A tour of the city of Havana, Cuba in the 1930s filmed by Andre de la Varre. Footage from this subject is available for licensing from www.globalimageworks.com
Watching this in July of 2021... I'm an American and so wish that the Cuban people will take back their country and restore it to its earlier days...What a beautiful place and i say thank you to the wonderful Cuban people that have contributed so much to the American culture.
Que hermosa ciudad. Soy argentina. No sabia que Cuba era tan hermosa. Pero en realidad, no me sorprende para nada. Vivo en Los Angeles y los cubanos que conozco son un reflejo de la hermosa ciudad. Gente fina, culta que encajan perfectamente con una ciudad asi. Deseo de corazon que algun dia Cuba vuelva a ser lo que fue.
La radio en Cuba comienza transmisiones en 1922. En 1928 Cuba tenía ya 61 EMISORAS DE RADIO, 43 de ellas en la Habana, ocupando el CUARTO LUGAR DEL MUNDO, superada solamente por E.U., Canadá y la Unión Soviética. Fue Cuba, la PRIMERA EN EL MUNDO en número de emisoras por número de habitantes y extensión territorial. En 1959 contaba con 161 estaciones de radio. (Publicado en: The Leage of Nations Yearbook, hoy, The United Nations) Informes sobre el crecimiento de las naciones.
Espectacular! el Desarrollo de Cuba en los anios 30' la verdad que era la ciudad latinoamericana mas desarrollada de la epoca!! Me facina mucho la verdad
En 1930 habia mas trafico que ahora que pena eso dice mucho del sistema actual. Mas autos circulando que en 2014, todo bien cuidado y pintado, las personas vestidas con trajes que comparado ahora todo es un desastre
Una joya este documental. Me hace recordar todas las cosas de las que me hablaba mi abuela con añoranza. Una Habana que pocos conocimos. Bella mi Habana!
Here's a UNESCO report on Cuba circa 1957: "One feature of the Cuban social structure is a large middle class," it starts. "Cuban workers are more unionized". The average wage for an 8-hour day in Cuba in 1957 is higher than for workers in Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany. Cuban labor receives 66.6 per cent of gross national income. In the U.S. the figure is 70 per cent, in Switzerland 64 per cent. 44 per cent of Cubans are covered by social legislation, a higher percentage than in the U.S."
Nací en 1935, no viví ese año 1930, pero veo a mis compatriotas con cuello y corbata, sombrero y las mujeres bien vestidas, todo parece indicar que vivian mejor que los de ahora. Es decir seguro estoy que hemos envolucionado bastante. Basta ver los video de la Habana Vieja actual y compararla con la de antes.
Viendo esas imagenes de la Cuba pujante explendorosa jovial llena de vida que invitaba a soñar y ver la realidad actual,donde abunda la sosobra la insertidumbre el pesimismo la verdad que dan ganas de llorar.
Ver una Habana asi nos enorgullece como cubanos ¡qué triste habernos dejado perderla por haber sido víctimas de la Gran Estafa! Ojalá este video haga reflexionar a quienes están ciegos aún con promesas de los nuevos "Fidel Castro" de Amèrica Latina.., Quien ve esta imagen prerrevolucionaria y visita hoy La Habana no puede comprender lo que pasó en estos últimos 50 años ... los ojos se secan de tanto llorar. Por esas calles caminaron vestidos de trajes elegantes nuestros abuelos.
Wow, I just saw some of these places and the roads have pot holes you can fall into and pieces of cement cover the floors of these buildings as they have fallen off the walls & ceilings...How sad, they have no money for cement & paint.....
Mack Lack not only for cement and paint, but even for food. From being one of the richest country of the Antilles, and even South America, to a 3rd world country. That’s the “CHANGES” Communism bring everywhere it is practice.
You know I went to film school down there in florida and I fell in love with the cuban population. Never have I met a more passionate people especially the cigar owners that are from Miami. As far as moving there i'm all for it and for having great neighbors.
Querid@s cuban@s: Feliz Año 2012 y NO olvidéis nunca que, pase lo que pase en el futuro, lo mejor que ha tenido, tiene y tendrá Cuba es SU GENTE: un pueblo envidiable y digno del respeto y la admiración del resto del mundo. Un abrazo.
I'm a New Orleans resident and The French Quarter looks somewhat similar to Havana. Now understand most of the original "French Quarter " burnt down. Most of the architecture you see there is Spanish.
Conocí una señora Mexicana que visitó Cuba en la década de los cuarentas. Me acuerdo que me dijo que lo paso muy contenta en la Habana; la gente muy amable y disfruto su viaje. Preciosa arquitectura clásica.
I am Canadian and I have a Cuban trained doctor..He is very good.. We both benefit from the technology and innovation that comes from the USA.. That said Cuba was on par with the USA before the revolution.. now it is way behind..
Great documentary! It's almost unbelievable that Havana was such a sophisticated city back then! But one thing I woukd like to point out, that whether it's because of tourist influx or whatever, the grandeur of Havana has been almost restored. It's pretty much the same now from historical point of view. But I admit that still there are many parts of the city that require attention.
to all those people who posted comments on cubans being racist towards black cubans, well as a white cuban let me say that we LOVE the black and mulato cubans the same. My best friend throughout my entire childhood was a black cuban. In cuba people dont diferenciate between races, its like one big family and we just see people as "Cuban" not by color. I cant speak for everyone but that is how it is in CUBA, not USA, its dif. here.
