Wisconsin USA-1958: Motorboat Pulling Water Skier

$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.

Year1958
Decade1950s
LocationWisconsin, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD

$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.

Motorboat Pulling Water Skier — Clip Details

Vintage 8mm home movie footage from Wisconsin USA in 1958 captures a classic summer watersport scene. A white motorboat speeds across a calm lake, pulling a water skier who glides behind, leaving a trail of white spray. The skier, wearing dark swimwear, maintains balance on the skis while holding a tow rope. The boat carries at least two people, including the driver in a light-colored shirt. The shoreline features lush green trees and distant hills under a pale sky. The film exhibits characteristic 8mm grain, slight color fading, and a dark border frame, evoking authentic mid-century nostalgia. The camera remains relatively stable, capturing the action from a fixed perspective on the water's edge.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Exterior
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 121499296

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 1211 · 8mm · 6″ reel
Original reel label: family picnic,water skiing,lake wisconsin
Reel-level year note: 1958
Reel-level location note: wisconsin
Date: 1958 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: Wisconsin, 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

boat
water
skier
people
outdoors
pulling
sports
recreation
wisconsin USA
1958
1958 water skiing
vintage 8mm film
1950s recreation
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classic water sports
retro home movie
1950s summer fun
old film footage
archival 8mm
vintage watersports
family vacation 1958
lake recreation
1950s lifestyle
nostalgic home movie
vintage 8mm
water skiing history
Americana nostalgia
1950s leisure
vintage outdoor activity

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1950s U.S. leisure, Wisconsin lake recreation, or mid-century home-movie inserts showing a motorboat towing a water skier.
Period detail: The small runabout, simple water skis, swimwear, and 8mm color stock support a late-1950s summer recreation setting without visible brands or landmarks.
Home-movie behavior: The footage has the feel of a family or bystander filming from shore as the boat passes and the skier balances across the lake.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a white motorboat, tow rope, water skier, lake spray, wooded shoreline, distant low hills, pale sky, and dark film borders.
Film character: Soft focus, visible grain, muted color, exposure variation, and gate edges give the short scene a physical 8mm home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief recreation insert, summer transition, lake-life cutaway, or nostalgic memory beat within a 1950s sequence.
Historical context: The scene shows recreational water skiing on an inland Wisconsin lake, reflecting casual postwar leisure without documenting a named event or location.
Research note: People are visible but not identifiable in detail; copyright, likeness, and any location permissions should be reviewed separately before use.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1958 Wisconsin 8mm lake footage, vintage water skiing, motorboat towing skier, and mid-century American summer recreation.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other Wisconsin 1958 lake scenes, then broader 1950s boating or watersport footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1958 Wisconsin 8mm frame showing a white motorboat towing a water skier over calm lake water near a distant shoreline. — A motorboat passes left of frame while a water skier rides behind on the lake.

The boat continues towing the skier across a Wisconsin lake, with spray trailing behind and dark 8mm frame borders visible. — The skier follows the boat through a low wake across the open water.

A water skier glides across the lake after the boat has moved out of view, with trees and low hills in the background. — The skier remains upright as the tow line leads off frame across the lake.

The skier continues along the lake near a wooded shoreline, with spray and muted 8mm color visible in the frame. — A skier leans back on the tow rope as the wake crosses the foreground.

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