San Francisco California-1939: Steamship Spewing Black Smoke with Tugboat in Harbor

$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
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.

Steamship Spewing Black Smoke with Tugboat in Harbor — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1939, this vintage home movie captures a steamship and tugboat on the water near San Francisco, California. The steamship spews thick black smoke from its stack as it moves through the harbor, with the tugboat visible nearby. The grainy, monochrome footage shows signs of age with scratches and dust, offering a nostalgic glimpse of maritime activity during the late 1930s. The scene unfolds under overcast skies, with the ships' silhouettes standing out against the water and distant shoreline.

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: 127270430

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 documentary or educational edits needing late-1930s San Francisco harbor activity with steam-powered maritime traffic and tugboat support.
Period detail: The low-profile harbor craft, smoking steamship stack, monochrome 8mm texture, and distant shoreline support a 1939 maritime setting without identifying a specific vessel or landmark.
Home-movie behavior: The clip has the value of a visitor-shot harbor view, observing working boats from a distance rather than staging a formal maritime scene.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a steamship or large working vessel, a dense black smoke plume, a smaller tugboat, calm harbor water, hazy shoreline, overcast sky, and film-frame edges.
Film character: The footage carries grainy 8mm texture, soft focus, uneven exposure, dust, scratches, and slight handheld framing that read as original home-movie film artifacts.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a brief insert, harbor cutaway, transition beat, or atmospheric evidence of working waterfront movement in a period sequence.
Historical context: The scene visually situates maritime traffic in a foggy or overcast Bay Area harbor environment, emphasizing industrial watercraft and smoke rather than passengers or street life.
Research note: No people, logos, or readable vessel names are visible, but copyright status, vessel identification, and any location-specific property concerns should still be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Relevant searches include 1939 San Francisco harbor home movie, 8mm steamship smoke, vintage tugboat harbor footage, and late 1930s maritime waterfront clip.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent footage from the same reel, then other 1939 San Francisco harbor material, then broader 1930s steamship, tugboat, waterfront, and industrial smoke scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

1939 San Francisco harbor footage shows a distant steamship or working vessel producing black smoke with a smaller tugboat near the waterline. — Steamship smoke over harbor water.

A distant vessel in San Francisco harbor appears beneath a heavy smoke plume, with shoreline shapes faintly visible through aged 8mm film texture. — Smoking vessel near shoreline.

The 1939 harbor view holds on a steamship or industrial vessel releasing dark smoke, with a small tugboat close to the lower edge of the frame. — Steamship and tugboat in haze.

A small tugboat or harbor vessel is seen at a distance on San Francisco harbor water, with smoke haze and aged film marks softening the view. — Small harbor vessel in haze.

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