Clear Lake California-1939: A Couple In A Small Boat On Large Waters

$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.

Year1939
Decade1930s
LocationClear Lake, California, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1939 California

$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.

A Couple In A Small Boat On Large Waters — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1939, this vintage home movie captures a couple in a small boat navigating the expansive waters of Clear Lake, California. The grainy black-and-white footage shows the boat moving steadily across the lake, with a distant shoreline visible under an overcast sky. The image is framed by the dark borders of a film projector, emphasizing its archival nature. The couple appears to be enjoying a quiet, leisurely outing, embodying mid-20th century Americana and outdoor recreation. This authentic 1930s home movie offers a nostalgic glimpse into past leisure activities, perfect for historical documentaries, editorial content, or nostalgic storytelling.

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: 124761740

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 1166 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: may
Reel-level year note: 1939
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1939 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: Clear Lake, California, 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

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Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful 1930s California home-movie boating footage for documentary, museum, education, or editorial sequences about leisure, lakes, and small-craft recreation.
Period detail: The black-and-white 8mm image, distant open water, and small motorboat may show late-1930s recreational boating without visible modern shoreline development.
Home-movie behavior: The clip preserves an unstaged observer's view of people crossing a broad lake in a small boat, emphasizing quiet leisure rather than a posed family scene.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a small boat with people aboard, choppy lake water, a low distant shoreline, overcast sky, film-frame borders, dust marks, and soft exposure.
Film character: The footage has a grainy 8mm texture, rounded frame edges, gate shadows, light scratches, and slight exposure softness consistent with scanned home-movie film.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief cutaway, transition, establishing insert, or memory beat for lakeside travel, boating, vacation, or regional California material.
Historical context: As a home movie, it documents ordinary outdoor recreation on Clear Lake in 1939 while leaving the boaters unidentified and the exact outing undocumented.
Research note: People are visible at a distance, so likeness considerations may remain even where no logos, music, or private property are apparent in the frames.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1939 8mm Clear Lake California boating, 1930s home movie lake recreation, small boat on open water, and vintage vacation footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other Clear Lake or 1939 California footage, then broader lake, boating, and home-movie recreation scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1939 Clear Lake home-movie frame showing a small boat carrying people across broad, choppy water with a low shoreline beyond. — A small boat moves across open water with the distant Clear Lake shoreline in the background.

A small boat appears on Clear Lake, California, with people faintly visible aboard and a low shoreline under a gray sky. — The boat remains distant on the lake, surrounded by broad water and soft film grain.

Home-movie frame of a distant small boat on Clear Lake, with choppy water filling the foreground and land along the horizon. — A distant boat crosses the frame against a low shoreline and textured lake surface.

The boat sits far across Clear Lake in a grainy 1939 frame, with broad water, distant shore, and visible 8mm film borders. — The final frame holds the boat small against the wide lake and distant shore.

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