AI brings 100-year-old footage of New Yorkers strolling down Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday to life
AI brings to life 100-year-old footage of New Yorkers strolling Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday
- Stunning images of glamorous 1920s New Yorkers given a burst of color by AI
- Ladies wear elegant hats and gloves, while gentlemen wear canes and pocket watches as accessories
- Big cars and open-top buses roll cleanly and quietly down Fifth Avenue beyond recognition
Stunning images of 1920s New York have been revived as artificial intelligence (AI) brings back the film’s original color.
The clips, provided by MIRC University of South Carolina and colored by vintage fashion and beauty archive Glamor Daze, show New Yorkers strolling Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday, 1929.
The University of South Carolina has one of the largest film and video archives in the country, with over 8,000 hours of moving footage.
Glamor Daze used AI to colorize the original black and white film using deep sample-based video coloring.
Glamorously dressed ladies can be seen folding arms and leisurely strolling along the clean sidewalk of Fifth Avenue for the Easter Sunday Parade.
To their right they are joined by an elderly gentleman in a smart dressing gown and top hat.
Images of 1920s New York are given a second life as artificial intelligence (AI) restores the film’s original color
Men can be seen in neat mourning coats and top hats with walking sticks as accessories
All the ladies wear high heels and cloche hats, and most wear gloves.
Their clean-cut, knee-length coats come in a range of colors, some with floral patterns, making for an elegant scene.
Dating back to the 1870s, the annual parade was a chance for New Yorkers to don their latest fashions and jewelry, as well as a social occasion where friends and family would meet and stop at cafes and restaurants along the avenue.
The event was enjoyed by all social classes in the 1920s and was seen as an opportunity for everyone to mingle and celebrate the arrival of spring in the city.
More than a hundred years later, the parade still takes place, with an emphasis on caps and hats, on a grittier Fifth Avenue.
Another clip shows a line of people outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral ready to begin their walk down Fifth Avenue.
Some of the ladies in the queue wear fur-trimmed coats, while the gentlemen amuse themselves with canes and pocket watches.
People line up in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, ready to begin their walk down Fifth Avenue
All the ladies wear high heels and cloche hats, and most wear gloves
Dating back to the 1870s, the annual parade was a chance for New Yorkers to don their latest fashions and jewelry
New Yorkers would meet and stop at cafes and restaurants along the avenue
A few well behaved dogs on leads can be seen throughout and have also been brought back to their original glory by the coloring.
In the background, large cars and open-top buses roll down a less busy street, far removed from contemporary New York.