Albany New York USA-1937: Man Walking On Ice After Swimming In Freezing Water

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1937
Decade1930s
LocationAlbany, New York, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1937 Albany New York

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

Need 10+ clips? Send your brief and get a curated shortlist →

Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Man Walking On Ice After Swimming In Freezing Water — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm home movie footage from Albany, New York, 1937, showing a man in a swimsuit walking across a frozen lake after a polar plunge. A crowd of onlookers gathers on a wooden dock structure, watching as the swimmer emerges from the icy water. The scene captures a winter outdoor activity with bare trees and snow-covered ground under a bright, overcast sky. The grainy black-and-white film exhibits classic Super 8 characteristics, including natural motion and subtle film damage, evoking a strong sense of historical nostalgia and community tradition.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: ExteriorBlack & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 120806379

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1937 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Albany, New York, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: 1930s 8mm winter home-movie footage suited to editorial sequences about polar plunges, cold-weather recreation, community spectatorship, or Depression-era everyday leisure in Albany, New York.
Period detail: The black-and-white 8mm look, winter clothing on the dock, wooden waterfront structure, and metadata-supported 1937 Albany setting place the scene in a late-1930s recreational context.
Home-movie behavior: The value is in the unstaged observation of a swimsuit-clad man returning across the ice while nearby spectators watch from a dock or platform.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include the swimmer in briefs, a snow-covered frozen surface, a wooden dock structure, bundled onlookers, bare winter trees, a conifer, and bright overcast light.
Film character: The clip has soft focus, visible grain, flicker, exposure variation, and handheld framing that read as authentic small-gauge home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief insert, transition, or memory beat for winter endurance, local traditions, public spectatorship, or archival cold-weather recreation.
Historical context: The scene documents a public outdoor winter activity with spectators gathered around a swimmer, without enough visual evidence to identify a specific organized event beyond the supplied Albany 1937 metadata.
Research note: People and faces are visible at a distance, so copyright, likeness, and event-identification questions should be reviewed separately even though no brands, interiors, or obvious private property are visible.
Research search match: Useful search phrases include 1930s Albany polar plunge, vintage 8mm man walking on ice, frozen lake swimmer, winter home movie spectators, and 1937 cold-water swim footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent footage from the same reel, then with Albany or New York winter material from 1937, and then with broader archival footage of polar plunges, frozen lakes, and public winter recreation.

Still Frames From This Clip

In metadata-supported Albany, New York, 1937, a swimsuit-clad man stands or walks on ice near a wooden dock where bundled spectators watch. — Swimmer on ice beside spectators at the dock.

The Albany winter home-movie frame shows the swimmer walking across the ice as the dock and distant snow-covered shoreline remain in view. — Swimmer walking across the ice.

The swimmer continues across the frozen surface in the 1937 Albany footage, with bare trees, snow, and part of the dock visible at the side. — Swimmer crossing the frozen surface.

A group of bundled spectators stands on the wooden dock in Albany as the swimmer appears near the frozen water or ice below and beyond them. — Spectators watch from the wooden dock.

Visually Similar Clips