I came across a piece of film (again) on YouTube the other day which reminded me of something I once had considered doing a presentation about somewhere someday. But, seeing as how I haven't been asked to do that in quite some time, I am thinking that my presentation days may be over. In order to bring you this interesting bit of footage, I'll have to do it here, and I'm just as good with that. This isn't truly a chronological post, but I think it's okay to have these every once in a while to show the depths I'll go to investigate Victorian London. So, get your popcorn and blankie ready, and settle in for a bit of a mystery (to me).
I am going to bring it up one last time, and that's it - this would've been so much better as a talk with video at a conference. It involves a moving object in a really old section of footage of Victorian London. Regardless, I think I can do it justice here. The first thing I'm going to do is give you a link to the film and let you enjoy it. The part I'm referring to is almost always in a montage of other films of London at the time, so I'll tell you exactly where to look. (Sorry about the music.)
Some sources say this was shot near Trafalgar Square. Others by the Bank of England, which does seem to be in the background. Either way, it's very cool to watch these and get an actual visual idea of the things Holmes and Watson would have seen on a walk. The clip in question starts at 2:42. The "mystery" makes its appearance at 3:36 and disappears behind traffic at 3:39. (Don't skip ahead, now. Enjoy it all.)
Now, some titles list the nearly 2 1/2 minute part I'm talking about as 1903 (like this one). Others 1898. I did a bit or research some years back for a Facebook post, which you can see here, and I can tell you that the obvious two-row "garden seating" on the omnibuses was used until well after the turn of the century. That doesn't really help us. One thing that can is the appearance of an automobile at 3:44 (that really comes into view ten seconds later). It looks an awful lot to me like one of these, and if so it helps the 1898 date a bit. And the fact that it's the only one in this flicker show section means they weren't prevalent yet, so early days for them rings pretty true.
So, what am I looking at? This is a shot of the clip just before the thing makes its appearance.
At the 3:36 mark something comes into frame moving along the street from left to right. Now, I have watched this over and over and over and I cannot for the life of me figure out what this thing is. I know what it could be, but I can't get my brain to agree with my logic. (That seems wrong somehow.) I've went through many versions of this, and can't find one clear enough to be able to tell. Even the enhanced and colorized ones don't make it better. And the fact that you can't make out detail is why I can't put a name to it. But, let's examine the object.
There's no really good shot, but here are a few in sequence:
The facts: In the first cropped image it looks like it has legs. Could it be a dog, or a pony, or a small person/child on a pony or mule? In the second it looks more structured - like it has sections. Perhaps it's a small cart. If so, what's driving/pulling it? In the third, it looks like it has a horse or pony head, but since it's behind the man in the omnibus we can tell. In the last one I've used a black line to show where the approximate end of the carriage in front of it would be, and you can see that the shape of the thing looks very squared-off.
Another possibility is a velocipede. If that's the case, where's the rider? It doesn't appear to be a woman in a dress as we can see parts of the thing that don't really look bicycle-ish. Heck, at the 3:37 mark it almost looks like whatever it is has two "riders." And if it is a two-wheeled conveyance, then the rider is sitting very far forward, and not back closer to the middle where a seat might be.
This is like the equivalent of a Victorian Bigfoot film - grainy and mysterious. Too bad it wasn't shot in hi-def or 4K. I really don't know what it is. Whatever it might be, it moves along very smoothly. That's part of the oddity of it. It would be easier to say this is moving along a track, but there isn't one. I will accept, though, that I might be missing a very obvious solution, and will gladly hear what it is from someone else. I ain't proud. I'll admit when I get something wrong or am dumbfounded for an answer. For the record, don't come at me with talk about a time traveler or something like that. You don't get to rent any space in my head with such nonsense. If that is the case, then why is the whole world not coming to a grinding halt to marvel, point, and/or horror at this foreign interloper. Anyway, I truly do want to know what you think. This has bothered me for many years. Let me know in any way you can - in the Comments below, by email, or using smoke signals. Whatever.
Well, you've got to see into my aging brain once more. I don't mind bringing you these little oddities from time to time because an answer would be nice. I still have one big puzzle that appears in 'The Resident Patient' (RESI) that I will keep to myself. It's my white whale. My ultimate prize. My relentless obsession. If I make it to my death bed and haven't solved it yet, then I'll tell you. Until then it's all mine.
As May comes to an end and we look at another half a year almost gone, I replay that old tape of me thanking you for enjoying my words here. You cannot imagine how much it means. And at a time in my life when I have considered walking away from the Sherlockian community (for various reasons), your loyalty to this blog keeps me coming back. My heartfelt appreciation never wanes. We'll talk again soon. Take care of yourselves, and as always...thanks for reading.
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