Family Picnic, Park Lawn, 1950s

Archive & AtlasEstablished · MMXXIII

Family Picnic, Park Lawn, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

An interpretation of depth — not a measured reconstruction

Depth is precomputed and interpretive — the scene falls back to the flat image where a browser can't render it.

Family Picnic, Park Lawn, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1953–1959

AA-2026-4051C2

The Archivist

Ask about this image

Archivist

Step into the scene

Off by default. Turning it on lets the image respond to your cursor with a shallow sense of depth, rebuilt from a depth map computed when the image was catalogued. It is an interpretation for looking, not a measured 3D model — and it falls back to the flat image where the browser can't render it.

On the image

A woman in a plaid skirt is setting up a folding table in a public park, which in the 1950s was the recognized solution to the problem of eating outdoors without admitting you were eating outdoors. The folding table was the decade's great democratic technology: it said that comfort had been planned for, that this was a gathering and not a scramble. The man in the lawn chair has already arranged himself with a paper plate on his lap, prepared to receive food at the moment it becomes available, which was the recognized role of the man at a picnic. Two women seated nearby are mid-conversation, their chairs angled slightly away from the table-in-progress, because setup was not a spectator problem. A small child stands at the center of everything, ignored in the cheerful way of children at mid-century family events, surrounded by adults who had collectively decided that being outside together in an organized fashion was the same thing as relaxing.

From the community

Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.

No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.

Visually related — by likeness

Backyard Gathering, Man Reading Newspaper, 1950s

1953–1959

Women at a Park Table, Summer Afternoon, 1950s

1950–1959

Women at a Park Picnic Table, 1950s

1950–1955

Park Outing with Prams, 1950s

1950–1959

Backyard Cookout, Suburban America, 1950s

1953–1959

Backyard Picnic with Thermoses and Canned Pineapple, 1950s

1950–1959

Backyard Picnic, 1950s

1950–1959

Sunday Afternoon in the Park, 1950s

1950–1959

Park Picnic, 1950s

1950–1959

Park Picnic, Women at the Table, 1950s

1953–1959

Backyard Pool Party, 1950s

1950–1959

Afternoon at a Public Park, 1950s

1950–1959