Cape Cod Massachusetts-1959: Child Sets Down and Picks Up a Horseshoe Crab on a Pebble Beach

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$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.

Year1959
Decade1950s
LocationCape Cod, Massachusetts, United States
Duration7s
Price$149 USD
Collection1959 · Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

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

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From the same film reel

1959 · Cape Cod & Massachusetts · Reel 61a7fb31 contains 15 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1959 · Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1959Explore the year →Across the yearsCape Cod, Massachusetts, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

childhood curiosity
beach wildlife
summer vacation
seashore exploration
family leisure
1950s home movies
New England coast

Shot type: close-up
Camera: handheld · tilt · high angle looking down toward the ground
Setting: outdoor · Pebble beach at the water's edge with calm shallow water behind
Time and weather: daytime · summer · calm water; sky not visible
Lighting: Soft, even natural daylight
People: 1 · One child, seen as a hand, arm, bare legs and briefly a bare shoulder and partial profile at the end of the shot
Animals: horseshoe crab
Objects: pebbles · beach stones · small shells attached to crab shell · shallow water
Colors: blue · violet · grey · flesh tones
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: High
Location confidence: Medium

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

A horseshoe crab hangs by its tail from a child's hand above the water.
The hand lowers the crab onto the pebbles and lets go.
The crab rests alone on the stones, shell spotted with small attached shells.
The child's bare legs step into frame beside it.
The child bends, touches the shell and lifts the crab by its tail again.

Child Sets Down and Picks Up a Horseshoe Crab on a... — Clip Details

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1959 home movie footage shows a child's hand dangling a horseshoe crab by its tail over the water's edge, then lowering it onto a pebble beach. The animal rests on the stones, its dark shell spotted with small attached shells, while the child's bare legs step into frame. The youngster bends, touches the shell and lifts it by the tail again. Filmed as one handheld close shot near ground level on 8mm colour film with a cool blue cast.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Close-up
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: 7s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800001813

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: 1959 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: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 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: Answers requests for 1959 home-movie footage of children exploring a New England beach, or historical shots of people handling horseshoe crabs.
Period detail: The film's saturated blue-violet colour and grain are typical of late-1950s 8mm colour stock, and the reel's own seaweed title dates the beach day to 1959.
Home-movie behavior: An unstaged moment of a child testing a strange sea creature, dropping it, studying it and grabbing it again, filmed by a family member crouched nearby.
What appears in frame: A child's hand gripping a horseshoe crab tail, the crab's dark domed shell with small shells attached, rounded beach pebbles, rippled shallow water, and the child's bare legs and arm.
Film character: Handheld 8mm colour with a strong cool blue cast, fine grain and soft edges, giving the clip a clearly period, projected-film texture while staying well exposed.
Edit role: Works as a close detail insert or cutaway within a beach sequence, or as a short memory beat about childhood summers.
Historical context: Shows a family beach outing on Cape Cod in 1959, where children explored the stony tide line and handled the wildlife they found there.
Research note: The child is a minor whose identity is unknown, with only a brief partial profile visible; copyright in the film is separate from likeness, and no property or logos appear.
Research search match: Matches searches such as 'horseshoe crab 1950s film', 'Cape Cod home movie 1959', 'child on pebble beach 8mm' and 'vintage New England beach wildlife'.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's crowded Cape Cod beach, toddler on the beach and boys eating melon clips, then other 1959 Massachusetts shore footage, then beach wildlife and childhood discovery themes.

Still Frames From This Clip

Child's hand dangling a horseshoe crab by its tail over a pebble shore, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1959, 8mm home movie — A child lifts a horseshoe crab by its tail at the water's edge, Cape Cod, 1959.
License this still · $49

Horseshoe crab resting on a pebble beach beside calm water, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1959, blue-tinted 8mm colour film — Set down on the stones, the horseshoe crab sits still on the pebble beach.
License this still · $49

Child stepping toward a horseshoe crab on a stony Cape Cod shore in 1959, from a family 8mm home movie — The child steps back into frame beside the horseshoe crab.
License this still · $49

Child bending to touch a horseshoe crab on a pebble beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1959, handheld 8mm film — Bending down, the child reaches out to touch the horseshoe crab's shell before picking it up again.
License this still · $49

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