Washington DC USA-1952: The White House And 1950s Cars On A City Street

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1952
Decade1950s
LocationWashington, District Of Columbia, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

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

Before you add to cart: Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement. Checkout will only offer editorial, educational, internal and social/web scopes.

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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.

The White House And 1950s Cars On A City Street — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1952, this vintage footage captures the White House in Washington DC, its iconic neoclassical facade and American flag visible against a cloudy sky. The scene shifts to a street view with classic 1950s automobiles, including a white and blue taxi, navigating a city block lined with stone buildings and traffic cones. The grainy, slightly faded color palette and soft focus evoke authentic mid-century home movie nostalgia, offering a rare glimpse of daily life in the nation's capital during the early 1950s.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 123334475

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

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 1570 · 8mm · 7″ reel
Original reel label: dr. mc petersen
Reel-level year note: 1952
Reel-level location note: florida,washington dc,canada
Date: 1952 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: Washington, District Of Columbia, 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: Fits 1950s Washington DC documentary briefs, Cold War-era American city sequences, and presidential history montages; useful as an establishing or street-level insert.
Period detail: The neoclassical portico and flagpole visible in frame 0 may show the White House North Portico; early-1950s American sedans and a two-tone taxi confirm mid-century street traffic.
Home-movie behavior: Framed from a visitor's sidewalk or car-window vantage, the clip captures a tourist's instinct to document a landmark and the passing street scene, unstaged and handheld.
What appears in frame: Neoclassical columned portico, American flag on flagpole, orange traffic cones in roadway, two-tone taxi, dark 1950s sedans, stone federal building facade, street trees, pedestrian figure.
Film character: 8mm color stock shows warm grain, muted palette with faded greens, soft focus across mid-distance, a film-scratch artifact in the opening frame, and one near-black underexposed frame.
Edit role: Opens a 1950s Washington DC sequence as an establishing shot; the street-traffic frames serve as period cutaways or insert shots between archive stills or narration.
Historical context: Traffic cones and a taxi alongside a neoclassical federal facade reflect mid-century Washington street management; the clip offers an unposed civilian view of the capital in the early Eisenhower years.
Research note: At least one pedestrian is visible at sidewalk distance; individual likeness rights for archival home-movie footage should be assessed with legal counsel; no clearly recognizable commercial logos confirmed.
Research search match: Researchers may query: 1950s Washington DC street scene, White House exterior home movie, Cold War era American city, vintage DC taxi, early 1950s federal building traffic.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with other clips from this reel or same 1952 Washington DC collection; then with 1950s American city or federal architecture footage; then with Cold War domestic-life sequences.

Still Frames From This Clip

The White House North Portico with American flag on flagpole, filmed on 8mm in Washington DC circa 1952; film scratch artifact visible. — White House exterior, Washington DC, circa 1952, 8mm home movie.

Transitional 8mm frame, nearly all black; indistinct dark shapes may indicate a moving vehicle captured at close range. — Underexposed transitional frame, 8mm film.

Washington DC street circa 1952: two-tone taxi and dark 1950s sedan pass a neoclassical stone building; orange traffic cones in road; pedestrian figure visible on sidewalk. — 1950s Washington DC street with taxi and traffic cones, circa 1952.

Washington DC street circa 1952: large dark blue 1950s sedan and cream-colored sedan in traffic; neoclassical stone building with arched windows in background. — 1950s sedans on a Washington DC street, circa 1952.

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