petrified to get shot. What was once a wonderful place is now a battlefield. So sad. Again thank ya for your service. God bless
I also grew up in Baltimore. Born at Mercy Hospital in 1957. Moved to Wash. DC for college and stayed. But my recurring nightmare... waking up and living back in Baltimore.
This film illustrates a lot of things. The value of industry and blue collar jobs but it also inadvertently illustrates alot of other things. "Urban Renewal" Everywhere I have went, urban renewal spelled faster decline and ugly buildings. They replaced historic buildings with character with "modern" concrete monstrosities. What are people trying to renovate today: PreWWII buildings. "Modern" buildings with no character grow old-looking fast and are poorly constructed in most cases. This is why we have no problem tearing them down. Look at the "New" neighborhoods in the film. Boxes that all look alike. These neighborhoods go into decline to "hood" status fast as those with means find nicer homes, and today many are looking to "those old row houses", at least in cities where you dont get shot. Finally, when you bypass the traditional downtowns with interstates and freeways, these areas die. In my neck of the woods, it accelerated urban rot and created every growing rings of ugly strip malls like circles in a pond from the city center. While America was stable in the 50s and early 60s, the "renewal" programs instituted then cause more problems than they solved. They were just a way to grow govt, spend taxpayers money, and boast (like this film) with much being reversed as much as possible in my area.
@@donutvampyre4603 it's the truth. Prove me wrong. You enslave people for hundreds of years and then once it was finally abolished, slaves were not compensated for their work, meanwhile Whites prospered from the stolen resources of land and free labor. Those are the facts, not an opinion.
@@michaelcoates1983 1: money wont fix heroin addiction 2: reparations are quite frankly insulting to the slaves since you (assuming you are black) never wore the chains they did, you never had a master, and never had to face a whip. As white man ive never owned a slave nor have my ancestors. Wanna know why? My family came to America long after slavery was abolished. Im not paying someone who doesn't deserve it especially when ive never had anything to do with slavery. Any economic short comings you face are most likely youre own. Making only whites pay for it is racist and greedy.
I still hear some people say they're proud to be here and love it, but I sadly struggle to feel the same. For certain, I love the people I know, but I want to love my whole city, as well.
@@khaliah7754 I know exactly what you mean. I'm proud to be born and raised in Baltimore but at the same time it's just sad to see how far this city has fallen
@@jamesanastasia3237 Great well formed arguement. Keep voting Democrat if you are proud of Baltimore. Maybe you will get lucky and the next mayor will actually finish a term without charges. People like you are why the city is a dump. So much hate towards everyone without a D next to their name. Keep voting Democrat. I'm sure after decades they've almost got things figured out.
@@kinkiesse7736 DC just got gentrified and filled with 6 figure salary government employees the democrats there just slowed it down with high income taxes and punishing businesses with heavy regulation and tax
@@VirginVirginian Nothing slowed down in DC. Construction in DC keeps expanding. Denver, Dallas, Houston, Austin are all examples of Democrat cities that B-more can emulate...All American cities need to revitalize in order to get rid of slums and blight. Besides, minimum regulation is required to avoid crisis such as the Sub-prime crisis that made many Americans poor and also to protect working class Americans from predatory lenders Even Trump had to slap tariffs, which are a form of regulation, on foreign steel
Take notes everyone. Seriously, take notes. *THIS is how a narrator/announcer/commentator should sound!* This is how the news and narration must be delivered; the right way!
All the bad stuff was still there, they just condensed it all into the black neighborhoods so white people could pretend their themepark existence was all good
My family moved to Baltimore in 1958 so these scenes are so familiar. Baltimore has become a donut, with no go central city and beautiful suburbs. Baltimore is a failed city. We used to go downtown to shop, to go to Pratt Central Library, to the Lyric Opera. But most of Baltimore I wouldn't set foot in today.
I remember when Mondawmin had it's grand opening in 1956. Our family went there with relatives that had a car from where we lived off of Edmondson Ave. I was elementary school age at the time but still remember the place decorated up for the opening. My mother liked shopping at the Sears store there. It was the only Sears on the westside of Baltimore.
d w . Baltimore yes but it led me to meet DruHill in my work as a music promoter so how about some full circle on that!? Are you still in Baltimore? My BF is a music teacher there.
Wilkens Ave looks like heaven on earth compared to today.My parents grew up in Pigtown and he told me back in the 1940's you could leave your doors opens.You could not do that today,.No Siree
Yeah, my mother was born in Baltimore in 1926. She used to tell me that people who had porch front rowhomes would sometimes sleep out on the porch all night in the Summer. I know from growing up there it was definitely a little cooler outside than in at night, if only a degree or two. At least you tried to convince yourself it was.
@@speedracer1945 Yes, when in elementary school (1955-62) I walked 8 blocks to school and back home without an adult being with me. Lots of the neighborhood kids walked. Sure, you had the usual warnings of not approaching strangers in a car if they want to talk to you, or accepting something from a stranger, but you never heard of any of that actually happening to any of the kids. Even when in Junior High I would walk home lots of times though the school was much farther away. Nobody bothered you or made you feel uncomfortable. When I had children of my own in the 1980s I wouldn't dare let them walk around the neighborhood alone...just too many creeps looking for an opportunity to grab a child.
I remember the days when Baltimore had Little Italy where Tommy DelaSandro came from and the Polish section of town and the theater district downtown. It was clean and peaceful. The women would often wash their marble steps in front of their row houses. I remember the vendors with horse and wagon calling out their wares whether it was pots and pans, knife sharpening or fresh vegetables . If the vendor asked for water for their horse, you were required by law to give it to them because they are providing a service. I remember driving down town to Montgomery Wards. What a beautiful store. They had everything and their Christmas and Easter decorations were beautiful. How about those Mary Sue Easter Eggs and Eskay Hot Dogs.
@@lindamazzella1295 they inherited the city when the whites and industries moved out. Today’s government are nothing but corporate lapdogs and pawns. So when you say democrat, bear in mind that they’re pawns of an archaic system.
Almost 3 million people now what is it 600,000? I grew up in the shadow of that TV tower Woodbury, Hamden. And the early show at dinner time was my favorite! Joe E. Brown, Jane Withers, Bowery Boys, Abbott & Costello. All we have today is fond memories.
