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

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

  • Year1939
  • Decade1930s
  • LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
  • Duration5s
  • Price$149 USD
  • Collection1939 California
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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 Digitally Restored
License
Royalty-Free Direct from Stockfilm
Delivery
Instant Digital Download
Duration
5s
Price
$149 USD
Clip ID
127270430

Rights & Clearance

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 Corroborated (Supported by multiple independent clues.)
Date evidence
Catalog year matches an independent year note filed with the physical source reel.
Location
San Francisco, California, United States Corroborated (Supported by multiple independent clues.)
Location evidence
Catalog place matches an independent location note filed with the physical source reel.
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 contextOpen Clip Documentation RecordRequest source information

Topics & Keywords

  • watercraft
  • outdoors
  • color
  • water
  • weather
  • view
  • steamship
  • spewing
  • black
  • smoke
  • tugboat
  • cloudy
  • day
  • objects
  • SAN francisco california
  • 1939
  • 1939 steamship footage
  • vintage 8mm film
  • San Francisco harbor
  • black smoke steamship
  • tugboat 1939
  • archival maritime footage
  • old film grain
  • historical watercraft
  • 1930s transportation
  • black and white home movie
  • steamship smoke
  • nostalgic 1930s footage
  • maritime history
  • old film footage
  • documentary stock
  • retro 8mm
  • archival 1939
  • California maritime
  • vintage home movie

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.

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.

Visually Similar Clips

← Previous in archiveSan Francisco California-1939: View Of Black Steamship In Water On A Cloudy DayNext in archive →San Francisco California-1939: Historic Boat Sailing Through Water In Black And White
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Real 8mm and Super 8 home movies restored for documentary, agency, museum, and production work. Preserving family film since 2015, and built to stay online for the next hundred years.

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