San Francisco California-1939: Cargo And Passenger Ships Floating On Water Near

$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
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
Duration6s
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.

Cargo And Passenger Ships Floating On Water Near — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1939, this vintage home movie captures a bustling San Francisco port. The grainy black-and-white footage shows large cargo and passenger ships floating on the water near a long, arched building with parked cars in the foreground. A massive vessel dominates the frame in later shots, emphasizing the scale of maritime activity. The hazy atmosphere and film grain evoke a nostalgic, archival feel, offering a rare glimpse into mid-century port life.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127270238

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.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

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 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: San Francisco, 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

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1930s San Francisco maritime or waterfront sequences needing brief archival home-movie views of ships, piers, cars, and harbor buildings.
Period detail: The parked cars, arched waterfront building, large vessels, and hazy harbor view support the 1939 San Francisco setting supplied in the metadata.
Home-movie behavior: The footage has a visitor-shot vantage from across the waterfront, observing harbor activity without staged action or close human subjects.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include arched pier buildings, parked automobiles, a waterfront roadway, large ships, open water, a hazy bay horizon, and film gate borders.
Film character: The 8mm scan shows soft focus, visible grain, exposure haze, frame jitter, and dark gate edges that give the clip a physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a short establishing cutaway, maritime transition, or memory beat within a San Francisco port or travel montage.
Historical context: The clip visually documents a busy urban waterfront with ships and cars, offering context for everyday harbor surroundings rather than a specific named event.
Research note: No people, logos, or audible music are indicated, but users should still assess copyright, location depiction, vessel identity, and property context for their use.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1939 San Francisco harbor footage, 8mm waterfront home movie, vintage port ships, arched pier building, and prewar bay traffic.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with neighboring shots from the same reel, then other 1939 San Francisco waterfront material, then broader vintage harbor and passenger ship footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1939 San Francisco waterfront view with an arched pier building, parked cars, and distant ships on hazy bay water. — Arched waterfront building and harbor traffic seen from across the road.

San Francisco harbor scene from 1939 showing an arched waterfront structure, cars along the curb, and vessels in the distance. — Parked cars line the waterfront as ships sit beyond the pier buildings.

1939 San Francisco port view with a large ship near the pier, arched buildings, parked cars, and distant bay traffic. — A large vessel enters the composition near the pier buildings.

San Francisco waterfront in 1939 with a large ship beside the pier, distant vessels on the bay, and a hazy skyline area. — Large harbor vessel dominates the right side of the waterfront view.

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