Catskill New York USA-1959: Family Watching Bears at Catskill Zoo

$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.

Year1959
Decade1950s
LocationCatskill, New York, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1957 Catskill New York

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

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

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Family Watching Bears at Catskill Zoo — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1959, this vintage home movie captures a family at the Catskill Zoo in New York. A woman and man lean over a purple-painted concrete wall, watching two bears in their enclosure. One bear stands upright on its hind legs, reaching toward the wall, while another bear with a distinctive white chest patch looks directly at the camera. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain, color shifts, and a nostalgic, candid feel, offering a glimpse into mid-century zoo visits and family life.

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: 123619400

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 1101 · 8mm · 7″ reel
Original reel label: north pole,game farm,amusement park, reel 2
Reel-level year note: 1959
Reel-level location note: new york
Date: 1959 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: Catskill, New York, 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: 1950s Catskill zoo home-movie footage for productions needing mid-century family recreation, animal captivity, or visitor-shot zoo material.
Period detail: The 8mm color, casual clothing, concrete enclosure wall, and visitor viewpoint support a late-1950s zoo-visit setting in Catskill, New York.
Home-movie behavior: The value is in the unstaged visitor perspective as adults lean over the barrier while bears move close to the camera and enclosure wall.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include two bears, a purple-painted concrete wall, adults above the enclosure, paved ground, dark film borders, and a handheld zoo viewpoint.
Film character: The clip has soft 8mm grain, purple-blue color shift, uneven exposure, motion blur, and gate borders that read as physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use it as a brief cutaway, memory beat, or transition into mid-century zoo visits, family outings, or captive animal sequences.
Historical context: The footage shows a mid-century public zoo visit where spectators watch bears at close range behind a concrete barrier.
Research note: People are visible and may require likeness review; no logos are evident, but copyright, location, and animal-welfare context should be checked separately.
Research search match: Useful searches include 1959 Catskill zoo 8mm bears, 1950s family zoo visit, vintage home movie animal enclosure, and bear captivity footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent same-reel family or zoo shots, then Catskill 1959 material, then broader 1950s zoo, animal enclosure, and family outing footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

In 1959 Catskill zoo footage, adults watch from above as a bear rises near a purple-painted concrete enclosure wall. — Visitors look down into a bear enclosure as one bear reaches toward the wall.

A bear with a distinctive white chest patch faces the camera in the Catskill zoo enclosure, with another bear partly visible nearby. — A bear with a white chest marking stands close to the camera inside the enclosure.

A bear with a pale chest marking stands upright in the Catskill zoo enclosure, with another bear partially behind it. — One bear stands upright, showing a pale chest patch, while another bear is partly visible behind it.

A bear turns sideways in the enclosure near the end of the short zoo shot.

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