52 years of Demonrat rule in Balto. and now its Bodymore Murderland. The mayors, city council, and reps have ALL been shite and dont care one lick about the people. They talk a good game with the same results and at the end of the day make the big bucks. Their ideas doNOT work. Wake up
@@jamaalbrown9078 jamaal..come on bruh really a lack of jobs?!..theres a mcdonalds a burger king a gym a car wash a bank a school a resturant a walmart a etc etc ON EVERY CORNER i can keep going jobs are there we lack the drive!!!..bro im from the bottom i made it i have friends who are addicts some dead some n jail and some equal to me it WAS ALLL A CHOICE
At about 4:00 they feature the Westinghouse manufacturing plant. I work there now under Northrop Grumman and it’s awesome to see how the main entrance looks almost the same
A couple of years ago I was driving down Rt 40 near that expressway that goes nowhere. There was a kitten in the middle of the street and a lady was standing there talking on a cellphone. I tried to motion to her to move the kitten off the street but the lady went on talking. I think people have lost their compassion. Not only in the city but everywhere.
I had a part time job in Baltimore county delivering pizzas when a cat that was hit by a car and mangled up as I tried to get it off the street. Told my boss and his gf went and got it since she worked at a vet place . I was told the cat died a few days later . I love animals since I had a cat and landlord had 2 horses and 4 cats and 2 dogs .
People are saying because the blacks moved in the population dropped. It dropped because a lot of the factory’s and plants shit down. Just like in most states, when that happens the workers and families move to other places to continue to work. Blacks wasn’t the cause for so many jobs shutting down. Plus, when the governments in cities start using money for other things besides up keeping the city, eventually things get worse. There were lots of drug addicts, white and black in the city when the crack epidemic hit. There’s many factors that cause the decline. Blacks may have eventually started selling drugs but remember. It would’ve never ever been possible for us to get it in the us because we didn’t have that kind of power in the past. I love white peoples and I’m not racist but their plan to mess up the neighborhoods by placing drugs in them made it worse. Black people around that time were good upstanding citizens. All races were using drugs but it was mostly being sold in predominantly black neighborhoods. Keep a black man from getting a job because of his skin back then and pass him something he could sell to help his family get money and 9 times out of 10 he will sell it... in those days
This is just mind-boggling..I can't even believe what I'm seeing..I was born in 1979..I remember my first few years..the whole neighborhood having a yard sale..Local stores sponsoring little league baseball teams..I couldn't imagine what it was like in the 1950s
Its peak was actually probably 50-100 years earlier. It’s actually kind of shocking if you go back to, say, 1850: Baltimore was one of the largest and most important cities in the country. Many of today’s biggest cities didn’t even exist yet, or were small towns. Baltimore was already a city of hundreds of thousands, and was THE center of industry and innovation of the country. (A lot of that was thanks to the creation, around 1800, of the first of what we would now call an industrial park, in the sense of a deliberate creation of an industrial district, including cheap housing for workers, by a developer. This was southeast Baltimore.) Maryland was, at the time, the #1 producer of processed food products for the nation, with local produce being canned for sale nationwide. The rise of California produce, and of refrigerated rail cars to move food from faraway states, decimated the food industry in Maryland. Prohibition later decimated the city’s thriving brewing industry. And later we’d lose much of our nonfood manufacturing to foreign outsourcing.
It’s so weird to see this. The city of now just is so depressing, back then Baltimore was a booming city, now Baltimore is a city you want to leave and not come back.
I asked my grandparents if Baltimore used to be a pretty good city without a lot of crime and they said yes It's really sad to see what these thugs and idiots did to it
Going to repost my reply from someone else here to you. Institutionalized racism is not.. "bullshit"... white people literally put them into ghettos, found ways to legally segregate schools, (most schools today have asbestos and mold... this would never happen in white schools) imprisoned their males and murder them... legally (cops), etc etc. This is sociology, it is psychology and it is fact. It includes the war on drugs.I highly recommend that you educate yourself because ignorance can breed hate. Since you probably will confuse the word ignorant with being rude... to be ignorant means to lack knowledge of. This is all coming from someone that is WHITE and moved from baltimore into white suburbs that... guess what.. are still WHITE. People are STILL racist and STILL ignorant. In 1970's people still called black people N'rs. HARD R. That means those people are still alive. Until we completely stop being racist and allow for opportunities.... this will never change.
A time no doubt the residents remember fondly. The Colts won the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959 & then stunned the Dallas Cowboys in 1971. I remember when people once proudly said they were from Baltimore (it was usually the weather why some left when the going was still good) A lot of heavy industry was there so anyone could get a decent job. When it all left so did the prosperity.
So true! I guess the biggest employer is the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn. I know they have the largest motor pool of any government entity. FEDEX and UPS may be bigger.
My Grandfather worked at the Koppers in the 1920's thru 1955 on Poppleton Street in Pigtown.His name was Vernon L. Lantz.He might have worked with your uncle.My grandfather later worked at Kemps and Company from 1955 to retirement in 1963.Sadly, The Koppers burned down in November 1986.
My dad worked at Koppers from 1971 to 1988. My grandmother was a single mom and raised two kids on her Koppers salary. She retired in 1984 with a PENSION!! Koppers became Kaydon in the 80s
Soon the whole country will look like Baltimore does today. Over 15,000. Border jumpers a day. With no end In sight. America is pretty much finished. This Will make the liberals so very happy. Until reality of what they have done, starts to kick in. They don't like weapons you see. So they will be the first to go. You might say low hanging fruit. Thanks liberals. Looks like you're wet dream has arrived.
I moved to Baltimore (Curtis Bay)in 1975...it was a wonderfull blue collar and Safe neighborhood....in less than 25-35 yrs..it turned into a crime infested deadly toilet Bowl....All Big cities in America are Crime Infested now..its heart wrenching..This video confirms my mother's story of how Great Baltimore use to be....thanks for this Wonderful video of what a Great city that is now GONE FOREVER
At this point, the best part about Baltimore is it’s educational and medical institutions. And I’m not just saying that because I attend UMB Law school. I say it because schools like mine are what are maintaining a lot of the infrastructure and culture.
Very nice film about Baltimore and WJZ-TV from 1959. It mentions Buddy Deane and his popular teen dance show (1957-64), prominent newsman Keith McBee and Jack Wells. Royal Parker began his long TV career at Thirteen as children's host, newscaster and staff announcer.
@@tomservo56954 Interestingly, an on air incident on "The Buddy Deane Show" is what led John Waters to helm "Hairspray" as a movie. Sometime in 1963, the show actually booked a church group from New York that was actually integrated. Deane usually had a "guest day" usually reserved for black teens. This group actually danced on the air. The switchboard at Thirteen blew a big fuse. Fans saw a jaw-dropping event Deane did not expect. WJZ-TV received bomb scares and death threats days after this broadcast took place. Deane and his team of producers could not come up with a way to properly to integrate his program, and in January of 1964, Deane retired his show.
A once clean, safe, socially trusting society. Look who the current groups of people back then and look at the current groups now - hopefully you can put your reflexes aside and take a good look at yourself and your communities.
@@monjiaitaly Nah I dont fight... I use witchcraft. Plus from my experience living in crime filled urban areas, its more likely people with guns using guns... die from guns like cigarettes. But thanks for tip!!
