Victory in the Streets: San Francisco Celebrates V-J Day (silent, 1945)

This archival film captures the exuberant and chaotic celebrations on V-J Day in San Francisco and Redwood City as World War II ends. The footage shows scenes of joyous but disorderly street festivities with confetti, crowds, and American flags, as people gather in large numbers to mark Japan’s surrender. Newspaper headlines proclaiming peace and the end of gas rationing are prominently displayed, while navy soldiers and civilians alike revel in the streets, sometimes with destructive abandon, causing property damage and minor riots, particularly in Chinatown. The celebration includes a military parade in San Francisco, with large floats, tanks, and soldiers marching, commemorating the war’s conclusion and paying tribute to the armed services.

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