The 1950s Collections

34,284 clips filmed between 1950 and 1959. 25,380 of them can be licensed directly on this site at $149 each; the rest are listed through marketplace partners. The clips come from 68 original reels and the counts update as more reels are scanned.

Both. Of the 3,836 1950s clips whose keywords name a stock, 652 (17%) are tagged black and white and 3,184 (83%) color. Kodachrome 8mm has been on sale since 1936, so color and black and white stock overlap in this decade. Each clip page and preview shows the actual stock.

No. Super 8 launched in 1965, so 1950s home movies are Standard 8mm, the gauge introduced in 1932. Of the 68 source reels behind this decade, 68 are logged as 8mm.

Yes. The 25,380 direct clips are $149 each for a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license that covers documentary, news, streaming and education, delivered as a 4K master. Commercial use (advertising, branded content, broadcast promotion) applies only to clips marked Commercial; clips marked Editorial only stay editorial. Each clip page shows its status, and the licensing guide lists the full terms. Read the licensing guide.

The year comes from the source reel and from what is on the film, and each clip page shows a confidence level for its date rather than an absolute claim. 16,289 of the 34,284 1950s clips also carry a city. The archive integrity page explains the method. Read about archive integrity.

22 countries and 228 named cities. The largest are United States (30,808 clips), Japan (764 clips), Canada (571 clips), Cuba (517 clips) and Italy (342 clips). The tables above link every leading country and city to its own page.

Clips run from 0 to 42 seconds, with a median of 5 seconds. A 50 ft Standard 8 reel holds only three to four minutes at 16 frames per second, so home movies were shot as short scenes, and each clip is one of those scenes.

1959, with 8,049 clips, 6,392 of them licensable directly. The year by year table lists all ten years with their counts and links to the collections for each.