The homes here, used to be someones pride and joy! People would sit out scrubbing their marble steps, cook outs, walking all around. Look at it today. :(
![Pigtown, Baltimore 1920's in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kYtOqTCIPm4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Pigtown, Baltimore 1920's in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design](/img/tr.png)
I'd like to see someone make a video of Baltimore today, using the same locations. A 60 year comparison.
You'd be shot and no one would find your body in the filth that's there now!
I was just getting ready to say, they may not survive....
Isn't it sad how things have changed there?
Probably make you throw up
it was just another rasist ass city that hate got the best of.
Born, raised and still live in Baltimore. Watching this video hurts me. Imagine being larger than Chicago, Philadelphia and New York.
Baltimore is one of the few places where the 70-80s flatspin was never corrected, sharing a fate with detroit... except baltimores climate makes it alot more liveable.
I think new yorks subway tunnels also helped it because baltimores homeless live out in the open, where NYC's mole people colonies kept them out of sight.
I guess the "Baltimore: America's Greatest City" came from that time period. It's about time to remove those benches
Actually I think O'Malley did it when he was mayor.
You mean to say it's time to remove those bitches.
Instead of industries, you have Tre on the corner selling drugs .
@@speedracer1945 dissolving the welfare state will result in less Tre's.
Wow my father raced at westport stadium.. home of the baltimre elite giants.back in 63. We went to see the site and he could not believe what it had turned into
Growing up there - time pretty stopped in 1959 (as a kid in the 70's and 80's saw way too many row homes)
I went back and checked the census data for 1950. Baltimore was about 960 k. They fudged the numbers to include Baltimore County, and perhaps northern Anne Arundel County. I'm originally from Anne Arundel County (Severna Park), though I live in Vermont now. Anyway, still quite interesting.
They were quoting the metro area population.
Fifties was the greatest era in America. The country would never be as rich and as free as once it was.
I lived it and it absolutely was the greatest. I asked my dad what was the best year of his life. He said 1958! There was a recession that year, but he did wonderful things. We took a 30 day vacation that year and went from Maryland to California to see Disneyland and everything in between.
Are you crazy? The country was far poorer both nominally and in real terms back then than today. Technology and medicine were far below today's standard. I don't get the nostalgia for those times, given what's available today.
Baltimore was segregated af back then. This goes to show that white flight is real. I think I saw one "negro" at Pimlico
Me too!
"White flight"
Non-whites are not entitled to access White people and their communities.
This country started to slowly die as soon as companies went over seas to produce and manufacture. We've lost the core of this country.
Wayne I was companies were forced to keep those jobs here in the USA
Wayne True
This country wend into a steep decline when JFK died.
But on the bright side the share holders did phenomenally
Letting Japan build cars here to escape taxes was a stupid mistake
What this film highlights is the true reason Baltimore has fallen. The city used to be a hub of industrialuzation and manufacturing. But with the loss of factories such as Beth Steel and the Broening Hwy GM plant, all of those well paying blue collar jobs have vanished, creating unemployment and crime.
Exactly
Dems and Unions ! I got a job at Beth Steel and when I would work fast, they would say slow down! They will want us all to work that hard. The Unions killed it! money for nothing
@@DARLING6405 No, it was Reagan free trade policies that took down quotas for cheap foreign steel.
@@DARLING6405 the tooling Union used to sabotage my work to slow me down. No joke!!
@@kinkiesse7736 no. This downslide was well before Reagan.
Seeing what Baltimore was to what it is now, I could cry.
Yes , what happen ?
@@johnwilson5157 Democrats is what happened.
I live in Baltimore, it’s a beautiful city and still booming. The media has only shown you all the negatives but living here is a different story.
@Josh Lee do you hate them?
@Josh Lee not every black person is how you are describing them LOL. Don’t judge by their skin, you should judge individuals by their personalities.
Every Baltimore City politician should be made to watch this once a week, so that they can be reminded of what Baltimore can be.
You see many people working Baltimore city govt that look like anyone in this film?
Shell Renee well tell them corporations to bring them jobs back and things will turn around!!!!🤨🤨🤨🤨
Demographics are destiny.
Wouldn’t change anything the core interests that govern the party politburo are those of the predominant and prevailing local Business leaders even if they’re no longer industry leaders, The ones that pay for the political war chests, that have altogether different interests from that time and from the abandonment long-ago of many of the industries that once supplied the payrolls. The ability to change the destiny of any particular municipality has also been severely impacted by federal taxes from corporate to personal, regulations, meaning that everybody has to be paid more to make the same as before. Local government can actually make the difference, quite a few American Pen and pencil companies still exist and offer lifetime warranties, although many American Pen companies from Franklin Christoph to Speedball call North Carolina home. Interestingly Franklin-Christoph abandoned the now millennial California Democrat infested Houston in 2014. Both Wake forest and Statesville have a population under 50,000.
Fuck Dixon, Pugh, and a little side of O' Malley. Brandon Scott can redeem us, but only if he does his job right.
The people that worked on Baltimore back then would be ashamed at how nearly all of Baltimores neighborhoods have turned out now. It looks like there was a war in Baltimore neighborhoods
It turned out that way due to white flight, neglecting impoverished neighborhoods, war on drugs and redlining
My grandmother would tell me stories of "this" Baltimore City
She walked to school uphill both ways and didn't have to drink from the same water fountain as black people? The good old days....
@@borismarkov1141 😝😂
Boris Markov...Awww look, Boris thinks he’s clever. He don’t like ole whitey much! He blame him for everything!!!...Good luck with that, Boris. Good luck!
Liberty Tree voting republican won’t change shit. They’ll either force everyone out and turn the entire city into a Soho or neglect it like they do the Deep South.
Liberty Tree people like you fail to realize that cities themselves are liberal inherently. The only major cities with republican majors are Fort Worth, San Diego and Oklahoma City and Fresno Ca. It’s not Democrat’s.
From a 1959 perspective, it seems like Baltimore is an up and coming city. In 1959, it was the 6th largest city in the US. So much changed and not for better.
Surprised that the film doesn't mention the Colts, who had just won the 1958 NFL Championship in the famous OT game. Many Colts' players from the 1958 and '59 championship teams put down roots in the Baltimore area after their NFL careers ended.
This was baltimore...now we got rats and roaches
We had 'em back then too
And students with a 0.18 GPA that rank in the middle their class!
Every city had that back then and has that now.
The gangs own the city now
Sad, what Baltimore is today....
Thank you for this. I was 4 years old in 1959 and living in Baltimore. My mother worked at Westinghouse, and I was employed there in 1974. What a wonderful place to grow up in the 50s to 70s for me.
