Before the motorbikes invaded all aspects of modern Vietnam, Saigon streets were all bicycles, vintage cars and xích lô.
At Saigoneer, we’ve amassed a collections of hundreds of Saigon xưa photo archives over the years. Most of these are rare scans of film photos as personal mementos from tourists, foreign soldiers and even photojournalists. With the exception of professional photographers who came to the country with a specific story to seek, the rest took a “shoot whatever interests you” approach to photography.
Therefore, these image collages usually don’t encompass a clear direction, agenda or message: they’re purely a celebration of the city’s vivacious street life. In this particular set of shots, taken by an anonymous photographer, we get a chance to relive the years right after the country’s turmoil in 1975.
Did you know that Đặng Thị Nhu Street — which currently houses a host of restaurants and fashion emporia — used to be a bustling book street? The pavement of Lê Lợi, now widened but empty, doubled as a quirky makeshift bazaar for knick-knacks and knock-offs.
Find out more about our city through this set of photos, taken in 1975–1980, below:
A footwear shop on Đồng Khởi Street.
Old cars and xích lô.
A wedding "carriage" on Lê Duẩn Street.
A makeshift bazaar on the pavement of Lê Lợi.
A morning in Quách Thị Trang Square.
The Trần Hưng Đạo-Nguyễn Thái Học intersection.
Traffic on Trần Hưng Đạo.
Looking toward central District 1 from Trần Hưng Đạo.
A view of Lê Lợi Street.
An advertisement for a music class.
School children working on craft projects in school.
A lunch lady working on a large batch of vegetable soup.
Left: a building bearing signage of SINCO, a sewing machine producer, at the corner of Trần Hưng Đạo and Calmette. Right: book vendors on Đặng Thị Nhu Street.
Commercial kitchen inside a school.
Lunchtime banter.
View from the Caravelle Hotel.
An old Lambretta on the street.
A state-owned bus.
A street corner in Đà Nẵng.
Street life in Saigon.
Browsing for books on Đặng Thị Nhu.
The Saigon Opera House.
View from the Caravelle Hotel.
Đồng Khởi Street.
A dining area inside Caravelle.
Đặng Thị Nhu Street.
Photos via Flickr user manhhai.
