Boy on Frozen River with Parked Car, 1950s — Archive & Atlas
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Boy on Frozen River with Parked Car, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1950–1959

AA-2026-2F6300

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A boy of about ten stands alone on a frozen river in winter, wearing a dark wool coat and cap, posed for the camera with the flat posture of a child who has been told to stand still. Behind him a two-tone sedan, likely a 1950 Chevrolet or similar mid-size American car, sits parked on the bank or frozen surface, turquoise and cream, looking temporary in the landscape. Bare deciduous forest lines the horizon. The boy has traveled to this spot—probably with the car's driver, an adult with a camera and no particular plan except to mark the moment—because a frozen river in the 1950s Midwest was accessible terrain, free to walk on, free to drive to, requiring no permission. He stands in the middle distance as proof of the outing, and the car behind him explains how they got there and how they will leave. Nothing in the frame suggests this day was noteworthy, or that forty years later anyone would need to document that children once went to such places without incident or paperwork.

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Archive & Atlas — The Archive AA-2026-2F6300 · jpg · Open