@@niteriderband4713 my father worked at Westinghouse. They called him “Moe”
Ever see any of the cool shows of the 60s and 70s at Merriweather? E.g., Hendrix, the Doors, Pink Floyd, etc..
Those row homes are boarded up now
Hell yeah 🤣
I watched enough of the wire to know where they're going
Crack houses
It's not really funny if you think about it
410 Kane true 😂
Please remember this is a promotional video and even then Baltimore had its problems, just like any other urban area. They never toured Pennsylvania Avenue (poor black area), Pigtown (poor white area) or any other poor neighborhoods. People tend to remember only the good stuff then want to go back to ‘the good ole’ days’ but the truth is that those days weren’t good all the time or good for everyone. My family bought a home in a middle class mixed race neighborhood in 1969 just after the Fair Housing Act outlawed redlining, before then we would not have been allowed to live there.
But I must say I was surprised at the amount of industry that existed here before I was born. This video made me think of a lot of things but one thing in particular stood out. I see more clearly now why the rust belt states feel the way they do. Most of those plants they named, no longer exist here but we are lucky that our east coast location has kept some jobs, albeit lower paying than those in the video, in the area. People in the rust belt aren’t that lucky. So what caused this here in Baltimore and all across this nation? Corporate greed, dirty politicians (Democrats and Republicans all the same), automation, white flight, race riots, drug infestation, globalization and the list goes on and on. We can point the finger at other people but the truth is that WE have to take back our nation from Corporate America and make this country work for us again. There are bold plans for radical change out there but unless we believe and support those who are behind those plans then nothing will ever change. WE have to be that change.
Papi Grande Well said!
I graduated from a Baltimore high school the same year your family bought the home mentioned. Even in the later 1960s, all types of jobs were still fairly easy to find in Baltimore. Several big industries like Bethlehem Steel also had apprenticeship programs which offered on-the-job training to inexperienced people who wanted to learn a trade.
Too, Baltimore always had a lot of construction going on back then that offered a lot of job opportunities. I feel for the kids graduating from Balto. high schools today. The job market just isn't there to support all the students coming out of school who wish to enter the working world instead of attending college, as I did.
@@shortliner68 There are jobs but they are low wage service industry jobs.
The change these radicals are talking about is not the kind of change you want to see. Its about less power and more government. In other words communism.
@@kevinmiller4486 That's the narrative you've been fed from the Corporate controlled politicians. The same ones who are convincing you not to remove them from power and stay with the status quo. The same status quo that made them billionaires and destroyed the middle class. If you desire to continue to pay taxes and watch the billionaire class pay nothing and reap all the benefits then by all means go right ahead.
I am a foreigner and been first time at last week.Scary place,not good looking.
But now I know I wasn't everytime.
It was great city I wish it rise again.
@Nick Naime cool it with the antisemitic remarks
@@gravaged8399 how is that antisemitic. Its simply his political opinion. Feel free to disagree or express yours but don't cancel him falsely.
Thank you. I hope so as well.
50 years ago it was still nice . Sorry you had a bad experience, the counties are much better . Next time vist Ocean city .
Was a great city, my mother loved her hometown. "Went by streetcar all by myself all the way downtown to Peabody Institute for music lessons as a 8yo." Beautiful, useful, and safe and civil.
The 83 corridor is stil safe. Stay away from East and West.
I lived a block away from Peabody in Mt Veron
Baltimore is not safe or civil. Its very very dangerous. You mom should not go to Peabody or she might get robbed or raped.
@@cheaserceaser PAST tense. My mother was young and went anywhere she wanted, in the FORTIES.
@@KmusikOne Some pockets are still OK. Unfortunately, seems the majority is not.
I lived in Baltimore from the time I was born 63 till 2018..I had to get out of there it got so bad so I moved to another state.
Pam McCaffrey
I left to. 1990 came back 16 yrs until my pop pass. 2010 left again never look back.
Pam McCaffrey I moved to Baltimore in the mid eighties from New York thinking I was getting away from the violence and bs an found out differently!!!
James Anastasia I'm sorry but I had to laugh.
that's all I know far as homes lol.
I live da bx now. but grew up in bmore.
@@chosenpeople5881 wow!!!My pops grew up in Soundview!!!👍👍👍
@Nick Diesal can you please grow up?
2019 and its all gone...
Wjz is still here. I see the tower everytime i leave my neighborhood
@@jhh7285 he meant baltimore
No it’s not Ricky, still here and doing well
@@borismarkov1141 ...doing well … kidding ?? …. it's a disgrace
@@homeelectricco disgrace how? Plenty of prosperity in the city
Growing faster than Philadelphia and New York 🤔 look how things changed
Those rowhouses don't look like that today
Don't end up in a vacant
David Barrett all depends where!!!!🤨
Yes. There are too many houses for the population. Some areas need to be razed and turn into public areas. Also landlords and speculators would not allow building of more units. The gentrified parts of the city are good though.
The big problem is the schools. Until Baltimore City really turns the schools around (big If) people are not going to start moving into the city to expand the tax base.
Baltimore is still a good place to be. Housing is still more affordable than in any city from Boston to Atlanta in the I-95 corridor. Maryland in general is ranked among the top states in education, income, business growth and housing.
The places that are really struggling today apart from some areas of the city are several
counties in the far northwest part of the state and the rural Chesapeake bay. A lot of drugs and lack of jobs are draining people out of there. Many come to Baltimore for better jobs and education.
@@Etatdesiege1979 Baltimore city schools will not change because there's too much money to be made off the system in its current configuration.
Born on the westside of Bawlmer, Merlin in 1950, I still fondly remember those days growing up there. I loved shopping trips downtown in the big department stores. The shopping district around Howard & Lexington was always busy, but especially during the holidays. Any type of store you were looking for could be found there. Back then, stores and movie theatres extended east on Lexington all the way to Charles St. before Charles Center was created. My sister's father-in-law was a traffic policeman who usually worked the Howard/Fayette intersection. I was sorry to see the old streetcars go near the end of 1963. Glad some were saved to ride on at the streetcar museum. I would love to relive one day again from my childhood hometown. Just thinking about it makes me hungry for a good ol' crabcake sandwich and slice of Baltimore peach cake for dessert.
Well said
I live off of Blair rd hun, I love to watch the O'roles play and driving dun to the oshen hun. I also have a dug named Manny Machuto hun.
LOL I'd never guess you were from Bawlmer.
shortliner68 my dad was born in 49 raised in govans lol even then it was tha hood but damn i wish my dad was alive to see this
shortliner68 good read , thank you .
America was once a great country where a mans salary could raise a family while owning a home, car and take vacations. All on a HS drop out salary. America will never be this great again.
And then Republicans moved all the jobs overseas,, and gifted our tax dollars to the super rich instead of building infrastructure the way they used to, causing economic despair for the majority of Americans and building an ever-widening gap between the Haves and the Have Nots.