Thank you so much for your kind comments about Cuba before the revolution. It is rare that anti-Castro Cubans get such nice and thoughtfull support as yours. Sometimes, we feel alone in this, thanks for showing us we are not completely alone!
Muy bueno este video ,nunca habia visto a la habana asi, tan limpia ,las calles sin huecos, todo ordenado ,las personas bien bestidas ,todos los hombres con trajes,pero nada a quedado de esa habana tan bella,ese rejimen la tiene destruida ,o sino comparen ustedes mismo.
i love cuba. cubans are soooooooooooooooooo nice ! great people. beautiful vibrant country. and i don't know much about politics, but even if they are poor, there is no poverty like u see in mexico or the us where people kill for 5 bucks. people seem happy in cuba with what they do have and just always vibrant and inviting and smiling and rich in ways our america/nort america can never accomplish.
Las imágenes evidencian un nivel de vida y elegancia superior al actual; la época de mis bisabuelos Demetrio Foyo del Valle y Teresa Cuétara Salas, cuyos restos reposan en el conocido cementerio Colón de la Habana que se ha podido ver en el reportaje. Confío que algún día se recupere el bienestar perdido.
Se ve claramente que La Habana de los 30 estaba habitada por blancos, digo, si la comparamos con la habana del siglo XXI donde se ve obviamente un mestizaje más marcado. La ciudad se veía en muy buenas condiciones comparada con la de hoy día.
En La Habana había una docena de casinos, y el país tenía un bajísimo índice de enfermedades venéreas, lo que demuestra que no podía ser un prostíbulo de nadie. No obstante, como viejo y activo puerto de mar, la capital tenía una zona de tolerancia semejante (aunque menor) que la que hay en Barcelona. El turismo de EEUU, por otra parte, solía ser familiar.
Cuba era, como se decia en esos tiempos, UNA TACITA DE ORO, entonces todo el que tenia medios, iba a Cuba a iniciar su negocio, cosa que daba trabajo a muchisima gente, y asi ocurria con muchas familias cubanas pudientes, que tambien tenian sus negocios. Eran fabricas, grandes monopolios, industrias de todo tipo, en fin, todo tipo de negocios que hacian de la vida del cubano de entonces, algo agradable, tenian trabajo, tiendas, bodegas y almacenes repletos de todo tipo de mercancias, lo mismo ropa, que tela, articulos domesticos, en fin, de todo. Habia pobreza, por supuesto, como en todos los paises del mundo, litigios politicos, gobiernos de quita y pon, golpes de estado, y gente rebelde que protestaba, quemaba guaguas, hacia marchas, etc. COMO EN TODOS LADOS DEL PLANETA. Llego la desgracia desde la Sierra Maestra a formar el caos con la promesa de que todo seria para el pueblo, hubo intervenciones, nacionalizaciones, gente sin trabajo, LOS GRANDES CAPITALISTAS SE FUERON DEL PAIS Y AQUELLO FUE LO MAS HORRIBLE QUE PUDO SUCEDER JAMAS. EL ESTADO, PROMETIENDO VILLAS Y CASTILLAS, ENGAÑO Y TRAICIONO AL PUEBLO QUE LO ACLAMO. y aquellos negocios, al pasar al Estado, con interventores que llegaron a todo lo nacionalizado e intervenido a LLEVARSE TODO LO QUE PODIAN, pero resulto que fue peor el remedio que la enfermedad. Conclusion: Que es Cuba en ese sentido hoy en dia? TODO VOLVIO A LA EDAD DE PIEDRA....
Cuban women got three months of paid maternity leave. I repeat, this was in the 1930s. Cuba, a country 71 percent white in 1957, was completely desegregated 30 years before Rosa Parks was dragged off that Birmingham bus and handcuffed. In 1958 Cuba had more female college graduates per capita than the U.S.
@johnnynoirman I know the time codes are annoying, but we are primarily a stock footage library and our customers need them. It would be too expensive for us to re-digitize the films without the codes just for this channel.
I am half european and half american, and have lived all over the world. My father is posted in cuba, and I have spent months there, and I tell you what: things aren't that bad. No one is "in rags", there are no beggars, everyone is healthy and everyone is educated. Crime is literally nonexistant, and people are all warm and happy. It's a country ravaged not by tyranny but by outdated stigmas and a powerful neighbor that refuses to let go of past rivalries.
This film brings me back to the stories my grandparents used to tell me about a beutiful city full of happy proud people that had worked very hard to build and maintain this City.It reminds me of my hard worker middle class grandfather who lost everything he had worked for , to a bunch of parasites that destroyed his rightfully earned properties in a blink without regards.
@Georg0090 I am a white american and i love afro-cuban music. It is what gives cuba its flavour and afrocuban jazz is awesome too. Without those cuba would loose its charm and be like boring europe.
For some, yes. Certainly the tourists that used it as their playground and the richer white Cubans and a few, select others. Most of the black population was impoverished. Or do you think Castro won because the populace was so happy and faithful to the existing regime under Batista, aka. El Carnicero (The Butcher)? Is Cuba right today? Nope. Lots of problems. But it was no panacea before Castro either. Nothing is ever that simple.
