United States-1955: Harnessed Mule Turning a Swing Ride as Families Ride Hanging Benches

$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.

Year1955
Decade1950s
LocationUnited States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1955 · 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

animal-powered amusement
family outing
childhood joy
1950s leisure
park rides
mother and daughter
rural fairground style

Shot type: medium
Camera: handheld · pan
Setting: outdoor · Rustic park ride enclosure with a packed dirt ring, wooden rail fencing, a shingle-roofed wooden building and leafy trees
Time and weather: day · unknown · sunny
Lighting: Bright direct sunlight with hard shadows and blown highlights in the background
People: 10 · Families on hanging bench seats: two boys in a plaid shirt and a dark jacket with a red collar, a woman in a grey suit with a small girl in a blue dress and white cardigan, a man holding a small child, other riders and bystanders
Animals: mule
Objects: hanging wooden bench seats · wooden sweep pole · collar harness · overhead ride frame · wooden rail fence · shingle-roofed building
Colors: dark brown · grey · blue · red · pale green
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Medium
Location confidence: Low

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

Two boys sit on a hanging bench as the swing ride turns.
A woman in a grey suit and a girl in a blue dress swing into view.
The girl laughs as their bench passes close to the camera.
A dark harnessed mule appears, pulling the wooden sweep pole.
The mule plods on around the ring past waiting riders.

Harnessed Mule Turning a Swing Ride as Families Ride... — Clip Details

In the United States, circa 1955, home movie footage shows a rustic park swing ride turned by a harnessed mule. Children and adults sit on wooden bench seats hung from an overhead frame; a woman in a grey suit and a laughing small girl in a blue dress swing close past the camera. The dark animal then plods by, pulling a long wooden sweep pole around the ring. The single handheld shot was filmed in bright sun on 8mm colour film.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Exterior
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: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800000882

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.

Minors are visible. Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip, and a sensitive-use review is recommended.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: Yes
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: 1955 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: 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 1950s American family leisure and early amusement rides, especially a rare animal-powered ride, for documentary, museum or education use.
Period detail: The women's tailored grey suits, the boys' plaid shirts and cuffed jeans, and the girl's full-skirted dress with a cardigan may show mid-1950s family clothing.
Home-movie behavior: An unstaged family moment: a small girl laughs openly beside her mother as the swing carries them past the relative holding the camera.
What appears in frame: Two boys on a front bench, a woman and girl in blue on a swinging seat, a man holding a small child, a dark mule in a collar harness, and a long wooden sweep pole.
Film character: Warm reds and deep blues with visible grain, hard sunlit contrast and handheld motion blur give the clip the texture of 1950s small-gauge reversal film.
Edit role: Works as a memory-beat insert or a cutaway in an amusement or childhood sequence, with the reveal of the mule making a natural closing beat.
Historical context: The ride runs on an animal walking in a circle rather than a motor, which shows a simple, low-tech style of park entertainment from the period.
Research note: Copyright in the film is separate from likeness: identifiable adults and minors appear, and the ride site may be private property, so check releases and use.
Research search match: mule powered swing ride, 1950s amusement park home movie, 8mm family park ride, vintage children on hanging seats, animal powered merry-go-round.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's girl on a pony ride, girl on a carousel horse, miniature streamliner train and antique-car ride, then other circa 1955 park footage and animal-ride clips.

Still Frames From This Clip

Boys riding a hanging bench on a park swing ride in the United States, circa 1955, on 8mm home movie film. — Two boys share a front bench as the swing ride turns, circa 1955.
License this still · $49

Mother figure and small girl in a blue dress on a park swing ride, United States, circa 1955 home movie. — A woman and a small girl in blue ride a swinging bench, circa 1955.
License this still · $49

Harnessed mule turning a park swing ride with a wooden sweep pole, United States, circa 1955, 8mm film. — The mule that powers the ride walks its circle, circa 1955.
License this still · $49

Mule plodding around a rustic park ride ring as a child in red swings past, United States, circa 1955. — A child in red swings by as the mule keeps the ride turning.
License this still · $49

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