New York City-1970: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Illuminated at Night

$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.

Year1970
Decade1970s
LocationNew York City, New York, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1970 New York City

$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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Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Illuminated at Night — Clip Details

NEW YORK CITY-1970: A vibrant 8mm home movie captures the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree illuminated at night, its colorful lights glowing against the backdrop of towering Art Deco buildings. The footage, shot on vintage 8mm film, shows the tree from multiple angles, including a low-angle view of its lit peak against a twilight sky. The warm, bokeh lights and grainy film texture evoke a nostalgic, festive atmosphere of a classic New York holiday season.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Night
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: 125581166

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.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip.

People 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 1013 · Super 8 · 7″ reel
Original reel label: bronx zoo,winter,spring
Reel-level year note: 1970-1971
Reel-level location note: new york
Date: 1970 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: New York City, 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

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city
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1970
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city skyline at night
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1970s New York
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archival footage

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: 1970s New York holiday footage for documentary inserts, archive research, education pieces, or commercial edits needing Rockefeller Center seasonal atmosphere.
Period detail: The frames show a large illuminated Christmas tree amid tall midtown buildings, with 8mm color, exposure, and architecture consistent with the 1970 New York City metadata.
Home-movie behavior: The clip carries a visitor-shot landmark perspective, moving between close and low-angle views rather than staged coverage.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a lit evergreen tree, dense colored bulbs, stone and glass high-rise facades, twilight sky, dark film edges, and handheld framing shifts.
Film character: The 8mm scan shows soft focus, visible grain, saturated holiday lights, exposure bloom, and slight handheld instability as part of its archival texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a holiday cutaway, New York establishing insert, memory beat, or transition into seasonal urban material.
Historical context: The footage documents a public holiday display in midtown New York, emphasizing spectatorship through the camera’s angle rather than visible crowds.
Research note: No people, faces, logos, or audible music are evident, but landmark/property and copyright clearance should still be reviewed for the intended use.
Research search match: Useful matches include 1970 8mm New York Christmas tree, Rockefeller Center holiday lights, vintage NYC home movie, and 1970s urban Christmas footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with nearby shots from the same reel, then other 1970 New York City material, then broader vintage holiday lights or winter city footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1970 New York City home-movie frame showing the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights against nearby high-rise facades. — The illuminated tree fills the right side of the frame beside midtown buildings.

A close 8mm view of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree glowing against tall New York City buildings in 1970. — Colored lights on the tree appear as bright points against the surrounding architecture.

Low-angle 1970 New York City frame with the illuminated Rockefeller Center Christmas tree rising beside midtown towers. — The camera tilts upward, placing the tree lights against the vertical lines of the buildings.

A wider low-angle 8mm frame shows the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights below dark New York City building silhouettes. — The lit tree sits low in the composition beneath a pale twilight sky and shadowed towers.

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