California-1939: Send-Off Crowd in Fedoras and Hats Beside a United Mainliner DC-3

$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.

Year1939
Decade1930s
LocationCalifornia, United States
Duration10s
Price$149 USD
Collection1939 · California, United States

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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What is in this clip

air travel
farewell
commercial aviation
1930s fashion
gift giving
crowds
travel departure

Shot type: medium
Camera: handheld · pan
Setting: outdoor · airfield apron beside a parked airliner, with a fence and open sky
Time and weather: day · bright overcast
Lighting: flat bright daylight with a pale sky and dark backlit figures
People: 10 · Adult men in dark overcoats, suits and snap-brim fedoras, and women in close-fitting hats and coats; one smiling man in a light hat carries wrapped parcels and a bareheaded man stands in the foreground
Vehicles: Douglas DC-3 airliner, United Air Lines 'Mainliner'
Objects: wrapped parcels · fedoras · women's hats · overcoats · airport fence · aircraft tail fin
Readable signs: Mainliner
Colors: black · grey · white
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: Low

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

Over the shoulders of men in overcoats, a smiling woman in a hat stands before the Mainliner's fuselage.
The camera turns to men in fedoras and women in hats beneath the DC-3's tail fin.
A bareheaded man in the foreground lifts a hand to his mouth.
A smiling man in a light hat comes forward holding wrapped parcels.
The shot holds on the group as the parcels are carried through the crowd.

Send-Off Crowd in Fedoras and Hats Beside a United... — Clip Details

Probably California, United States, circa 1939 home movie footage of a farewell crowd gathered beside a United Air Lines 'Mainliner' DC-3 at an airfield. The clip opens over the shoulders of men in dark overcoats toward a smiling woman in a hat, with the airliner's tail and script lettering beyond a fence. The handheld camera then moves across men in snap-brim hats as a smiling man steps forward carrying wrapped parcels, while a bareheaded man in the foreground raises a hand to his mouth.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Black & white
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: 10s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800000035

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.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: Yes
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: 1939 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: California, 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

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Meets requests for real late-1930s airport departure scenes, where a documentary or exhibit needs people seeing off travellers beside an early airliner.
Period detail: The United 'Mainliner' script on a DC-3, the men's snap-brim fedoras and overcoats, and the women's close-fitting hats all point to the late 1930s.
Home-movie behavior: Shot by someone inside the group, it catches unposed smiles, chatter and a man handing round wrapped parcels rather than an official airline photo call.
What appears in frame: A DC-3 tail fin and fuselage with Mainliner script, a fence, men in fedoras and dark overcoats, women in hats, and a smiling man holding wrapped parcels.
Film character: Grainy black-and-white small-gauge film with a pale overcast sky, soft focus, a gently moving handheld camera and dark gate edges, giving it an authentic projected-film texture.
Edit role: Works as a cutaway or memory beat in a travel or aviation sequence, and pairs naturally with a closer shot of the aircraft markings.
Historical context: United began DC-3 service in 1937 and promoted the type as the Mainliner, and the crowd's formal dress shows that seeing someone off by plane was still an occasion.
Research note: Copyright in the film is separate from the likeness rights of the identifiable unnamed people, and the United Air Lines marks and the airfield setting may need separate trademark and property review.
Research search match: 1930s airport send-off home movie, United Mainliner DC-3 crowd, pre-war air travel black and white footage, men in fedoras at airfield.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's United Air Lines Mainliner DC-3 markings and promenade-deck departure clips, then its Ferry Building and Bay Bridge views, then other late-1930s travel departures.

Still Frames From This Clip

Send-off crowd beside a United Air Lines Mainliner DC-3, probably California, circa 1939, with a smiling woman in a hat — Friends gather beside the Mainliner's fuselage and tail at the start of the send-off, circa 1939.
License this still · $49

Men in fedoras and women in close-fitting hats seeing travellers off at an airfield, likely California, circa 1939 — Men and women in hats gather below the DC-3's tail fin, one holding a wrapped parcel.
License this still · $49

Man with wrapped parcels beside a United DC-3 tail fin in a send-off crowd, probably California, circa 1939 — A man in a light hat carries wrapped parcels through the crowd beside the airliner.
License this still · $49

Smiling man holding wrapped gifts at an airliner send-off, likely California, circa 1939, under a DC-3 tail — A smiling man in a hat holds wrapped parcels as the send-off crowd stands below the Mainliner's tail.
License this still · $49

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