I have received these photos from a group email sent to me about 3 years ago. It shows the old pictures of Manila during the 1960’s when the city is in glorious state. I was overwhelmed and at the same time could only wish that the city’s impressive state before had been preserved.
Below are the photos with some description. The intention of sharing this is to glorify the once glorious city that has once been colonialized by Americans.
First picture below was taken before the ’60’s Old Manila. Based on the old mobiles, Studebakers, Buicks, Pontiacs and 1953 Ford on the street going through Jones Bridge .The environment was still very clean during that time.
There were no Metro Aides or street cleaners, and store owners cleaned their own areas. Pedestrians were also very disciplined. No hollows on the streets and manholes were clean and were clearly visible to pedestrians. This is part of Escolta where you can buy Boursege’s from Greg Shoes or Ang Tibay. It could be much better looking than Colehaans and Ferragamos. The streets were shiny, much like the streets of Singapore now.
LYRIC Theatre (in the photo below), IDEAL, STATE, ODEON were the best theatres. Environment inside and outside….absolutely clean. There were no double parking allowed and drivers followed traffic rules. Streets didn’t have 2 policemen and 4 Traffic Aides for each corner. You’d be safe even if you held a clutch bag while shopping. Manholes were covered well and during those days, clean and polished, much like those you’d see in Champ
Elysee’. We could beat Paris
Pasig River was very clean. The photographer must have taken this photo October to December timeframe. But Pasig, during summer would have beautiful water lilies, tiny Quiapo’s floating amidst white, yellow and purple water lilies that I remember. Water from our rich and abundant rivers were emerald green and blue. Napakalinis and walang amoy. In fact, a lot of private yachts would pass through our Pasig River from various parts of Rizal, Malabon and Marikina . It was beautiful.
Pasig River was very clean. The photographer must have taken this photo October to December timeframe. But Pasig, during summer would have beautiful water lilies, tiny Quiapo’s floating amidst white, yellow and purple water lilies. Water from our rich and abundant rivers were emerald green and blue. In fact, a lot of private yachts would pass through our Pasig River from various parts of Rizal, Malabon and Marikina . It was beautiful.
Shown below is the old Agrifina Circle near the old Congress Building and Manila City Hall ….
If you’d take an L5 plane or a Piper Cab and take pictures of Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard) from above, you’d be so proud to say, that the place is much better than Cote ’ d Azure.
Sidewalks were not extended to suit the pedestrians. Quiapo Church was a blessed monument.
Avenida Rizal was a treat to everyone. There were no prostitutes nor body-brokers. Avenida was not a fickle place. It was not a “now a bistro boulevard, tomorrow a street; now a tiangge or night market and tomorrow a bistro boulevard”. It was a simple avenida where everyone enjoyed to see what was “now showing”, what movie was “extended showing”, and if Otis or Good Earth had a big sale !!! It was just a big clean place.
Ayala Avenue in Makati City was just like Wilshire Boulevard . Clean and no pollution. You can walk and enjoy the sun.
Even Parks like Fort Santiago was much better. No vendors, no cafes. There was not even an ATM machine.
Gone are those days, we can just marvel at the past, the glorious that was….