@@michaellauinger7406 Yea well, it wasn't just the Republicans, it was all of the politicians.
Ken MacDonald keep believing that fable d*mmy!!!
@John Anonymous you hit thr nail on the head
@Ken MacDonald It was Reagan who took out quotas to keep away Cheap foreign steel out of the US. Free trade policies began with Reagan and continued with Dems..
I was 6 yrs old when this film was made. My mothers family lived and had a business in South Baltimore. I had so much fun playing with my cousins and relatives. The streets were so safe you could play outside and go on your own to the corner store and get penny candy, baseball cards and comic books. My fathers family was on the west side of town. Streetcar ran in front of my Grandmothers house. I use to walk on the Wall surrounding Loudoun Park Cemetery which was across the street. Walk up to local store and buy airplane models to build. My Grandmother raised chickens, grew grapes, and vegetables. It was a wonderful life. Its all gone now, never to return
If America is to have a future it must repeal the 19th amendment, dissolve the welfare state and all public sector unions and their pensions and replace them with 401k's. Otherwise our grandchildren will be working for the CCP and we'll all be $hitting in ditches. Laugh all you want now but you will be crying later. Of course by then the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will be nothing more than letters to Santa.
😢 😭
Nothing last!!! You old enough to realize that!!!
I was 7
So sad. But Baltimore County is an oasis of beauty and civilization.
I grew up in Baltimore in the 80s and 90s. It's wild to see what it used to be.
The late 80s and 90s were a mess. Over 300 murders a year every single year in the 90s. Crack and murder were rampant. We had some improvement in the 2000s but since 2015 it’s been worse than ever.
What did it used to be?!?
@@superlithic Not 400 homicides in a YEAR
@@nuclearpugg ❤️.
It was still a huge sh!thole in the 80s and 90s, just more of a sh!thole now.
Other then the rampant corruption, sky high crime rate, murderous gangs, unstoppable open air drug markets, fatherless homes, failing schools, massive poverty and 1 million less citizens, it hasn't changed at all.
LOL
Don’t forget high property taxes and menacing squeegee kids.
@@fairfaxcat1312 I see you have been doing your homework unlike your aforementioned squeegee boys.
@@fairfaxcat1312 2 years after your comment and the squeegee kids are worse than ever.
@F. Friedrich Kling Hauss Young African American males in Balto. City have nearly unlimited opportunities. Never mind that murder and violent crime was much lower and family units were much stronger in America’s urban black communities back when there was more discrimination, less opportunity, and more poverty. Today, Balto. City schools spend $18,000.00 per child per year-about the third highest spending rate in the country. And the children aren’t learning. Inner city kids today have tons of resources provided by federal, state, and local government, elite liberal non-profit foundations such as the Annie Casey and Ford Foundations, and churches. George Soros spends money like it’s going out of style to train prosecutors such as Maryln Mosby to NOT prosecute prostitution, illicit drug use, public urination, and squeegee harassers, and Bloomberg filters big bucks into the neighborhood to get guns off the street. But in spite of having unlimited opportunities to succeed, every year since 2015 when Freddie Gray was stopped from destroying the lives of neighborhood youths and adults-he was arrested more than twenty times-Balto. City has registered more than 300 murders. I believe there were one or two years when Baltimore’s murder total approached the total for New York, a city ten or fifteen times bigger. Police are standing down from an Obama-era, BLM inspired consent decree which only hurts the many thousands of law abiding African Americans who need protection.
wow , 60 years later they wouldnt be able to remake this video
Racial Population in Baltimore:
Black or African American: 62.26% White: 29.72% Two or more races: 3.20% Asian: 2.48%
The white population was once 79% which is reduced to 29% now.
Now you know what went wrong! As the Black population increases the city goes backward :)
Baltimore was always a Brown town since it was called Port Tobacco in the 1600's
@@ronwinkles2601 Yeah sure it was. Whatever you say pal
My grandfather was 19 when this video was taken and it just blows my mind. This city wad so beautiful. I could never picture it like this when my gpa would tell me stories.
This video should have been narrated in the Baltimore accent.
Ball-mer.
Haha everything in those days was done in a preppy accent. TV was for the classy.
which one?
As someone who has spent their whole life so far growing up in Baltimore, MD, it's wild to see this. It makes me a little down though since so much has changed and not for the better. I know all comments are saying that and I'm way too late for this video. Thanks for sharing, it's nice to see a little glimpse of how my grandmother grew up. It looked more like a dream than it is/was, but the promotion of WJZ didn't include any negative stuff that was happening at that time (which understandable it's an ad). Also it gives me a tad bit more context behind Hairspray, and what John Waters' inspiration was.
The crazy thing about Hairspray is that John Waters didn't need to make anything up--the styles, the attitudes, the quirkiness was all real life in B-more back then..
In fairness this promo didn't show the poor neighborhoods that were already neglected in 1959. What happened to Baltimore is the loss of jobs. Unfair taxes and regulations caused business to move away, which it did wholesale. You can only push businesses so far until they are no longer close enough to push.
Democrats caused most of it
@@THISRW republicans did it. do some research.
Unfare taxes and regulations?? Stop with the GOP spin. The major contributor to the city downfall like so many others was trade policies, decoupling of the USD from gold, and racial tensions with flight.
And then the demographics changed, and now Balitmore is on it's death bed.
I grew up in Baltimore. After enlisting in the Marines I always thought I would go back and live the rest of my life in Baltimore. I loved it there. By the time I got out of the Marines in 1990 it had changed so much and become such a dangerous place to live. Reminds me of the old phrase "You can never go home".
First of all thank ya from the bottom of my heart for your service!! I agree sooo much with your comment. My mama and uncles grew up from birth to 18 years old in south Baltimore. Mama left in 1980 and loooved it there. Now as much as we would love to go past her childhood house, we are petrified to get shot. What was once a wonderful place is now a battlefield. So sad. Again thank ya for your service. God bless
@@jacobweiford408 Thank you.
@John Cortez I defend the freedom and rights of all Americans.
@Mister Google well is is obvious you never served and you are another liberal woke know it all. So I will forgive your ignorance.
I also grew up in Baltimore. Born at Mercy Hospital in 1957. Moved to Wash. DC for college and stayed. But my recurring nightmare... waking up and living back in Baltimore.