*****, Cuba is a disaster zone. Socialism is a system of failure and robs people of their freedom, property, and creativity. It is a horrible system to be forced to live under. Communist Germany was held in by a wall. Communist Cuba is held in by shark infested Atlantic Ocean. Escape is not easy, especially now that America has a policy of returning Cubans attempting to escape and caught at sea. Don't see any Americans trying to escape to Cuba, not even the poor in Haiti have any desire to escape to Cuba. It is a miserable place to live.
Patrick McCarron Well said Patrick. Its amazing to me how some ppl who have never been to Cuba or had a conversation with Cubans can believe the propaganda that communist regime spews out...
Wow, me quede con la boca abierta cuando vi este video, pues no tiene nada que envidiarle a la Costa Azul (Côte d'Azur), en el sureste frances también conocido como la Riviera francesa, My tierra, was truly more AMAZING, than I ever imagined. Wish I've been in that era, before, Fidel came to destroy it!
Glad to read your point of view. As for me, I will not return while the reason for leaving Cuba is still there. It pains me because I may die without seeing Cuba again and my grown children and grandchild will never know it. I left in 1961.
I hope so too trust me. My parents were born there and I have visited on several occasions. It's one of the most depressing and beautiful places I have ever been to. If it ever does you and me can move there and be neighbors.
Oh last tid bit. Between staying with family we stayed at a hotel... Btw lovely 56k to send an email to my family in PR, anyways one day there was toilet paper and shampoo and the next none to be seen. When we asked they said "Se acabo" she explained that once it runs out it runs out until the next boat with supplies comes in. There is no abundance and life is tough. I really do hope for a free Cuba soon so I can go back and live on that BEAUTIFUL country.
It is no exaggeration to state that during the 1950's, the Cuban people were among the most informed in the world, living in an uncharacteristically large media market for such a small country. Cubans had a choice of 58 daily newspapers during the late 1950's, according to the UN statistical yearbook. Despite its small size, this placed Cuba behind only Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico in the region. By 1992, government controls had reduced the number of dailies to only 17.
Eso mismo pensé yo cuando visité Cuba este verano. Ahora podrían ser parte de la UE, a parte de tener todo de lo que presumen del sistema comunista: educación y cobertura médica universales, así como seguridad social. Que España hizo cosas mal, por supuesto, pero a mi modo de ver, es obvio que habría sido más ventajoso para Cuba seguir perteneciendo a la corona española.
Yo é vivido la mitad de mi vida en Cuba y los Estados Unidos. Ver esto me incomoda porque es increíble como un hombre logró transformar de manera tan horrenda a mi país. Tan hermosa que se veía antes, parecía que solo tenía un buen futuro por delante y hoy en día la peste, escasez, sudor y hambre es lo único que queda. También entiendo que antes la situación no era perfecta pero no cabe duda que el cambio que pasó por Cuba no tuvo intención de mejorar la situación sino robarle a todos su libertad y esfuerzo para quedárselo. Y ami que nadie me venga a decir que lo que digo está mal, porque si lo dices es porque no eres un ser humano sino una escoria. Por supuesto no todos los que piensan diferente es porque son mala gente, sino porque el comunismo les a lavado el cerebro. / I’ve lived half of my life in Cuba and the other half in the USA. Watching this is super painful as it is unbelievable to see how a single men was able to transform my country in such a horrendous way.
No. No todos eramos ricos. Pero se vivia con felicidad y en familia. Tengo recuerdos bellos de mi niñez que guardo con afecto. La diferencia es que hoy se acabo la riqueza de un pais que un dia fue una joya del caribe. Queda una nacion indigente y opresa. Comentarios como el suyo nacen de su ignorancia. Lo que sucedio en Cuba es una tragedia que ha durado demasiados años. Es el cancer que ha destruido mi patria, y continua haciendo estragos. Eso es lo que usted encuentra chistoso?
Brings much nostalgia as to how the Cuba before Castro lives only in memories and what was filmed before 1959, Castro's take over....tyranny for decades...
Cuba's exports in 1958 far exceeded those of Chile and Colombia, countries which have since left Cuba behind. The lack of diversification of Cuba's exports over the past 35 years also is remarkable, when compared with other countries in the region.
I have elderly relatives who sound EXACTLY like the narrator. Finishing schools and boarding schools (where Elocution was taught) had a great deal to do with that mode of speech, I'm sure. Is there a name for that accent?
I will let Cubans (exiled or still living in Cuba) to decide what to do with their government but I will say this: I don't care for any dictator, but I love Cuba and I love Cubans. God bless Cuba and its sons and daughters!
The health care system is often touted by many analysts as one of the Castro government's greatest achievements. What this analysis ignores is that the revolutionary government inherited an already-advanced health sector when it took power in 1959.
Trok Cuba's food consumption collapsed, when massive amounts of Soviet aid were gone. On its own, Cuban agriculture was paralyzed: scarcity of inputs and NO production incentives due to collectivism. In pre-59 Cuba, by contrast, food supplies were abundant. The 1960 UN Stat yearbook ranked pre-59Cuba third out of 11 Latin American nations in per capita daily caloric consumption. Today, Cuba ranks last! Cuba also ranks last in terms of export growth below even Haiti. UNREAL!
If you tour Havana today, you'll get taken to see all these same sights. And most of them look the same now as they did then, although much of Havana is very rundown. Almost no new large buildings have been built since 1958, so the old buildings haven't been replaced. You won't see any well-stocked store windows today, like at 3:52, nor any of the large signs. The USS Maine monument is still there, but the American eagle at the top (6:14) was symbolically demolished in the early '60s.
