Time lapse view of dawn breaking over Manhattan Island. Skyscrapers in New York City in 1958. People emerging from ferry to dock on their morning commute to work. Men and women pedestrians dressed in 1950s fashions cross streets as taxi cabs and 1950s era cars pass by. A man in coat and hat waiting at a bus stop, with a city bus stopped. Elevated views of pedestrians squeezing between stopped car bumbers at crowded intersections. Pigeons in a park. High Elevated views of pedestrians, traffic, crossroads, buildings, and skyscrapers of Manhattan skyline. Long views of many blocks of Manhattan buildings and streets. Shadows of tall skyscrapers falling across buildings and streets as dusk nears. Lights in skyscraper windows at night. Clouds in the background. Aerials of traffic at night. Timelapse view of sunset and night scenes in Manhattan.
Images of life and typical lifestyle in America in the 1950s, including work, leisure and recreation activities. American workers work in a steel plant. Worker with protective goggles near blast furnace at work. Men and women workers in factory assembly lines including a canning factory and a light bulb factory. Woman packaging completed light bulbs at manufacturing plant. Various machines performing heavy industrial labor in the United States. Station wagon assembled on a car assembly line in an American automobile factory. John Deere farm tractors rolling off assembly line. American men and women, white and African American, assembling electrical components. Workers exit their factory after work shift. Labor representatives and corporate managers of a American company in a collective bargaining meeting. Aerial view of a post-war residential suburban neighborhood. Street view in suburb as station wagon drives into driveway of home. Children and wife greet American man coming home after work. Vintage suburban scene with period-typical housewife and family image. Man reads to children in living room while woman sews. 1950s cars on an expressway highway as people go to see a baseball game on holidays. American people watch baseball and football games in stadium during holidays. Baseball scene is in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City. New York Yankee player with jersey number 8, Yogi Berra, is at bat. Yogi Berra gets a hit down deep down the 3rd base line. Next scene shows a football stadium with an American football game in progress. Scene changes to an American man fishing on a holiday. People working in their home gardens and seated on porches of their homes. American family on a picnic in public park, seated at a picnic table. A young child sleeps, napping during the picnic. Arts and culture: Men and women reading and studying at the Library of Congress. Views of various magazines and books read by Americans. Patrons view contemporary American paintings displayed in a art gallery or art museum. Young American sculptors sculpting in an art studio. Symphony Orchestra performs on stage as audience listens in a concert hall.
Americans listen to a chamber string quartet playing music on stage. Vintage views of various famous American cities in the 1950s. Sweeping wide views of American wilderness with mountains in distant background. Elevated view of a river in America. A railroad marshaling yard with skyline of Chicago Illinois in the distance. Close view of two railroad trains passing in opposite directions in downtown Chicago with skyscraper in background. A city street in downtown Detroit Michigan with 1950s cars on the road. View of the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis Minnesota and the city skyline in background. View of Saint Paul Minnesota with river, bridge, and some nearby factories. View of Saint Louis Missouri as seen from an anchored position on the Mississippi River. The city skyline of New Orleans from a distance. View of Pittsburgh skyline with the West End Bridge over the Ohio River in the foreground. People walk on the grounds of Liberty Island in New York, with the Statue of Liberty seen towering above. Aerial view of New York city's skyline, skyscrapers and New York harbor. Camera view panning from ground to top of Empire State Building in Manhattan. Aerial view of Washington DC and Potomac River. Ground view of Jefferson Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol seen together. Steps of Lincoln Memorial and view of statue of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln inside the memorial. An eastern American mountain view, witha lake or river in the foreground. View of Half Dome peak in Yosemite National Park seen from a moving vehicle. Elevated view of a dense forest in the western United States. Pacific coast scene of surf washing onto rocks in a rocky area with nearby cliffs and mountains.
Elevated and aerial views of downtown city of Chicago skyline in mid 1950s, including skyscrapers and various buildings. View of the O'Leary house landmark from which the Great Fire of Chicago is believed to have originated. Views of still images showing damaged buildings due to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Aerial view of the buildings. The buildings damaged by the fire. View of 1950s fire fighters demonstrating use of old manual pumper cart for fighting fires. The house of Mrs. O' Leary is set on fire to make space for a new boulevard being built in the area . Smoke rises from the building. Cars drive past on the street in front of the house while it is on fire with smoke pouring from windows.
Landmarks and street scenes in Hollywood and Los Angeles California circa 1950. People stand on streets of Los Angeles. A traffic light on the street with a sign reading 'Stop'. Cars and buses on the roads. Pedestrians cross streets. Red Cross flags fly from many buildings on the street. A street car or trolley passes. View of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Heavy traffic on freeway and streets of Los Angeles, as seen from street corners and point of view shots from a moving vehicle. Cars on South Grand Avenue at the Biltmore Hotel (510 S. Grand Avenue Los Angeles). Smog visible in some of the scenes. View from inside descending rail car on the Los Angeles Incline Railway (Angel's Flight narrow gauge funicular railway) at 3rd and Hill Streets. Passengers on the other car pass as they ascend.
A view of shopping areas in Hollywood, Los Angeles California. A sign on a shop reads 'The liquor beer, coca coal, magazines and we never close'. Traffic on the Los Angeles street. Pedestrians and vehicles pass by. Hotel and shops on street. Building of 'Universal Pictures Company Inc' movie studio. A bus stands outside Universal Pictures Company. Interior of the bus. Cars parked in the background. A sign reads 'Main auto gate'. Bus passes by. A sign reads 'RKO Radio Pictures Inc.'. Posters near the sign of RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Radio Pictures. Advertisement for Walt Disney's 1950 Cinderella film.