Mimi was kind enough to contribute the photographs in this video.
The photographs were taken by Jack Birns who was a reporter in Saigon in 1948.
Thank you, Mimi for sharing these with us.
*** Pause the video to read the captions if the pictures are scrolling too fast for you to read them. Click the *Play/Stop* button at bottom left corner of the player to *pause* it. Click it again to re-start the video. ***
As always, you are welcome to leave your comments below.
Bob
I just love old photographs and these were super. However, the speed of film from one photo another was a bit fast and I was unable to read the undertitles…Can that be fixed? Otherwise, just great and thank you (merci), Mimi.
Ken – Pause the video to read the captions until I finish tweaking it. To pause the video, click the *play/stop* button located bottom left corner of the player, to the left of the status bar. Click it again to restart the video.
Bob
Damn, I hate easy answers….how did I ever manage to live to this ripe old age?
It’s great seeing those old photos. Really brings back the memories of Saigon. Although I was very young when I was there (10 – 12 1/2 years old, 1960 – 1962), it remains the most influential country I’ve ever lived. I remember all the good times and the bad. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Saigon. I don’t talk about it much to my friends and family – they would just not understand. Thank you for keeping this web site up. You are doing a great service.
David, Still living in T’ville? Also how can I contact your brother Ernie? Tried several times with no response. Ken
David spoke for me. Leri, ’55-60.
wonderful pictures Mimi, but I did have trouble reading and looking as they went so fast. It is amazing that other than the ox driven carts, many of the scenes could have been ’60’s. Was there a race track then?
Yes, I’m still in Titusville, FL. I retired from Kennedy Space Center in July after supporting the last Space Shuttle launch. I live on a large piece of property and enjoy all outdoor sports. I’ve been married for 31 years and the wife still works at Kennedy Space Center. She is younger than I, so she has to keep working for a few more years. As far as Ernie goes – contact me at cutler1 [@] bellsouth.net and I’ll let you know what’s going on with Ernie.
Hello David – I was in Mrs. Donoghue’s Fifth Grade Class with you in 1960. So nice to see someone on Saigon Kids that was in my age group. You probably don’t remember me and I have a very vague memory of you. I usually hung out with Ann Peabody and Peggy Sheer. My brother, Tom Hanna, was friends with you brother Ernie. Sandy Hanna
Wow! Amazing how much things stay the same – 1948 -1959 – 1972 – 2004
steve
Those were WONDERFUL photos—really evoked the old Saigon–not too different than when I was there with my family 1958-60.
Is anyone else having trouble loading this video? I have a Mac and tried Safari and Firefox but the video shows the “Loading” circle moving, yet it never downloads.
Beautiful images of Saigon! Who is Mimi and how did she happen to have such a great set of photos?