La Habana es un apasionante estudio nos muestra una ciudad llena de lujos, de música, de una fastuosa vida nocturna, entre casinos, burdeles y cabarets, y el más delirante tráfico de drogas y la iseria material del pueblo cubano. Una Habana conocida como “El Paris del Caribe”, frecuentada por célebres estrellas de Hollywood y temibles mafiosos. Una ciudad dominada por las estructuras delincuenciales de Meyer Lansky, el financiero de la mafia norteamericana, Lucky Luciano.Anastasia y otros.
@Nigralurker Or the fact that Cuba was under an economic and trade blockade, orchestrated by the US and was constantly being threatened with invasion and even by nuclear attack. I'd want a strong deterrent in that situation. Btw the USSR only backed down in Cuba, when the US agreed to stop deploying missiles on the USSR border, in Turkey...
Looks nice - but then so did Mussolini's Italy and Franco's Spain. The film treats Cuba as a playground for US tourists and says nothing about the economic and political turmoil of the time.
The amazing thing about this film is that I did not see a single BLACK Cuban? I just got back from 2 weeks in Cuba and cannot imagine how and where this 1930s film was taken to get that kind of 'result'
Look, I was actually taking a shot at America, and white film makers who tended to sanitize this stuff. There is an interesting film of New York during roughly the same time period and they showed zero blacks in their tour of the boroughs except like 30 seconds of the prettiest parts of Harlem. Cuba looks like it a beautiful place and I wish I could go there. I meant no disrespect. No need for shouting.
@empressofthefrench Good to know that. My maternal greatgrandfather was Cuban. I have many Cuban friends and I also hope to go there one day. God bless Cuba.
@IslenoGutierrez Is this all you get from this video? This is a testimony to the vibrant beauty the island of Cuba was during that era. The city of Havana breathed fresh life. Sadly, The Cuba of the present is unrecognizable to the Cuba of the past.
As a person born and living in Miami I talk to many Cubans who were born under the dictatorship of castro and who lived their whole lives there and recently arrived in Miami and they have shown me pictures and told me stories about the horrible healthcare in cuba and even the schooling situation.(its not free when the government makes you pay by working for free in certain of their projects like cutting sugar cane etc)but tourists have the best health care in Cuba.How can that be?
henrypollack From one Cuban to another. YOU'RE WELCOME!!! Ya me tiene boracha este delirante con tantas anormalidades que dice. BTW, Love your video of Cuba.
(4) Historia, Cumbre de la Mafia en Cuba En diciembre de 1946 en el Hotel Nacional de La Habana, Cuba se realizó uno de los más cruciales encuentros de todos los capos mafiosos de los Estados Unidos y de aquellos que se ocupaban de sus negocios en la Isla. Este acontecimiento histórico llegó a ser aún más importante por la participación de uno de los más famosos Capo di Tutti di Capi del crimen organizado Lucky Luciano,
![Harlem, New York 1930s in color, [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zyD3HbpvTNs/mqdefault.jpg)
Watching this in July of 2021... I'm an American and so wish that the Cuban people will take back their country and restore it to its earlier days...What a beautiful place and i say thank you to the wonderful Cuban people that have contributed so much to the American culture.
And the USA ruined it
@Fluor66 Thank you. The city became even better, always in that european stile, until the plague arrived in 1959.
Que hermosa ciudad. Soy argentina. No sabia que Cuba era tan hermosa. Pero en realidad, no me sorprende para nada. Vivo en Los Angeles y los cubanos que conozco son un reflejo de la hermosa ciudad. Gente fina, culta que encajan perfectamente con una ciudad asi. Deseo de corazon que algun dia Cuba vuelva a ser lo que fue.
Images speak louder than words! Gracias por compartir estos recuerdos. La gente está tan ignorante sobre lo que fue Cuba. 🇨🇺❤
No reason for arguments. Architecture speaks for itself!!!!!
Thank you for sharing this, now i know the Cuba my Grandfather is always talking about!
Your grandfather was lucky he got to see this Cuba before it all went up in smoke
Maravlloso testimonio histórico. Parece difícil creerlo.
BELIEVED MY GRANDPARENTS LIVE IT
La radio en Cuba comienza transmisiones en 1922. En 1928 Cuba tenía ya 61 EMISORAS DE RADIO, 43 de ellas en la Habana, ocupando el CUARTO LUGAR DEL MUNDO, superada solamente por E.U., Canadá y la Unión Soviética. Fue Cuba, la PRIMERA EN EL MUNDO en número de emisoras por número de habitantes y extensión territorial. En 1959 contaba con 161 estaciones de radio. (Publicado en: The Leage of Nations Yearbook, hoy, The United Nations) Informes sobre el crecimiento de las naciones.
Espectacular! el Desarrollo de Cuba en los anios 30' la verdad que era la ciudad latinoamericana mas desarrollada de la epoca!! Me facina mucho la verdad
En 1930 habia mas trafico que ahora que pena eso dice mucho del sistema actual. Mas autos circulando que en 2014, todo bien cuidado y pintado, las personas vestidas con trajes que comparado ahora todo es un desastre
Muchacho,lo caminho de lá democracia eres lo haiti ou una invasione estadunidense
Ahora todo lo que se ve es destrucción miseria, mugre y tristeza.
