I've no idea what sort of sorcery is involved here. Still photos, brought to life - startling glimpses through a fissure in the space-time continuum. The level of detail was made possible by the source material, which is large-format cameras that could shoot a street and somehow get the details on every brick on a building at the end of the street.
Bonus: Al Bowlly.
The photos were taken from Shorpy, a site devoted to old pictures, and it's not just streetscapes. Sometimes you'll get a shot of a 51st wedding anniversary in Blue Earth in 1952.