This film illustrates a lot of things. The value of industry and blue collar jobs but it also inadvertently illustrates alot of other things. "Urban Renewal" Everywhere I have went, urban renewal spelled faster decline and ugly buildings. They replaced historic buildings with character with "modern" concrete monstrosities. What are people trying to renovate today: PreWWII buildings. "Modern" buildings with no character grow old-looking fast and are poorly constructed in most cases. This is why we have no problem tearing them down. Look at the "New" neighborhoods in the film. Boxes that all look alike. These neighborhoods go into decline to "hood" status fast as those with means find nicer homes, and today many are looking to "those old row houses", at least in cities where you dont get shot. Finally, when you bypass the traditional downtowns with interstates and freeways, these areas die. In my neck of the woods, it accelerated urban rot and created every growing rings of ugly strip malls like circles in a pond from the city center. While America was stable in the 50s and early 60s, the "renewal" programs instituted then cause more problems than they solved. They were just a way to grow govt, spend taxpayers money, and boast (like this film) with much being reversed as much as possible in my area.
most of these companies are gone! or consolidated !
Wow this is sad how the city took a turn for the worse
Reparations can fix all of the issues fast. Call the issues income inequality. The Black/White wealth gap is far and wide thanks to slavery.
@@michaelcoates1983 Funny how you try to blame slavery 150 years after it was abolished.
@@donutvampyre4603 it's the truth. Prove me wrong. You enslave people for hundreds of years and then once it was finally abolished, slaves were not compensated for their work, meanwhile Whites prospered from the stolen resources of land and free labor. Those are the facts, not an opinion.
DonutVampyre You can’t be this racist
@@michaelcoates1983 1: money wont fix heroin addiction
2: reparations are quite frankly insulting to the slaves since you (assuming you are black) never wore the chains they did, you never had a master, and never had to face a whip. As white man ive never owned a slave nor have my ancestors. Wanna know why? My family came to America long after slavery was abolished. Im not paying someone who doesn't deserve it especially when ive never had anything to do with slavery. Any economic short comings you face are most likely youre own. Making only whites pay for it is racist and greedy.
What a shame Baltimore is my hometown.
Used to be such a proud city
I still hear some people say they're proud to be here and love it, but I sadly struggle to feel the same. For certain, I love the people I know, but I want to love my whole city, as well.
@@khaliah7754 I know exactly what you mean. I'm proud to be born and raised in Baltimore but at the same time it's just sad to see how far this city has fallen
I'm from East Baltimore born and raised, and I am truly proud to be a Baltimorean!
@@Jryder933 I was born at harbor hospital and still live 5 minutes from the city. It's just getting so rough now
@@HarmonHeat My daughter was born at Harbor Hospital.
I guess they'll be throwing the statue of Poe into the Harbor next.
Exactly one non-Democrat Mayor since then. Keep voting Democrat Baltimore!
Kenneth Robinson you smoking crack if you believe republicans have the answers!!!!😆😆😆
@@jamesanastasia3237 Great well formed arguement. Keep voting Democrat if you are proud of Baltimore. Maybe you will get lucky and the next mayor will actually finish a term without charges.
People like you are why the city is a dump. So much hate towards everyone without a D next to their name. Keep voting Democrat. I'm sure after decades they've almost got things figured out.
@@KeeperKen30 DC improved a lot and it's Democrat. Same thing can happen for Baltimore..
@@kinkiesse7736 DC just got gentrified and filled with 6 figure salary government employees the democrats there just slowed it down with high income taxes and punishing businesses with heavy regulation and tax
@@VirginVirginian Nothing slowed down in DC. Construction in DC keeps expanding. Denver, Dallas, Houston, Austin are all examples of Democrat cities that B-more can emulate...All American cities need to revitalize in order to get rid of slums and blight.
Besides, minimum regulation is required to avoid crisis such as the Sub-prime crisis that made many Americans poor and also to protect working class Americans from predatory lenders
Even Trump had to slap tariffs, which are a form of regulation, on foreign steel
Take notes everyone. Seriously, take notes. *THIS is how a narrator/announcer/commentator should sound!* This is how the news and narration must be delivered; the right way!
Damn watching this shit hurts my heart. We are never gonna get anywhere back to this and it’s sad. It’s only going to get worse
Clean streets no crime no bums, I wish it stayed 1959 forever!
I would do anything to go back to early 1900's America, a beautiful country that used to have beautiful people ruined by well...
@@bryp6553 Racist ass mf
It's the white man fault
@@bryp6553 ruined by well……correct!
All the bad stuff was still there, they just condensed it all into the black neighborhoods so white people could pretend their themepark existence was all good
My family moved to Baltimore in 1958 so these scenes are so familiar. Baltimore has become a donut, with no go central city and beautiful suburbs. Baltimore is a failed city. We used to go downtown to shop, to go to Pratt Central Library, to the Lyric Opera. But most of Baltimore I wouldn't set foot in today.
So true! I loved going to all those places too! Great description, a donut city.
Grew up in Park Heights going to Mondawmin I the early 60s. Baltimore was safe and beautiful. I miss it.
I remember when Mondawmin had it's grand opening in 1956. Our family went there with relatives that had a car from where we lived off of Edmondson Ave. I was elementary school age at the time but still remember the place decorated up for the opening. My mother liked shopping at the Sears store there. It was the only Sears on the westside of Baltimore.
I didn't even know mondawmin was opened back then that's crazy.
d w . Baltimore I used to go to St. Ambrose when it was a school.
Grew up in Park Heights in late 90's these videos are real history, I was born '89 so I know it was totally different when you grew up there .
d w . Baltimore yes but it led me to meet DruHill in my work as a music promoter so how about some full circle on that!? Are you still in Baltimore? My BF is a music teacher there.
Wilkens Ave looks like heaven on earth compared to today.My parents grew up in Pigtown and he told me back in the 1940's you could leave your doors opens.You could not do that today,.No Siree
not now
Yeah, my mother was born in Baltimore in 1926. She used to tell me that people who had porch front rowhomes would sometimes sleep out on the porch all night in the Summer. I know from growing up there it was definitely a little cooler outside than in at night, if only a degree or two. At least you tried to convince yourself it was.
@@shortliner68 you gotta be kidding me my other friend lived in your block it was our haunt
This story has been played over x times in America: Newark, Cleveland, and Detroit, all come to my mind, but there are many others.
True
st louis too. and all these cities have 1 thing in common 😂
I almost choked when I saw the projected 1980 population. One thing they didn’t count on.
I remember Baltimore when I was a little girl .It was so clean and so well kept up. You were not afraid of anything.
mee too
I used to walk to school and back . Video was made in 59 but in 10 years much different sadly.
@@speedracer1945 Yes, when in elementary school (1955-62) I walked 8 blocks to school and back home without an adult being with me. Lots of the neighborhood kids walked. Sure, you had the usual warnings of not approaching strangers in a car if they want to talk to you, or accepting something from a stranger, but you never heard of any of that actually happening to any of the kids. Even when in Junior High I would walk home lots of times though the school was much farther away. Nobody bothered you or made you feel uncomfortable. When I had children of my own in the 1980s I wouldn't dare let them walk around the neighborhood alone...just too many creeps looking for an opportunity to grab a child.