Una joya este documental. Me hace recordar todas las cosas de las que me hablaba mi abuela con añoranza. Una Habana que pocos conocimos. Bella mi Habana!
mirando películas de que linda estaba mi país
Here's a UNESCO report on Cuba circa 1957: "One feature of the Cuban social structure is a large middle class," it starts. "Cuban workers are more unionized". The average wage for an 8-hour day in Cuba in 1957 is higher than for workers in Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany. Cuban labor receives 66.6 per cent of gross national income. In the U.S. the figure is 70 per cent, in Switzerland 64 per cent. 44 per cent of Cubans are covered by social legislation, a higher percentage than in the U.S."
Nací en 1935, no viví ese año 1930, pero veo a mis compatriotas con cuello y corbata, sombrero y las mujeres bien vestidas, todo parece indicar que vivian mejor que los de ahora. Es decir seguro estoy que hemos envolucionado bastante. Basta ver los video de la Habana Vieja actual y compararla con la de antes.
Viendo esas imagenes de la Cuba pujante explendorosa jovial llena de vida que invitaba a soñar y ver la realidad actual,donde abunda la sosobra la insertidumbre el pesimismo la verdad que dan ganas de llorar.
Great historic film. Thanks for posting.
Ver una Habana asi nos enorgullece como cubanos ¡qué triste habernos dejado perderla por haber sido víctimas de la Gran Estafa! Ojalá este video haga reflexionar a quienes están ciegos aún con promesas de los nuevos "Fidel Castro" de Amèrica Latina.., Quien ve esta imagen prerrevolucionaria y visita hoy La Habana no puede comprender lo que pasó en estos últimos 50 años ... los ojos se secan de tanto llorar. Por esas calles caminaron vestidos de trajes elegantes nuestros abuelos.
Thanks,very interesting to see the Cuba of old.
Make Cuba Great Again #MCGA
i don't wanna sound ignorant but im from puerto rico and i think that us and cubans are so much alike, maybe thats why i get along with them so well.
Wow, I just saw some of these places and the roads have pot holes you can fall into and pieces of cement cover the floors of these buildings as they have fallen off the walls & ceilings...How sad, they have no money for cement & paint.....
Mack Lack not only for cement and paint, but even for food. From being one of the richest country of the Antilles, and even South America, to a 3rd world country. That’s the “CHANGES” Communism bring everywhere it is practice.
You know I went to film school down there in florida and I fell in love with the cuban population. Never have I met a more passionate people especially the cigar owners that are from Miami. As far as moving there i'm all for it and for having great neighbors.
Querid@s cuban@s: Feliz Año 2012 y NO olvidéis nunca que, pase lo que pase en el futuro, lo mejor que ha tenido, tiene y tendrá Cuba es SU GENTE: un pueblo envidiable y digno del respeto y la admiración del resto del mundo. Un abrazo.
I'm a New Orleans resident and The French Quarter looks somewhat similar to Havana. Now understand most of the original "French Quarter " burnt down. Most of the architecture you see there is Spanish.
Me hace recordar a Lima en sus mejores tiempos...
Conocí una señora Mexicana que visitó Cuba en la década de los cuarentas. Me acuerdo que me dijo que lo paso muy contenta en la Habana; la gente muy amable y disfruto su viaje. Preciosa arquitectura clásica.
I wish i lived in Cuba at that time....how beautiful
I am Canadian and I have a Cuban trained doctor..He is very good.. We both benefit from the technology and innovation that comes from the USA..
That said Cuba was on par with the USA before the revolution.. now it is way behind..
Esto es como un viaje el una nave del PASADO
Great documentary! It's almost unbelievable that Havana was such a sophisticated city back then! But one thing I woukd like to point out, that whether it's because of tourist influx or whatever, the grandeur of Havana has been almost restored. It's pretty much the same now from historical point of view. But I admit that still there are many parts of the city that require attention.
Thank you, as a Cuban, thank you for saying it like it is!
to all those people who posted comments on cubans being racist towards black cubans, well as a white cuban let me say that we LOVE the black and mulato cubans the same. My best friend throughout my entire childhood was a black cuban. In cuba people dont diferenciate between races, its like one big family and we just see people as "Cuban" not by color. I cant speak for everyone but that is how it is in CUBA, not USA, its dif. here.
Thank you so much for your kind comments about Cuba before the revolution. It is rare that anti-Castro Cubans get such nice and thoughtfull support as yours. Sometimes, we feel alone in this, thanks for showing us we are not completely alone!
Muy bueno este video ,nunca habia visto a la habana asi, tan limpia ,las calles sin huecos, todo ordenado ,las personas bien bestidas ,todos los hombres con trajes,pero nada a quedado de esa habana tan bella,ese rejimen la tiene destruida ,o sino comparen ustedes mismo.
Could be such a great place. Tourism, plantations, exports. But, greatness was denied. Too bad.
Fidel...what a great man, eh? These people in the video look so desperate and sad, unlike today. (sarcasm)
"Donde hay muchos hombres sin decoro hay hombres que llevan en si el decoro de muchos" José Marti.
Descanse en paz Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
I looked up this quote, and it seems to have been bastardized as warning in favor of communism. rather than a warning against despot rule.
Este DIABLO nos destrozo la vida
i love cuba. cubans are soooooooooooooooooo nice ! great people. beautiful vibrant country. and i don't know much about politics, but even if they are poor, there is no poverty like u see in mexico or the us where people kill for 5 bucks. people seem happy in cuba with what they do have and just always vibrant and inviting and smiling and rich in ways our america/nort america can never accomplish.
