We're coming back so you come back. And more.

August 4, 2010 10:29 AM

New York's MTA has a YouTube channel that features some pretty great historical videos from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

The "we're coming back so you come back" commercials from 1989.

An anti-graffiti message from 1988, with a truly 80s aesthetic.

A 3 part series from 1970 entitled "Where Do We Go From Here" -1, 2, and 3.

A 3 part series from 1961 entitled "Daily Miracle" -1, 2, and 3.

posted by millipede (11 comments total)

I'm really glad that the internet has developed to a point where we can watch these old videos as what they are - cultural artifacts - rather than relics ripe for snarking. Don't get me wrong, I like "Everything is Terrible" as much as the next person, but sometimes a 70's era cartoon covered in pea greens and mustard tones should just appreciated just as it is.
posted by Think_Long at 10:35 AM on August 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

The MTA? He's the man who never returned!
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:39 AM on August 4, 2010

Slack-a-goo, that song always makes me think of dinosaurs, and I'm often confused why the song continues with plucky guitars instead of solemn bass.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:44 AM on August 4, 2010

For people who lived in a certain time and place, the melody of "Take the train to the plane" will follow them to their graves.
posted by Joe Beese at 10:45 AM on August 4, 2010

That song's actually about Boston's transit system. Still awesome, though. Americana FTW.
posted by phunniemee at 10:46 AM on August 4, 2010

At around 57sec in the graffiti video, it looks as if the woman in the background is a little Mulholland Dr. person walking into the perp's crotch.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:49 AM on August 4, 2010

START FOOTAGE. 10:30 PM. BERGEN STREET F/G STOP.

20:30 A group of passengers wait for the mythical "G" train.
20:31-35 An opaque gas floods the station. They passengers immediately and quietly collapse.
20:35 An unmarked black freight car arrives, and numerous matte black-clad MTA agents (identifiable only by a stylized token in reflective black on their shoulders) disembark.
20:35-20:50 The agents begin quickly throwing the passengers into the freight car like sacks of potatoes.
20:50 The freight car departs.
posted by griphus at 10:50 AM on August 4, 2010

I went to High School in Brooklyn in the 80s and we were forced to watch an MTA film about the proper use of our student train passes and how it was a criminal offense to sell them.

But that didn't deter us from doing so.
posted by cazoo at 10:59 AM on August 4, 2010

Hold up. Did they replace passes for free or something?
posted by edbles at 11:12 AM on August 4, 2010

You've got to hand it to the NY MTA here, the size and quality of this YouTube channel is very impressive. Particularly when you consider that it's the NY MTA, not a legit company or anything.
posted by AHM at 11:58 AM on August 4, 2010

I love MTA history. These are fun.
posted by milestogo at 6:42 PM on August 4, 2010