Washington DC-1948: A Group Of Bears At The Zoo Waiting For Their Food

$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.

Year1948
Decade1940s
LocationWashington, District Of Columbia, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD

$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 Group Of Bears At The Zoo Waiting For Their Food — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1948, this vintage home movie captures a group of black bears at a zoo enclosure in Washington DC. The bears are seen in various states of activity—some standing on hind legs, others walking or sitting—against a backdrop of stacked stone walls. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain, color fading, and slight motion blur, offering a nostalgic glimpse into mid-century zoo life and animal behavior. The scene is candid and unscripted, with natural lighting and a handheld camera perspective that enhances its archival authenticity. Ideal for documentaries, historical content, or nostalgic storytelling.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127728238

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 record not linked for this clip
Date: 1948 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
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.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

animal
zoo
bear
fish
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washington DC
1948
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1940s wildlife
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wildlife documentary
vintage Americana
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1948 home movie

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1940s editorial requests needing zoo animal behavior, Washington DC travel context, or mid-century visitor-shot wildlife cutaways from 8mm home-movie footage.
Period detail: The stacked stone bear enclosure and color 8mm home-movie texture support the stated 1948 zoo setting, though no signage or identifiable landmark is visible in these frames.
Home-movie behavior: The clip has an unstaged visitor viewpoint, watching bears gather, stand, sit, and move in expectation of food inside a zoo enclosure.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include several black bears, a stone-walled enclosure, concrete floor, ledges, dark film borders, soft focus, and handheld framing.
Film character: The footage shows 8mm grain, faded color, slight blur, uneven exposure, and contact-print borders that give the scan a clear physical-film archive texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a short cutaway, animal behavior insert, zoo-life transition, or memory beat within a sequence about mid-century recreation or wildlife display.
Historical context: The scene reflects a visitor-recorded view of bears in a constructed zoo habitat, offering visual context for animal exhibition spaces and leisure filming in the late 1940s.
Research note: No people, faces, logos, or brands are visible, but copyright, archive license terms, and any zoo or property-related use considerations should still be reviewed.
Research search match: Likely matches searches for 1948 8mm zoo bears, Washington DC zoo home movie, black bears waiting for food, and mid-century animal enclosure footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then with other 1948 Washington DC zoo footage, then with broader 1940s zoo or animal behavior material.

Still Frames From This Clip

1948 Washington DC zoo footage showing black bears near a stone wall, including standing, seated, and walking animals within the enclosure. — Bears cluster near the stone wall of a zoo enclosure, with one walking across the foreground.

Black bears in a Washington DC zoo enclosure in 1948, with two upright bears and another animal moving along the wall. — Bears wait near the enclosure wall, including two upright animals facing the camera area.

A seated bear faces the camera while another bear moves behind it in the stone zoo enclosure, consistent with the 1948 Washington DC clip metadata. — One bear sits in the foreground as another passes behind it near the stone ledge.

Wide 8mm frame of bears spread across a stone zoo enclosure in Washington DC, showing seated and walking animals in 1948 home-movie footage. — Bears are spread across the enclosure floor, with one seated at left and others moving near the wall.

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