AA-2026-4952E3
On the image
Two girls in a public pool, each wearing a rubber swimming cap in the bright primary colors that made children visible to lifeguards and marked them as learners. The girl in the yellow cap grips the edge of the pool deck with both hands, her mouth open in a smile or perhaps concentration; the one in blue floats behind her in the deeper water, already at ease. They are dressed in modest one-piece suits with modest sleeves, the standard armor of the era before swimming became a casual thing children did without announcement or ceremony. The pool itself is pristine and chlorinated to a degree that suggests institutional care—a municipal facility where mothers sent daughters on summer afternoons to learn to swim properly, as if this were a skill that required certification. Neither girl looks afraid. They have been brought here to become the kind of child who could swim, and the camera has caught them at the point where that transition was already underway, marked by nothing but a rubber cap and the edge of a concrete deck.
Visually related — by likeness
Girls at Public Swimming Pool, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-4952E3. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/girls-at-public-swimming-pool-1950s.
@misc{aaAA20264952E3,
title = {Girls at Public Swimming Pool, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-4952E3},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/girls-at-public-swimming-pool-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Girls at Public Swimming Pool, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-4952E3 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/girls-at-public-swimming-pool-1950s ER -
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