Children at a Summer Gathering, 1950s

Archive & AtlasEstablished · MMXXIII

Children at a Summer Gathering, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

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Children at a Summer Gathering, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1953–1959

AA-2026-263622

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A girl in red pedal pushers and a smaller boy in a plaid shirt and cap stand on a park lawn while the women behind them manage the serious business of a summer outing — pushing a large-wheeled pram, monitoring a grill, and generally keeping the whole operation from becoming a disaster. The children have been told to stand still for the camera and are doing their best, which is not very good. The pram alone dates the scene precisely: that high-slung, chrome-wheeled carriage was the 1950s mother's statement that she had done things properly, and it required roughly the same turning radius as a city bus. The women are dressed as women dressed then — shirtwaist silhouettes, a kerchief, sandals on the grass — with the complete confidence of people who have no idea that any of this will look dated. Somewhere a folding card table is doing double duty as a buffet, which was the era's universal solution to feeding people outdoors. The boy is holding a small cup with the focused expression of someone who has learned that cups tip over, and he is not going to be the one who lets it happen.

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