@@shortliner68 yeah. I walked home from junior high along a back road then along a train tracks in Sudbrook . Never passed no one .
I remember the days when Baltimore had Little Italy where Tommy DelaSandro came from and the Polish section of town and the theater district downtown. It was clean and peaceful. The women would often wash their marble steps in front of their row houses. I remember the vendors with horse and wagon calling out their wares whether it was pots and pans, knife sharpening or fresh vegetables . If the vendor asked for water for their horse, you were required by law to give it to them because they are providing a service.
I remember driving down town to Montgomery Wards. What a beautiful store. They had everything and their Christmas and Easter decorations were beautiful.
How about those Mary Sue Easter Eggs and Eskay Hot Dogs.
The greatest generation built these cities. The current generation tear them down.
No it’s Democrats tear them down.
@@lindamazzella1295 they inherited the city when the whites and industries moved out. Today’s government are nothing but corporate lapdogs and pawns. So when you say democrat, bear in mind that they’re pawns of an archaic system.
Almost 3 million people now what is it 600,000? I grew up in the shadow of that TV tower Woodbury, Hamden. And the early show at dinner time was my favorite! Joe E. Brown, Jane Withers, Bowery Boys, Abbott & Costello. All we have today is fond memories.
Daaaam brooo this ain’t no Baltimore I ever known lol use to be beautiful but I’m only in my 30s so I only kno the ghetto frfr
Same
Teeeeez! Whatcha doin? You said you didnt care who knew we was gay! Y you avoiding me??? You lick the best ass booo!
@@toddb3394 wtf
@F. Friedrich Kling Sup Klingon! So corporations shouldnt be able to move wherever they please?
52 years of Demonrat rule in Balto. and now its Bodymore Murderland. The mayors, city council, and reps have ALL been shite and dont care one lick about the people. They talk a good game with the same results and at the end of the day make the big bucks. Their ideas doNOT work. Wake up
All white town
Look how clean everything is, once a beacon of prosperity, and now a complete $|~| ! T hole.
Yes before the blacks took over ohh and yes I'm black and yes I'm unfortunately from here smh
Rezzo Jr racism ,drugs and greedy politicians had a huge impact on Baltimore, I just hope someday we can all get free from this .
@@bones0184 racism doesn't make ppl commit crime and do drugs that narrative has to end before the black AMERICAN community can heal
@@TruckinRoundTv no but lack of jobs and lack of education does. In every society, through out time
@@jamaalbrown9078 jamaal..come on bruh really a lack of jobs?!..theres a mcdonalds a burger king a gym a car wash a bank a school a resturant a walmart a etc etc ON EVERY CORNER i can keep going jobs are there we lack the drive!!!..bro im from the bottom i made it i have friends who are addicts some dead some n jail and some equal to me it WAS ALLL A CHOICE
At about 4:00 they feature the Westinghouse manufacturing plant. I work there now under Northrop Grumman and it’s awesome to see how the main entrance looks almost the same
A couple of years ago I was driving down Rt 40 near that expressway that goes nowhere. There was a kitten in the middle of the street and a lady was standing there talking on a cellphone. I tried to motion to her to move the kitten off the street but the lady went on talking. I think people have lost their compassion. Not only in the city but everywhere.
I had a part time job in Baltimore county delivering pizzas when a cat that was hit by a car and mangled up as I tried to get it off the street. Told my boss and his gf went and got it since she worked at a vet place . I was told the cat died a few days later . I love animals since I had a cat and landlord had 2 horses and 4 cats and 2 dogs .
Sadly, most don't care about anything at all outside of social media.
Exactly. Baltimore lost it's soul. I'm from Baltimore
If they made this today it would be considered an action movie equivalent to New Jack City.
No got worse , HBO'S The Wire
People are saying because the blacks moved in the population dropped. It dropped because a lot of the factory’s and plants shit down. Just like in most states, when that happens the workers and families move to other places to continue to work. Blacks wasn’t the cause for so many jobs shutting down. Plus, when the governments in cities start using money for other things besides up keeping the city, eventually things get worse. There were lots of drug addicts, white and black in the city when the crack epidemic hit. There’s many factors that cause the decline. Blacks may have eventually started selling drugs but remember. It would’ve never ever been possible for us to get it in the us because we didn’t have that kind of power in the past. I love white peoples and I’m not racist but their plan to mess up the neighborhoods by placing drugs in them made it worse. Black people around that time were good upstanding citizens. All races were using drugs but it was mostly being sold in predominantly black neighborhoods. Keep a black man from getting a job because of his skin back then and pass him something he could sell to help his family get money and 9 times out of 10 he will sell it... in those days
Now Baltimore is just Somalia
Baltimore appears to have been, dare I say; 'Pleasantville' back then.
Video editing is a powerful tool.
@@borismarkov1141 ...the blind lib
@@borismarkov1141 ….the blind lib
better than the Gaza strip, as it is now....
It was nice and clean when white people lived there.
This is just mind-boggling..I can't even believe what I'm seeing..I was born in 1979..I remember my first few years..the whole neighborhood having a yard sale..Local stores sponsoring little league baseball teams..I couldn't imagine what it was like in the 1950s
It's sad what has happened to my city. Moved out 12yrs ago. Would not move back if someone offered me 100mil!
Too bad!!! For you!!!!
@@jamesanastasia3237 Not really.
Everything is nice, before THEY come!
Baltimore was still a city 😭 back 🌇then before it went ghetto.
A snapshot of Baltimore when it was at its peak, a shame what it has turned into.
Its peak was actually probably 50-100 years earlier. It’s actually kind of shocking if you go back to, say, 1850: Baltimore was one of the largest and most important cities in the country. Many of today’s biggest cities didn’t even exist yet, or were small towns. Baltimore was already a city of hundreds of thousands, and was THE center of industry and innovation of the country. (A lot of that was thanks to the creation, around 1800, of the first of what we would now call an industrial park, in the sense of a deliberate creation of an industrial district, including cheap housing for workers, by a developer. This was southeast Baltimore.) Maryland was, at the time, the #1 producer of processed food products for the nation, with local produce being canned for sale nationwide. The rise of California produce, and of refrigerated rail cars to move food from faraway states, decimated the food industry in Maryland. Prohibition later decimated the city’s thriving brewing industry. And later we’d lose much of our nonfood manufacturing to foreign outsourcing.
So sad to see this City and many others changed for the worse now...
It’s so weird to see this. The city of now just is so depressing, back then Baltimore was a booming city, now Baltimore is a city you want to leave and not come back.
Left in '05 and have never been back. People elsewhere can't even believe the stories I tell them of the place. It's almost a planet of its own.
