Here at the Daily Dot, we swap GIF images with each other every morning. Now we’re looping you in. In the Morning GIF, we feature a popular—or just plain cool—GIF we found on Reddit, Canvas, or elsewhere on the Internet.
It’s funny, the things you find when you’re just trawling the interwebz, looking for boozy New Year’s GIFs. A German propaganda sci-fi film from the late Thirties is a funny place to find the Great White Way circa 1920, but there it is, smack at 20:55 of Weltraum Schiffi Startet Eine Technishe Fantasie (Space Ship Takeoff, a Technical Fantasy). And very dashing it looks there, too, if somewhat incongruous, what with the emphatically Teutonic voiceover announcing the triumphs and expected return of the Nazi space-conquering rocketship.
The cultural dissonance is lessened when translated to GIF form by the tireless Valentin of the GIFMovie Tumblr. Although that particular spot of NYC has probably not known silence since some time in the 1750s, it is lent an impassive dignity by the silence, allowing us to focus on the stark black and white of the image. Neon, doubtless a kaleidoscope of clash in real life, is here rendered a very existentialist white beacon against darkness. In the context of the film, it’s a metaphor for the inexorable progress of science, but to put it to the test, I’d like to see that particular corner today. Back then it advertised Calvert, a pretty decent whiskey which now belongs to Jim Beam. Today? Probably Redbull.
The GIF has had 851 notes since Dec. 22, while the YouTube languished in relative obscurity with 4,330 views in more than two years. If you like esoteric German space propaganda of the ’30s, we’ve got you covered. There are worse ways to spend New Year’s Eve than watching a nation’s lost hopes for the future while drinking bootlegged Canadian whiskey. Or is that just me?
Cheers!
GIF via GIFMovie/Tumblr