I believe this footage to have been shot by my dad in the 1940s. Although it needs some tweaking, I found it interesting so I’m uploading the whole thing as-is, unedited.
I don’t know where in Mexico this is but perhaps someone better informed than I could offer a guess. I suspect that things there have changed enough that this footage is a curiosity if not of some minor historical interest.
About three minutes in there’s a bit of footage of some men thatching a roof, a process I’d never seen before.
Photographer as cultural anthropogist. Interesting the contrast between the primitive nature of the people’s daily life and the cathedral.
Pretty cool video. I thought it would be easy to identify the location based on the church/cathedral in the video, but no luck – and I spent more time than I should have looking (I don’t like failure when it comes to my research projects). Here are some other clues you could use to research:
– I’m guessing it’s actually in two parts with the transition at about the 2 minute mark – the first part is a city or major town, the second is rural countryside.
– The dark blue rebozo is characteristic of the mountainous area south and west of Mexico city, but that’s not dispositive. However, most of the women wearing them look more indigenous than european so I bet this is in the southern half of Mexico.
– Lots of shots of utility pots bundled up for transport – perhaps this city was a center for the manufacture of pottery.
Good luck!
I’m thinking Oaxaca, maybe.
Also we aren’t seeing certain tourist draws. There no Mayan ruins or Aztec ruins and no ocean.
Maybe your dad filmed those on the next roll.
The church at 1:47 is similar to the Church of Santo Domingo in Oaxaca. Definitely not the same though.
I have a PhD in Colonial Spanish Architecture from Trump University, btw.
That wasn’t the way my dad tended to travel.
I have some stills showing a street that’s a dead ringer for the street leading up to the church in Uruacan, about 300 klicks west of Mexico City. I think they may have been going to look at the volcano.
Some of the stills I know to be of Taxco which tallies with Andy’s remarks about dress.
“I have a PhD in Colonial Spanish Architecture from Trump University, btw.”
Well played!
The little girl in the church had a crown with feathers, that looks Aztec to me.
Now the descendants of those nimble guys up on the top of the roof threading thatch are working as roofers in the US, or as tree cutters.
thank you for posting, and i look forward to seeing more 🙂 love, ann