Michigan USA-1961: Man Waterskiing On Lake With Tow Rope

$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.

Year1961
Decade1960s
LocationMichigan, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1961 Michigan

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

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

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

Man Waterskiing On Lake With Tow Rope — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm footage from Michigan USA in 1961 captures a man waterskiing on a calm lake. The grainy, color-bleached film shows a skier in a white life vest and dark trunks gliding across the water, leaving a frothy wake. Yellow tow ropes stretch across the frame, connecting to an unseen boat. The footage is framed by the dark borders of a home movie projector, with visible film grain and slight color fading characteristic of 1960s amateur film. The skier maintains balance as he cuts through the water, with splashes and ripples surrounding him. This authentic home movie captures a classic summer recreation moment from the early 1960s.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 121080562

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 2015 · 8mm · 3″ reel
Original reel label: xmas,linda communion,,d danielar
Reel-level year note: 1961-1962
Reel-level location note: detroit michigan,
Date: 1961 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: Michigan, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
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.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1960s Michigan summer recreation requests needing authentic home-movie waterskiing or lakeside leisure footage for documentary, education, or commercial edits.
Period detail: The white life vest, dark swim trunks, tow rope, and color 8mm home-movie texture support an early 1960s recreational lake scene.
Home-movie behavior: The clip preserves an unstaged moment of a man being pulled across a lake on waterskis, filmed from a casual moving or shore-adjacent home-movie viewpoint.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include the waterskier, white flotation vest, dark swim trunks, yellow tow rope, lake surface, wake spray, and dark frame borders.
Film character: The footage has soft focus, visible grain, faded color, gate edges, and brief contact-sheet framing that read as original amateur 8mm film texture.
Edit role: Editors could use this as a brief insert, summer-memory cutaway, recreational transition, or visual beat for midcentury lake culture.
Historical context: The scene reflects postwar American leisure through a home-movie view of waterskiing on a Michigan lake without identifying a specific town or event.
Research note: A person is visible but not facially identifiable in these frames; copyright, likeness, and any location-use questions should still be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1961 Michigan 8mm waterskiing, vintage lake recreation, home movie water sports, tow rope skier, and 1960s summer leisure footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other Michigan 1961 lake footage, then broader 1960s boating, waterskiing, and summer recreation scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1961 Michigan home-movie frame showing a waterskier low in the water beside heavy spray and a yellow tow rope. — A waterskier cuts through lake water, creating a frothy burst of spray.

1961 Michigan frame of a man waterskiing across a lake in a white flotation vest and dark swim trunks, with spray behind him. — The skier moves across the lake as the tow rope pulls taut ahead of him.

1961 Michigan home-movie frame showing rippled lake water after the skier has moved out of view, with dark frame edges and scan artifacts. — The lake surface fills the frame after the skier passes, with home-movie gate edges visible.

1961 Michigan frame of rippled lake water and dark 8mm frame edges, likely moments after the waterskier moved out of frame. — Only the lake surface remains visible, framed by dark projector or scan borders.

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