Rare Black-and-White Album Depicts a Historic Flooding in 1952 Hanoi
The extreme weather patterns in recent years might make you worry that Vietnam’s drainage network is buckling under the pressure of rapid urbanization, but looking at these rare photos taken of a flood in Hanoi over half a century ago provides strange comfort that our soggy reality today might not be all that bizarre.
Back in Time to the 1990s, When Vintage Renault Goélette Roamed Vietnam
A sturdy, stately vehicle roamed Vietnam's city streets and rural roads not too long ago.
How Hanoi's Infectious Rats and Impish Locals Bamboozled the French in 1902
When facing a bubonic plague epidemic, is it wiser to delve into sewers and cull infected rats yourself or offer payment to Vietnamese for deliveries of severed tails instead? For Hanoi’s French colonial rulers, the answer to this question was never in doubt, yet the consequences led to one of most humiliating periods of their rule.
Paul Christiansen in Saigon
The Saigon Post Office, Benjamin Franklin, and a Source of Unexpected Pride
It’s not hard to find snippets of America in Saigon.
In 1965, Life in Cần Thơ Was Tightly Interwoven With the Mekong River
With more than 1.5 million citizens and many indicators of a modern metropolis, from the international airport to several Vincom malls, Cần Thơ is firmly established as the Mekong Delta's largest city. But before it was the most important regional hub for business, education and culture, it was a relatively small port dedicated to fishing and trading. Wooden boats gather to offload people and products. In 1965, Cần Thơ carried an unmistakable vibe of agricultural commerce. Its position on the Hậu River, a distributary of the Mekong not too far upstream from the fertile coast, brought boats from all directions carrying fruit, vegetables, and seafood. Away from the waterways, bicycles were a predominant mode of transportation, ferrying locals to markets, homes, and shops. The camera captures local commotion. This collection of images taken by an unknown photographer and gathered by Flickr archivist extraordinaire manhhai reveals a more austere version of Cần Thơ that exists mostly in memory and stories. Clothing without a single name brand long, nón lá covering nearly every head in the markets and rows of storefronts absent of any neon bulbs: it's a very different Cần Thơ. Have a look and consider how much has changed in six decades: Spokes, chains, peddles and thighs powered locomotion. Local children who would be elderly by now. The cause of this dour expression in front of the river will never be known. Comings and going via all variety of wooden boats. Was this the first time some of these children ever had their photo taken? While less common than bicycles, trucks, vans and cars rumbled through town. A panoply of daily life and rustic routines. Not enough glory is reserved for the day laborers. Even the sweet potatoes get covered during a downpour. A simple fishing boat pushes out to fill its net. These photos are all, really, a matter of perspective. Scenes of an informal economy. Selling fruits to feed the baby. What is the average age at which one graduates from baby cap to nón lá? Bananas were a popular fruit and they still are. Typical activity on an unpaved road. Not a single plastic stool in sight during lunchtime. Trudging barefoot with heavy baskets. It's not too hard to imagine the cacophony of orderly chaos. Routine daily commute via boat. The doors are open so the activity spills onto the streets. Thats a lot of children. Imagine what your Grab app would look like here. Moments of happiness abound in the simple experiences.
Reminiscing About the Last Days of Downtown Saigon’s Pigeon Coop
The first time I pay a visit to the Pasteur pigeon coop, Lê Văn Âu assures me the place is probably not going anywhere.
A Visual Timeline of Hội An's Historic Chùa Cầu Through the Eras
With the recent makeover of Hội An's Chùa Cầu sparking divisive chatter , it's a great time to gaze at the iconi...
There's a Dark Context Behind These Seemingly Random 1930 French Sketches
Can visual representations of colonial activities produced with immoral intent become works of art?
Old Saigon Building of the Week: 141 Võ Văn Tần
The colonial villa at 141 Võ Văn Tần, next door to the Estar office building, is the house where acclaimed French writer Marguerite Duras (1914-1996) spent her last year in Sài Gòn.
10 Old Pictures of Art Deco Buildings in Saigon
Art deco is by far our favorite architectural style, one which luckily, Saigon has in spades. However, with each passing day, these buildings are being torn down to make way for modern structures whic...
