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Lojine Kamel

1948 Beirut

So I don’t know about you, but I definitely had no idea that Beirut had a monorail system in the 40’s.

Take a look at this authentic photo of Bab Edriss near downtown Beirut. In a picture over half a century old, classy men and women dressed in trench coats and bowler hats cross the street, wary of the approaching monorail.

One might think this is an instagramed picture of today’s Beirut. The buildings look the same as they did decades ago, the streets, probably a bit cleaner, and the people, similarly – if not better – dressed.

I kind of feel sad looking at this photo, imagining the Beirut that could have been. Yet 1948 marks an unhappy year in history, with decades of war to follow. Perhaps one day soon we’ll have the promise of modernity return to Lebanon. Until then, we can only dream about the wistful images of the past.