Right. And that is the reason why millions are crossing our Southern border illegally. They have a strong desire to be miserable in America.
Las imágenes evidencian un nivel de vida y elegancia superior al actual; la época de mis bisabuelos Demetrio Foyo del Valle y Teresa Cuétara Salas, cuyos restos reposan en el conocido cementerio Colón de la Habana que se ha podido ver en
el reportaje. Confío que algún día se recupere el bienestar perdido.
Se ve claramente que La Habana de los 30 estaba habitada por blancos, digo, si la comparamos con la habana del siglo XXI donde se ve obviamente un mestizaje más marcado. La ciudad se veía en muy buenas condiciones comparada con la
de hoy día.
arcelio ballesteros por este tipo de racismo los cubanos terminamos con Castro.
Son hispanos.
Necesitamos el video en espanol por favor. Gracias
This is awesome!
En La Habana había una docena de casinos, y el país tenía un bajísimo índice de enfermedades venéreas, lo que demuestra que no podía ser un prostíbulo de nadie. No obstante, como viejo y activo puerto de mar, la capital tenía una zona de tolerancia semejante (aunque menor) que la que hay en Barcelona. El turismo de EEUU, por otra parte, solía ser familiar.
Cuba era, como se decia en esos tiempos, UNA TACITA DE ORO, entonces todo el que tenia medios, iba a Cuba a iniciar su negocio, cosa que daba trabajo a muchisima gente, y asi ocurria con muchas familias cubanas pudientes, que tambien tenian sus negocios. Eran fabricas, grandes monopolios, industrias de todo tipo, en fin, todo tipo de negocios que hacian de la vida del cubano de entonces, algo agradable, tenian trabajo, tiendas, bodegas y almacenes repletos de todo tipo de mercancias, lo mismo ropa, que tela, articulos domesticos, en fin, de todo. Habia pobreza, por supuesto, como en todos los paises del mundo, litigios politicos, gobiernos de quita y pon, golpes de estado, y gente rebelde que protestaba, quemaba guaguas, hacia marchas, etc. COMO EN TODOS LADOS DEL PLANETA.
Llego la desgracia desde la Sierra Maestra a formar el caos con la promesa de que todo seria para el pueblo, hubo intervenciones, nacionalizaciones, gente sin trabajo, LOS GRANDES CAPITALISTAS SE FUERON DEL PAIS Y AQUELLO FUE LO MAS HORRIBLE QUE PUDO SUCEDER JAMAS.
EL ESTADO, PROMETIENDO VILLAS Y CASTILLAS, ENGAÑO Y TRAICIONO AL PUEBLO QUE LO ACLAMO.
y aquellos negocios, al pasar al Estado, con interventores que llegaron a todo lo nacionalizado e intervenido a LLEVARSE TODO LO QUE PODIAN, pero resulto que fue peor el remedio que la enfermedad.
Conclusion: Que es Cuba en ese sentido hoy en dia? TODO VOLVIO A LA EDAD DE PIEDRA....
Cuban women got three months of paid maternity leave. I repeat, this was in the 1930s. Cuba, a country 71 percent white in 1957, was completely desegregated 30 years before Rosa Parks was dragged off that Birmingham bus and handcuffed. In 1958 Cuba had more female college graduates per capita than the U.S.
Que tristeza, hoy en día, parece que por Cuba paso un tornado y lo arrazo todo.
@johnnynoirman I know the time codes are annoying, but we are primarily a stock footage library and our customers need them. It would be too expensive for us
to re-digitize the films without the codes just for this channel.
nos jodimos en otras palabras nos toco bailar con la mas fea y los que no lo vean de esa forma que elegua les ayude.
I am half european and half american, and have lived all over the world. My father is posted in cuba, and I have spent months there, and I tell you what: things aren't that bad. No one is "in rags", there are no beggars, everyone is healthy and everyone is educated. Crime is literally nonexistant, and people are all warm and happy. It's a country ravaged not by tyranny but by outdated stigmas and a powerful neighbor that refuses to let go of past rivalries.
Did not age well 😢
esto video lo converti y algun listo lo colgo, me meti en un lio pero al carajo, hay que verlo
42trombone
Thanks for your words of support for our people.
God bless you!
This film brings me back to the stories my grandparents used to tell me about a beutiful city full of happy proud people that had worked very hard to build and maintain this City.It reminds me of my hard worker middle class grandfather who lost everything he had worked for , to a bunch of parasites that destroyed his rightfully earned properties in a blink without regards.
@Georg0090 I am a white american and i love afro-cuban music. It is what gives cuba its flavour and afrocuban jazz is awesome too. Without those cuba would loose its charm and be like boring europe.
Cuba was such a nice place before Castro.
For some, yes. Certainly the tourists that used it as their playground and the richer white Cubans and a few, select others. Most of the black population was impoverished. Or do you think Castro won because the populace was so happy and faithful to the existing regime under Batista, aka. El Carnicero (The Butcher)? Is Cuba right today? Nope. Lots of problems. But it was no panacea before Castro either. Nothing is ever that simple.
