I always feel a tinge of sadness when I watch old footage like this. When I look at some of the people caught on camera, people that are obviously long gone, I can't help but wonder who they were and what their lives were like. They lived, they loved and they were loved by others. The fact that we'll never know them, that those frozen faces will forever remain anonymous, is kind of sad.

To Tim Peddy and The California Pioneers of Santa Clara County, I thank you for preserving this record of a time way before I was born. I love my home and I absolutely love the history of Sydney.

Thank goodness you saw the value in these old films. A lot of people would have thrown them out. Great to see Sydney as it was in the 1940s.

*KailuaKid* I was born May, 1943, went to primary school at "Our Lady Of Peace" in Gladesville, then on to secondary school at Marist Brothers "Villa Maria" at Hunters Hill. My first job was at Dymock's Book Arcade in George Street Sydney. Travelled to work on a double decker bus which came out of Ryde Depot to begin it's working day. I remember well bus number 2264, as it was the fastest. Other numbers spring to mind like 2149, 2083, and 2143. My favorite seat was the very front LHS on the top deck. I recall leaning to my right as the driver wheeled sharply into bus stops along Victoria road Drummoyne, as the top deck was above the footpath awnings and it appeared as if a collision was imminent . I rather think the reason 2264 was so fast, was because the driver was the proverbial lead foot, lol. Whist at Marist Brothers, my best friend and I picked up an NRMA map of the Sydney Metropolitan Area, and each Saturday we'd set out on our push bikes, our goal to cross off each suburb we'd pass through. We did this practically every weekend, when after many months most all the suburbs from Palm Beach to Sutherland, and from Hornsby to Sydney, Parramatta, and Liverpool were crossed off the map. Over 4000 miles clocked on a tiny odometer mounted to the front axel. Thank you sincerely KailuaKid, you've brought back some wonderful memories of my early childhood and working life, and this is one You Tube video that'll be saved permanently. Cheers...

Tim Peddy and The California Pioneers of Santa Clara County; 23 million thanks for preserving this footage.

What a stroke of luck to have found and been able to preserve this! It is pure GOLD! Thank you for your efforts! Bloody Magic!!

I was seven years old and living in Willoughby. My father never owned a car, so we always travelled by tram to the City, across the Harbour Bridge and into a tunnel to Wynyard

Thank you so much for this wonderful video . I thoroughly enjoyed this trip down memory lane and in spite of the fact that it left me feeling somewhat melancholy . It was a nice feeling . This is very much appreciated . Made my day , especially as an immigrant from Greece (came here as a baby in 1949) who grew up here in beautiful Australia . The only place on earth I call home Thank you once again , God bless

Thanks for posting these old films of Australian scenes KailuaKid, it is not often we get to see these times in colour and they are certainly evocative of the period. It is great that Tim had the foresight to save these images where others would have simply thrown them away and also wonderful that The Californian Pioneers took the interest to convert them to digital images. Cheers to everyone involved.

Those shots of 'Coogee' were actually Bondi, Bronte, Clovelly and then the shark net was at Coogee, followed by a view down Coogee Bay Road.

My mother was 20 in 1940, she lived with my grandparents in Clovelly, and on weekdays caught a tram to work in the City at the old AMP building in Pitt St. All these scenes are ones she knew well. I can just imagine her walking through them (in her hat and gloves) along with her family sister and friends. Thanks so much Kailua Kid for uploading them, you've brought a page of my family history back to life.

This footage is pure magic! So is the accompanying music, thanks to everyone involved in preserving it. If it all was filmed during 1940 World War 2, no wonder the beach scenes don't show many people or lifesavers, most young (& not so young) were in the armed forces. The Harbour scenes are particularly wonderful as are the Manly scenes where my family worked and lived. And I'm still v. happily here. Cheers!

Excellent footage lovely to see Sydney as it was in the 1940s. Sydney was a beautiful place then

As a Kiwi I very much enjoyed watching the New Zealand films - but I also spent many years in Sydney and this footage is very precious. Thank you so very much for preserving this unique recording of our two country's during those early years of WW2. What a gift you have given us.

My grandparents were living in Sydney in the 1930's. I told them after I went to Sydney in 1990 that "they definitely saw the best that Sydney will ever be and ever has been". They said "that's correct!".

Thanks for sharing. So many familiar places in spite of the passage of time, although Circular Quay looks utterly different: no Opera House, no Cahill Expressway, no rail station, no skyscrapers. Have been writing a novel based on my mother's diary from this period. Excellent for getting the 'look' of people and places right in the text.

