Boat-Shaped Sleigh Ride in the Snow, 1950s Mountain Resort

Archive & AtlasEstablished · MMXXIII

Boat-Shaped Sleigh Ride in the Snow, 1950s Mountain Resort — Archive & Atlas

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Boat-Shaped Sleigh Ride in the Snow, 1950s Mountain Resort — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1950–1959

AA-2026-20C70B

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Someone at a mid-century mountain lodge had the idea that a sled ought to look like a boat, and so it does, complete with a raised prow at the bow, where the man in the red shirt sits like a gondolier who has taken a wrong turn at the Alps. Behind him a row of children and adults in wool coats sit obediently in the hull, waiting for whatever motive force is about to pull them across the snow, on the assumption that a ride is a ride regardless of the vehicle's original purpose.

The park bench and picnic table poking through the drifts confirm this is a summer campground doing winter duty, the kind of place families visited in every season because the reservation was already paid for. The man standing behind in sunglasses and a plaid coat has the stance of someone in charge of safety, or at least of looking like he is.

Nobody in the boat seems worried about capsizing on dry land, which is the quiet joke of the whole contraption: it was built to float and is now being dragged, and everyone involved has decided not to mention it.

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