AA-2026-78FA18
On the image
A boy of about four sits on a low stone wall holding a beach ball nearly as wide as his torso, wearing leather lace-up shoes with the kind of resolute formality that 1950s parents applied to children regardless of the occasion. The beach ball was the decade's signature summer toy — cheap, inflatable, and democratic, mass-produced after the war in the same petrochemical optimism that produced plastic hula hoops and Tupperware. Someone has posed him carefully and told him to hold it, which he is doing with the solemn cooperation of a child who understands that adults find this important. The shoes are the detail the camera didn't mean to editorialize: a boy dressed for church from the ankles down and for summer from the knees up, because in the 1950s no one had yet agreed that children were allowed to be comfortable in photographs.
Visually related — by likeness
Boy with Beach Ball on Stone Wall, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-78FA18. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/boy-with-beach-ball-on-stone-wall-1950s.
@misc{aaAA202678FA18,
title = {Boy with Beach Ball on Stone Wall, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-78FA18},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/boy-with-beach-ball-on-stone-wall-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Boy with Beach Ball on Stone Wall, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-78FA18 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/boy-with-beach-ball-on-stone-wall-1950s ER -
From the community
Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.
Sign in to add an identification, correction, or comment.
No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.