*****, Cuba is a disaster zone. Socialism is a system of failure and robs people of their freedom, property, and creativity. It is a horrible system to be forced to live under. Communist Germany was held in by a wall. Communist Cuba is held in by shark infested Atlantic Ocean. Escape is not easy, especially now that America has a policy of returning Cubans attempting to escape and caught at sea. Don't see any Americans trying to escape to Cuba, not even the poor in Haiti have any desire to escape to Cuba. It is a miserable place to live.
Patrick McCarron You are right! I have been there two years ago. I saw one of the saddest situation I've ever seen. People so poor.
Patrick McCarron
Well said Patrick. Its amazing to me how some ppl who have never been to Cuba or had a conversation with Cubans can believe the propaganda that communist regime spews out...
not for everybody...
Not only the scenery, but the people then somehow looked different than the people in Cuba today.
Wow, me quede con la boca abierta cuando vi este video, pues no tiene nada que envidiarle a la Costa Azul (Côte d'Azur), en el sureste frances también conocido como la Riviera francesa,
My tierra, was truly more AMAZING, than I ever imagined.
Wish I've been in that era, before, Fidel came to destroy it!
Glad to read your point of view. As for me, I will not return while the reason for leaving Cuba is still there. It pains me because I may die without seeing Cuba again and my grown children and grandchild will never know it. I left in 1961.
It make me so SAD, that the country I was born in was so BEAUTIFUL!! I LOVE MY CUBA!!!😤
I hope so too trust me. My parents were born there and I have visited on several occasions. It's one of the most depressing and beautiful places I have ever been to. If it ever does you and me can move there and be neighbors.
LA HABANA ERA SUPERIOR A TODOS LOS PAISES DE LA ZONA INCLUIDO ESTADOS UNIDOS ......ESA ENVIDIA SE CONVIRTIERON EN COMSPIRADORES
No entiendo qué quieres decir con ese comentario.
Oh last tid bit. Between staying with family we stayed at a hotel... Btw lovely 56k to send an email to my family in PR, anyways one day there was toilet paper and shampoo and the next none to be seen. When we asked they said "Se acabo" she explained that once it runs out it runs out until the next boat with supplies comes in. There is no abundance and life is tough. I really do hope for a free Cuba soon so I can go back and live on that BEAUTIFUL country.
when Cuba was great!!
Cuba was great when it kicked US out.
@@ildarkindibulatov Yeap, they kicked the US and then they turned into the great holeshit of the world. Please don't bark anymore, u dog commies.
It is no exaggeration to state that during the 1950's, the Cuban people were among the most informed in the world, living in an uncharacteristically large media market for such a small country. Cubans had a choice of 58 daily newspapers during the late 1950's, according to the UN statistical yearbook. Despite its small size, this placed Cuba behind only Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico in the region. By 1992, government controls had reduced the number of dailies to only 17.
Hay que independizarse de España para ser libres!!! 120 años después no parece que fuera buena idea...
100% de acuerdo,viva Cuba española!!.
Eso mismo pensé yo cuando visité Cuba este verano. Ahora podrían ser parte de la UE, a parte de tener todo de lo que presumen del sistema comunista: educación y cobertura médica universales, así como seguridad social. Que España hizo cosas mal, por supuesto, pero a mi modo de ver, es obvio que habría sido más ventajoso para Cuba seguir perteneciendo a la corona española.
Sería una autonomía más a los catalanes y vascos no les va nada mal
Yo é vivido la mitad de mi vida en Cuba y los Estados Unidos. Ver esto me incomoda porque es increíble como un hombre logró transformar de manera tan horrenda a mi país. Tan hermosa que se veía antes, parecía que solo tenía un buen futuro por delante y hoy en día la peste, escasez, sudor y hambre es lo único que queda. También entiendo que antes la situación no era perfecta pero no cabe duda que el cambio que pasó por Cuba no tuvo intención de mejorar la situación sino robarle a todos su libertad y esfuerzo para quedárselo. Y ami que nadie me venga a decir que lo que digo está mal, porque si lo dices es porque no eres un ser humano sino una escoria. Por supuesto no todos los que piensan diferente es porque son mala gente, sino porque el comunismo les a lavado el cerebro. / I’ve lived half of my life in Cuba and the other half in the USA. Watching this is super painful as it is unbelievable to see how a single men was able to transform my country in such a horrendous way.
JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA ERAN BLANCOS TODOS JAJAJAJA
QUE BELLA ERA CUBA Y QUE ADELANTADA ESTABA, LA HAN ATRASADO 3 SIGLOS
No. No todos eramos ricos. Pero se vivia con felicidad y en familia. Tengo recuerdos bellos de mi niñez que guardo con afecto.
La diferencia es que hoy se acabo la riqueza de un pais que un dia fue una joya del caribe. Queda una nacion indigente y opresa.
Comentarios como el suyo nacen de su ignorancia. Lo que sucedio en Cuba es una tragedia que ha durado demasiados años. Es el cancer que ha destruido mi patria, y continua haciendo estragos. Eso es lo que usted encuentra chistoso?
Yeah, I LOVE THAT IDEA!!!
Brings much nostalgia as to how the Cuba before Castro lives only in memories and what was filmed
before 1959, Castro's take over....tyranny for decades...
Cuba's exports in 1958 far exceeded those of Chile and Colombia, countries which have since left Cuba behind. The lack of diversification of Cuba's exports over the past 35 years also is remarkable, when compared with other countries in the region.