Oh man they've sure done a number on the joint since then. :(

What a great old piece of Footage, it brought back some long forgotten memories. Thanks for sharing :)

Affordable (Kodak) colour film only became available one or two years earlier, however WWII made it a complete luxury almost immediately. Colour footage of Sydney as early as 1940 is EXTREMELY rare. 0:22 Potts Point/Elizabeth Bay, probably taken from Point Piper area. 0:26 North Sydney/Kirribilli in the distance. 0:31 Looking over North Bondi towards Bronte in the distance. 0:42 George Street at Martin Place 0:53 Martin Place looking east 1:10 Pitt Street, now the Pitt Street Mall 2:34 Watsons Bay 2:40 Watsons Bay ferry wharf 2:54 An eight year old Sydney Harbour Bridge 3:25 Spit Bridge 3:44 Manly ferry, either "Burra-Bra", "Barrenjoey" of "Balgowlah" 3:50 Manly ferry "Curl Curl" 4:32 Contrary to titling, this is Bondi Beach 5:01 Ditto 5:09 Bronte Beach 5:16 Clovelly Beach 6:52 Harbour ferry "Lady Scott" 7:04 Manly ferry "Baragoola" at Manly wharf 7:53 Manly harbour pool with Manly ferry wharf in the distance. 8:30 Horse racing, where the unfortunate poor have their money extorted by rigged races Regards

Excellent footage.Thanks for saving it.

A Wonderful Old Video, Thanks for Sharing, so many Memories, My Old Home Town.

Beautiful video, cheers for uploading :)

Still love this & so appreciated. Thankyou.

Fantastic, but just a point to clarify the first beach shown is not Bronte, it is definitely Bondi.

8 People dislike this... Must be from New Zealand

Ah :) The city I grew up in, it's changed so much since then.

Thats fantastic footage.wonderful that it was found in usa and someone has gone to the trouble of putting it on here.thankyou.i must dig out my 60s stuff and do the same.

Interesting that the first few seconds we see W2 class trams in Melbourne.

At 5:01 the first shot after the Coogee title is Bondi from the south looking to north headland, then the next shot is Bronte viewing from nth to sth, note the tram cutting up in the hillside

Wow what a find! Beautiful insight into what Sydney was like then, my late grand parents time.

Wow the Sphinx near Bobbin Head is just behind the High School I went to, its amazing to see it from 1940!

The jingoistic soundtrack detracts from the visuals. I suggest viewers turn off the sound and concentrate on the film.

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

Hey look, It's pre-McDonalds Sydney!

Amazing 👍🏻. Beautiful ❤. Thank you

Wouldn't it be great to travel on the Harbour Bridge with no traffic like in the film... Couldn't help noticing the people crossing the roads and Jay walking in front of busy traffic.

I have many precious memories of Sydney. Beautiful footage.

This is FABULOUS!

People were so elegant in those times;)

Watson's Bay kiosk @ 1:42....Waterhouse's Imperial Hotel Milson's Point @ 3:02

Awesome, Rosehill racecourse. 8:22. And the refinery over the back of the course is still there.

Fantastic

Great footage but the music just doesn't fit. Sorry.

08:27 Rosehill platform hasn't changed but I haven't seen an electric train like that since I was a kid in the 1960's. This is an original wooden electric train from 1924, converted from steam hauled around 1927 when the lines were electrified. They were the first of the red rattlers to be withdrawn in the 60's.

Then at 5:22 is Clovelly gulch and after that not sure whether the net fence is Coogee but probably is as next shots before 'The Gap title are Coogee streets.

At 4:24 the title is for Bronte beach but the footage is Bondi beach

Ahhh look at those cars!

The street scene at 00:40 mark showing a constable on point duty directing traffic is actually a scene from Melbourne. The Tram is a "W" Class car of MMTB. Further comment points out the mis-identification of Eastern Suburbs beaches so troll down for more info. I now live in Qld, former RSL taxi owner in Sydney & policeman. These scenes pictured taken two years before I was born. Sydney and Australia has change and not for the better, unfortunately.🌴

its like watching a different place. Sydney today is like a completely different place. different people. different culture. different everything. sad.

martin place with cars ? mind blown

That was fascinating!Thank you for posting this awesome historic footage!I wish Sydney still had its trams. Considering the date the film was made and the fact it was found in California I assume it was filmed by a visitor from the US. Is the 1940 date certain because technically Australia would've been at war by then and my parents (who would've been in their early teens in 1940) always led me to believe that thing were fairly grim during the war with shortages and rations and blackouts, and one of my history teachers at school was aboard the Sydney ferry that was sunk in the harbour by a Japanese midget submarine (think there was only one ferry lost that way). The introduction to each location looks professional and the film has a high production value overall so I wonder if it was filmed for promotional purposes of some kind. Love the description that says Australia's beaches are "infested with man-eating sharks"! Sydney was of course where General MacArthur's HQ was - his bunker is in tunnels under Hyde Park and although it's all sealed off now you used to be able to get there from St James Station - and MacArthur was Allied Supreme Commander in the Pacific so during the war the city was full of American military personnel and it was also a destination for R & R, but in 1940 all that was yet to happen since the US was neutral until Pearl Harbour. The last title screen said "Adios Sydney, looks like a rough trip ahead", which made me wonder if that remark was a reference to the war or to the film maker's own trip home across the Pacific? Thank you again for posting this superb footage!

