This next video is taken in Iraklion in 1961. It has been posted by John Sooklaris but the man behind the camera is his father Anthony Sooklaris. They visited Crete on a ship sponsored by the Pancretan Society of America in 1961.
This film shows Iraklion very well. You clearly see the old market in Iraklion with all the butchers and fruit and cheese shops unlike now when it is mostly tourist shops. You then have some clear shots of Eleftheriou Square (Freedom Square where I used to work in 1968 on) and the Morosini fountain.
In the closing shots of the film you see a man walking across the road. This is the later very famous musician Nikos Xylouris the great singer of Crete.
Here are Johns words about the movie: “O Pramateftis. While this video clip is more the life and times of Heraklion, Crete, in 1961, it does tell a story that Mountaki so eloquently tells in this story of the poor peddler. You will see peddlers selling their wares at or near the Agora. I just love the shot of the traffic cop.
Anthony Sooklaris so keenly captures the moment in this amazing footage of what life was like. Make sure to catch the traffic cop. It’s a classic solution to a then “new” problem of how to deal with more cars on streets that were once more populated by horses and donkeys, than by motor vehicles.
It was a more simple life, and it will no doubt remind us of fond memories of this most precious past.”
Here is the movie:
Enjoy, but see also how much this island has changed in 47 years.
Crete 
the good old days
I’ve just returned from a trip to Greece and Crete (I’m sure Cretans or Cretophiles will understand why I make the distinction between the two); the latter of which I haven’t travelled to for 10 years.
It seems to me that increasingly the magic of modern-day Greece can only be found in pockets here and there as an idle youth fills the seats of an exploding cafe craze that seeks to subvert all other pastimes.
In Crete, however, at a cousin’s wedding, I found a vibrant youth still in touch with traditions of yesteryear, and a well-informed sense of being a Cretan.
Thanks for movies!