El comunismo fue una mala apuesta para Cuba
I have elderly relatives who sound EXACTLY like the narrator. Finishing schools and boarding schools (where Elocution was taught) had a great deal to do with that mode of speech, I'm sure. Is there a name for that accent?
transatlantic accent
La cagaste Fidel !!!
I will let Cubans (exiled or still living in Cuba) to decide what to do with their government but I will say this: I don't care for any dictator, but I love Cuba and I love Cubans. God bless Cuba and its sons and daughters!
Fidel Castro = Obama
Great video - thanks for sharing!
Cuba with less than 10 million of population in the late 50's was the best if not the best system in the world, no second to it.
When exactly was this filmed or do we not know? Cause my Great grandfather Leo visited Havana in 1933 I think.
La Habana la joya que más brillaba de Hispanoamérica, la primera en tener ferrocarril.
Hoy en día se cae a pedazos.
The health care system is often touted by many analysts as one of the Castro government's greatest achievements. What this analysis ignores is that the revolutionary government inherited an already-advanced health sector when it took power in 1959.
Trok
Cuba's food consumption collapsed, when massive amounts of Soviet aid were gone. On its own, Cuban agriculture was paralyzed: scarcity of inputs and NO production incentives due to collectivism. In pre-59 Cuba, by contrast, food supplies were abundant.
The 1960 UN Stat yearbook ranked pre-59Cuba third out of 11 Latin American nations in per capita daily caloric consumption. Today, Cuba ranks last! Cuba also ranks last in terms of export growth below even Haiti. UNREAL!
from romania it is a pleasure to see cuba you hawe a beutifoul country maybe someday i will visit this beutyfoul country :)
The good Cuba is gone with the communist regime Fidel Castro. Castro destroyed Cuba. #Google Cuba now.
If you tour Havana today, you'll get taken to see all these same sights. And most of them look the same now as they did then, although much of Havana is very rundown. Almost no new large buildings have been built since 1958, so the old buildings haven't been replaced.
You won't see any well-stocked store windows today, like at 3:52, nor any of the large signs.
The USS Maine monument is still there, but the American eagle at the top (6:14) was symbolically demolished in the early '60s.
La Habana es un apasionante estudio nos muestra una ciudad llena de lujos, de música, de una fastuosa vida nocturna, entre casinos, burdeles y cabarets, y el más delirante tráfico de drogas y la iseria material del pueblo cubano. Una Habana conocida como “El Paris del Caribe”, frecuentada por célebres estrellas de Hollywood y temibles mafiosos. Una ciudad dominada por las estructuras delincuenciales de Meyer Lansky, el financiero de la mafia norteamericana, Lucky Luciano.Anastasia y otros.
@Nigralurker Or the fact that Cuba was under an economic and trade blockade, orchestrated by the US and was constantly being threatened with invasion and even by nuclear attack. I'd want a strong deterrent in that situation. Btw the USSR only backed down in Cuba, when the US agreed to stop deploying missiles on the USSR border, in Turkey...
thanks for this video!
Looks nice - but then so did Mussolini's Italy and Franco's Spain. The film treats Cuba as a playground for US tourists and says nothing about the economic and political turmoil of the time.
The amazing thing about this film is that I did not see a single BLACK Cuban?
I just got back from 2 weeks in Cuba and cannot imagine how and where this 1930s film was taken to get that kind of 'result'
Look, I was actually taking a shot at America, and white film makers who tended to sanitize this stuff. There is an interesting film of New York during roughly the same time period and they showed zero blacks in their tour of the boroughs except like 30 seconds of the prettiest parts of Harlem.
Cuba looks like it a beautiful place and I wish I could go there. I meant no disrespect. No need for shouting.
A mi me hace acordar a Montevideo en esos mismos años. Tengo fotos de Montevideo de los años 30 y era PARECIDA a La Habana de esos años.
@empressofthefrench
Good to know that. My maternal greatgrandfather was Cuban. I have many Cuban friends and I also hope to go there one day. God bless Cuba.
@IslenoGutierrez Is this all you get from this video? This is a testimony to the vibrant beauty the island of Cuba was during that era. The city of Havana breathed fresh life. Sadly, The Cuba of the present is unrecognizable to the Cuba of the past.
It's sad that Cuba was so beautiful back then, now every building is in near-collapse and the people are starving.
Fantastic video, surprised by the quality of this vintage film.
The videos of Cuba in the 1930's look better then 2008.
As a person born and living in Miami I talk to many Cubans who were born under the dictatorship of castro and who lived their whole lives there and recently arrived in Miami and they have shown me pictures and told me stories about the horrible healthcare in cuba and even the schooling situation.(its not free when the government makes you pay by working for free in certain of their projects like cutting sugar cane etc)but tourists have the best health care in Cuba.How can that be?
henrypollack
From one Cuban to another.
YOU'RE WELCOME!!!
Ya me tiene boracha este delirante con tantas anormalidades que dice.
BTW, Love your video of Cuba.
(4) Historia,
Cumbre de la Mafia en Cuba
En diciembre de 1946 en el Hotel Nacional de La Habana, Cuba se realizó uno de los más cruciales encuentros de todos los capos mafiosos de los Estados Unidos y de aquellos que se ocupaban de sus negocios en la Isla. Este acontecimiento histórico llegó a ser aún más importante por la participación de uno de los más famosos Capo di Tutti di Capi del crimen organizado Lucky Luciano,
great video, thanks