10 Old Pictures of Workers in Saigon
As Vietnam's economy has become increasingly intertwined with the global free market over the past decade, some elements of Saigon's pre-war, western-oriented economy have reappeared - Factories aroun...
Old Saigon Building of the Week: French Masonic Lodge Le Réveil de L'orient
Saigon got its first French masonic lodge in the 1870s, when the Société civile le Réveil de l'Orient set up the Hôtel de la Loge Maçonnique Le Réveil de l'orient (Awakening of the East) at 17 rue d’E...
Old Saigon Building of the Week: Former Chambre de Commerce
Over the years, Mê Linh square – known immediately after the French arrived as the Rond-point and later as place Rigault de Genouilly – has lost many of its old buildings, including the imposing Commi...
10 Sketches of Indochina From the 19th Century
Though already in existence, cameras were not the main tool used by the French to make visual records of their holdings in Indochina during the 19th century. In their infancy during this time, th...
The History of The Nguyễn Văn Hảo Building, Saigon's Art Deco Flatiron
The Nguyễn Văn Hảo building is perhaps Saigon's best example of art deco flatirons. Standing just across from Ben Thanh market, many of us pass it each day with no knowledge of its history. We've agai...
Saigon's Cầu Mống and the Remnants of Gustave Eiffel's Work in Vietnam
Many people will be familiar with the spurious claims that French civil engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) was responsible for two of Vietnam’s most iconic buildings, the Long Biên Brid...
Brian Letwin in Saigon
Nguyen Hue Street (1871)
Nguyen Hue Street, one of Saigon’s oldest thoroughfares, has undergone numerous transformations over its history. With the craziness of the holidays and accompanying sea of motorbikes, it's hard to im...
Old Saigon Picture of the Day: Cyclo Drivers
Even though Saigon has gone through many changes over the last century, there are certain characteristics of the city that have endured. Before the age of the motorbike, cyclos were one of the most c...
The History of Saigon's Streetcars
We’ve posted images of Saigon’s old streetcars in the past but were unable to find much information written about them. Thankfully, Saigon historian, Tim Doling, recently published a piece about their...
Massive Old Map of Saigon (1968)
Since most of the old maps we dig up are limited in scope, focusing on the city center, we were excited to come across this comprehensive map of Saigon from 1968.
Images of Vietnam in 1992
We may post a lot about Saigon's pre-war past but, for a number of reasons, images from the 1980s and 1990s are hard to come by. Fortunately, VNExpress just published a collection of photos taken by ...
Old Saigon Picture of the Day: Rue Kitchener (Nguyen Thai Hoc Street)
When Saigon was still a sleepy French backwater, the city's streets were full of 1 and 2 story colonial buildings, lined with lush, green tress.
10 Old Pictures of People in Saigon
We often look to old buildings in order reconnect with the past since they are clear and static reference points. Though useful, another important window into the past is the day-to-day lives of peopl...
46 Incredible Color Photos of 1915 Vietnam
Considering how rare turn of the 20th-century Vietnam photos are, we were especially excited to come across this Flickr album of 46 colorized photos from 1915. The photos were taken by Leon Busy...
Old Saigon Picture of the Day: Art Deco Kiosk
One of the few 'benefits' (all of which came at an incredibly high cost for the Vietnamese) of French colonialism is the architecture they left behind.
10 Old Pictures of the Saigon Zoo (Thảo Cầm Viên)
Established in 1869, the Saigon Zoo (Thảo Cầm Viên) is the 8th oldest zoo in the world. The zoo and botanical garden were commissioned by Admiral Pierre de la Grandière, Commander of French forces in...
Brian Letwin in Saigon
10 Old Pictures (and History) of the Saigon Opera House
The Saigon Opera House (aka the Municipal Theatre) is one of Saigon’s oldest buildings and one of the city’s best examples of classical French architecture. Constructed at the turn of the 20th century...
This is What Saigon Looked Like in 1881
When this picture was drawn in 1881 by a ship captain known as Favre, the French were 22 years into their occupation of Saigon. In this short time, the city took on a decidedly colonial feel both in t...
