There Were Giants In Those Days

Referencing the debate that’s continuing over on Blogging.la in conjunction with my L.A. Times column, L.A. City Nerd points out how the more things change the more they stay the same via this 110-year-old clip, a very short segment made on Spring Street in Los Angeles by Thomas Edison in 1897* showing the thoroughfare all a-bustle with several types of horse-drawn conveyances, a trolley, some pedestrians and then rolling along comes a lone cyclist, in bike laneless traffic riding like it’s his right to be there (click to enlarge):

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My hero.

* The clip’s webpage indicates the film was copyrighted in 1898, but about 11 seconds in flashes a marker that indicates it was filmed on August 31, 1897.Â