Love it thanks

If people don't like it , don't watch. Why waste your time . When people like to pick on , people , places & things . One has to assume that as I said ,they have time to waste. Or maybe they are Jealous...

Beautiful footage when Sydney was exciting and the folk very pleasant and everyone used to ask if you need a hand,strip shopping was exciting and you knew your local shop keepers always with service with a smile and a yarn,the cars the architecture, loved the milkbars miss those days love the footage can watch for hours

the song that plays at 8:29, does anybody by any chance know where a version of it is online? Ive tried searching lyrics and all but cant find anything - no mention of it existing which is a shame because its a beautiful song

Are there credits for the music? "Maid of Australia" sounds like it might be a very young Martyn Wyndham-Read...

Wonderful but the only thing which grates is the terrible background music. Surely something less embarrassing could have been found.

Wonderful 1940 views of Sydney City

I remember all this so well been all these placers at that5 time how lucky I was

Chilling to see so many young boys on the beaches so carefree and happy unaware that within only a few years most would be killed in war.

Buenas tardes alguien que que confirme si es posible utilizar fragmentos de esta película.

this was during WW2 when Europe was in turmoil

Only 15554.11 km. away. Another world

Odd. At 36 seconds, there's film of a Melbourne W2 tram. Definitely not a Sydney tram.

My home town,and yes the best harbor in the world,bar none.

The ferries back then look in better condition then the 1's we run today lol

Try to buy a house there now,money crazy most there now

Sydney looked great in 1940, even though I was born five years later.

Why are they racing back to front ? That just weird.

There are some Melbourne trams in the opening scenes.

Good footage. It’s a pity the music is so syrupy and cringeworthy.

Wonderful old footage of the city of my birth. However, Bronte looked suspiciously like Bondi to me. As for the musical accompaniment - truly awful. A little more imagination required to do the glorious imagery justice.

Beautiful! Not sure about our beaches being infested with man eating sharks though.

Love ❤️ it

Australia I always call home ! its my home

an aussie thanks you for posting this

Walt Disney's Pinocchio in theatres back then!

from 5:50 to 5:50 it's McKeon St Maroubra right??????????

Wounder how much fuel was back then though

Its a pity..so few people speak english now

Mudflooded building's every where

Have to laugh. The first images of beaches are all Bondi, not Bronte or Coogee as the txt states!

Today, 20/7/2024, Sydney is an extremely dark city at night. Street lighting is so poor in the suburbs some times while driving, its hard to see people in dark clothes crossing midd street. Then hospitality with non professional waiters on working visas, coffee shops closing at 3 pm and kirchens at 9 pm, and pubs at 12 am, make Sydney a very BORING place....too late to move to Melbourne....🤣🧉

No Holden cars. First Holden 1948.

Some of you people are absolutely clueless!

Looking at it, you wouldn't know that it was a nation at war... were it not for the Imperial Japanese, it would have literally been a world away.

AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA PRIOR TO 2001 WAS THE GREATEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET "EARTH" NOW DAYS THAT COMPLEMENT IS ONLY A MEMORY WHO KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS MAYBE IT CAN BE THE GREATEST NATION ON THE PLANET ONCE MORE WHO KNOWS MAYBE I AM DREAMING AND MAYBE I AM NOT WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE LET US KEEP HOPE AS ALIVE AT LEAST AND DO A LITTLE DREAMING NEVER GIVE UP NEVER GIVE IN KEEP HOPE ALIVE FOR WHILE THERE IS {LIFE} THERE IS HOPE 💖☝👍

1947 ?

I still call australia home!!!

Interesting footage, but the soundtrack reeks.

C Quay looks bad without the Cahill Expressway.....

Why did you have to stuff up brilliant footage of one of the world's greatest cities with trite cheap attempts at comedic comments? They are irrelevant, especially when decimal currency was not around at the time. You are am ignominious jerk. However, thanks for preserving this priceless footage.

How quaint the original trams were. Now the main street of Sydney is a railway with eight car trains running up and down it every couple of minutes. Thank you Clover for all your stupidity. Hopefully they will be ripped out as the old ones where. Billions wasted.

Why did people dress more elegant than these days..

tell em yo................................... sfc san fran to me LAX

747 planes no bigie

Obviously this was made by a Yank, We don't call them "streetcars", we call them by their CORRECT name, *TRAMS!* (1:21)

There is an FJ Holden on the Bridge at about 3:00

Use this now: maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

Only Australia could take a city with soul and turn into cheap and tacky Surfers Paradise.