[Photos] The Frenetic Energy of 1960s Chợ Lớn

Comic books and bread, cigarettes and rickshaw rides: Saigon has always reveled in the exchange of goods and services for money. 

Modern-day Saigon is considered the nation’s most globally influenced and commerce-focused city, and it’s been that way for quite some time. In the 1960s, as these photos reveal, people were concerned with making and then spending a buck via traditional and emerging means. Everything from imported sodas to roasted ducks to fresh produce shipped up from the delta was on sale. The busy streets may not have been home to as many international outlets as today, but the spirit currently embodied by MUJI, GS25, Burger King and Uniqlo was very much thriving decades ago.

When you look at these photos taken by Anton Cistaro, a stationed American solder, you can practically hear people calling out prices. And one imagines that right after posing for the photos, many of the people followed up with “now I have to go, I have so much to do.

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