I asked my grandparents if Baltimore used to be a pretty good city without a lot of crime and they said yes
It's really sad to see what these thugs and idiots did to it
By thugs, you do mean corrupt politicians right?
Going to repost my reply from someone else here to you.
Institutionalized racism is not.. "bullshit"... white people literally put them into ghettos, found ways to legally segregate schools, (most schools today have asbestos and mold... this would never happen in white schools) imprisoned their males and murder them... legally (cops), etc etc. This is sociology, it is psychology and it is fact. It includes the war on drugs.I highly recommend that you educate yourself because ignorance can breed hate. Since you probably will confuse the word ignorant with being rude... to be ignorant means to lack knowledge of. This is all coming from someone that is WHITE and moved from baltimore into white suburbs that... guess what.. are still WHITE. People are STILL racist and STILL ignorant. In 1970's people still called black people N'rs. HARD R. That means those people are still alive. Until we completely stop being racist and allow for opportunities.... this will never change.
@@trishaaloo5281 hear hear
Quit your whining......the bus leaves the ghetto every day. 🙄
@@urmybiscuit Was just about to comment this. The Thugs and idiots..A.K.A. police and politicians 🙁
A time no doubt the residents remember fondly. The Colts won the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959 & then stunned the Dallas Cowboys in 1971. I remember when people once proudly said they were from Baltimore (it was usually the weather why some left when the going was still good) A lot of heavy industry was there so anyone could get a decent job. When it all left so did the prosperity.
"Population 1959: 1,612,000... Predicted population in 1980: 2,650,000" ..... 2024: 567,000
The population is still falling
Block busting did B-more in.
Born an raised n Baltimore
Hopefully we can be neighbors trying to move in!
Same here
Same here. I lived in Cherry Hill then moved to Rosedale
Sorry to hear that
Same...from Riggs Ave
It's 2022. If you're going to Baltimore, be carrying.
😀 😃 😄 😁 😆 😅 😂 🤣
Wow the good old days. A good deal better than nowadays.
BMore .. when keeping it real goes wrong
WTF!😳I’m from Baltimore wasn’t born back then but amazing to see then & now
From the 6th largest city and growing to the 30th and declining.
So true! I guess the biggest employer is the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn. I know they have the largest motor pool of any government entity. FEDEX and UPS may be bigger.
@@ronwinkles2601 the largest employer is John’s Hopkins.
Before the civil rights movement. Wow amazing
Good morning Baltimore. Thank you WJZ for this enlightening video. 😀
You know I'm getting old when I can remember the change from WAAM to WJZ in 1957 when Westinghouse bought the station and changed the call letters.
The Buddy Dean show . My older brother went on that show once .
Now one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
My late beloved Uncle Joe worked for Koppers Co in Baltimore for over 30 years! Thank you WJZ and Joseph Hewes for posting!
My Grandfather worked at the Koppers in the 1920's thru 1955 on Poppleton Street in Pigtown.His name was Vernon L. Lantz.He might have worked with your uncle.My grandfather later worked at Kemps and Company from 1955 to retirement in 1963.Sadly, The Koppers burned down in November 1986.
My dad worked at Koppers from 1971 to 1988. My grandmother was a single mom and raised two kids on her Koppers salary. She retired in 1984 with a PENSION!! Koppers became Kaydon in the 80s
"New York,Chicago,Philadelphia,Cleveland" so those are the big boys among American cities back in those days huh?
Well 2 of the 4 are still at the top
Look how far the city has fallen in 63 short years. I blame the demographic change, and LBJ era policy.
Soon the whole country will look like Baltimore does today.
Over 15,000. Border jumpers a day. With no end In sight.
America is pretty much finished.
This Will make the liberals so very happy.
Until reality of what they have done, starts to kick in.
They don't like weapons you see. So they will be the first to go. You might say low hanging fruit.
Thanks liberals. Looks like you're wet dream has arrived.
I moved to Baltimore (Curtis Bay)in 1975...it was a wonderfull blue collar and Safe neighborhood....in less than 25-35 yrs..it turned into a crime infested deadly toilet Bowl....All Big cities in America are Crime Infested now..its heart wrenching..This video confirms my mother's story of how Great Baltimore use to be....thanks for this Wonderful video of what a Great city that is now GONE FOREVER
At this point, the best part about Baltimore is it’s educational and medical institutions. And I’m not just saying that because I attend UMB Law school. I say it because schools like mine are what are maintaining a lot of the infrastructure and culture.
Very nice film about Baltimore and WJZ-TV from 1959. It mentions Buddy Deane and his popular teen dance show (1957-64), prominent newsman Keith McBee and Jack Wells. Royal Parker began his long TV career at Thirteen as children's host, newscaster and staff announcer.
That WJZ 13 antenna tower is in the neighborhood of Woodberry and Hamden I grew up seeing it constantly (or so it seemed).
Deane...the real life model for Corny Collins in HAIRSPRAY
@@jamesphillips496 That is where Television Hill is located.
@@tomservo56954 Interestingly, an on air incident on "The Buddy Deane Show" is what led John Waters to helm "Hairspray" as a movie. Sometime in 1963, the show actually booked a church group from New York that was
actually integrated. Deane usually had a "guest day" usually reserved for
black teens. This group actually danced on the air. The switchboard at
Thirteen blew a big fuse. Fans saw a jaw-dropping event Deane did
not expect. WJZ-TV received bomb scares and death threats days
after this broadcast took place. Deane and his team of producers
could not come up with a way to properly to integrate his program,
and in January of 1964, Deane retired his show.
@@armorybrunotjr.3204 I had cousins that danced on that show I remember that incident your talking about.
A once clean, safe, socially trusting society. Look who the current groups of people back then and look at the current groups now - hopefully you can put your reflexes aside and take a good look at yourself and your communities.
I noticed on the highway there were scant amount of cars lol
I was 10 years old and lived in Baltimore. The city was a safe place to live. Today I wouldn’t set foot in Baltimore City.
Im dying to move to baltimore.... found the perfect job listing.... wish me luck..... been missing crabs n beer!
Knyght Ryder get your gun license.
@@monjiaitaly Nah I dont fight... I use witchcraft. Plus from my experience living in crime filled urban areas, its more likely people with guns using guns... die from guns like cigarettes. But thanks for tip!!
@@knyghtryder3599 good luck with that thinking.
@@raegruder4626 Woa bro ask me are you doubting my witchrcraft ? R u ? Jk thanx 4 the advice and opinion. Much respect !
Do yourself a favor if you can afford it, live in Baltimore county not Baltimore City
The homes here, used to be someones pride and joy! People would sit out scrubbing their marble steps, cook outs, walking all around. Look at it today. :(
My mom was born in 1959. We are proud Baltimorians.
"Baltimore is a family town" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