AA-2026-E687D2
On the image
A family group has carried a picnic table into the backyard, spread it with a striped tablecloth, and set a portable transistor radio at the center, because in the 1950s a gathering without music required you to bring the music with you. The woman standing in the blue sleeveless blouse is in the middle of saying something the others find worth smiling at, while the woman in the coral dress moves through the near foreground managing the grocery bags — the unpaid logistics coordinator every such gathering produced and nobody formally acknowledged. The radio sits at the precise center of the table with the authority of an object everyone has agreed to treat as furniture. It was the size and weight of a small suitcase, ran on batteries that lasted roughly one afternoon, and represented the absolute leading edge of the idea that technology could follow you outside.
Visually related — by likeness
Backyard Picnic with Portable Radio, 1950s. 1955–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-E687D2. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/backyard-picnic-with-portable-radio-1950s.
@misc{aaAA2026E687D2,
title = {Backyard Picnic with Portable Radio, 1950s},
year = {1955–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-E687D2},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/backyard-picnic-with-portable-radio-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Backyard Picnic with Portable Radio, 1950s PY - 1955–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-E687D2 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/backyard-picnic-with-portable-radio-1950s ER -
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