AA-2026-D2F7E3
On the image
A middle-aged man in a loudly patterned novelty shirt sits in a red brocade armchair next to a Christmas tree that has been decorated with such an aggressive quantity of silver tinsel that the actual tree is almost entirely hidden beneath it. This was the approved method in the 1950s: the tree was merely a scaffold, and the tinsel was the point. He has crossed one leg over the other and is looking down with the expression of a man who has eaten too much and has no particular plans to change that. Behind him, Venetian blinds are paired with large-print floral drapes in pink and gold, a combination someone chose deliberately and felt good about. The novelty shirt — covered in small repeated figures — is the casual wear of a man who understood that Christmas was a holiday and dressed accordingly. Every object in this room was considered modern in its time, and the tinsel-to-tree ratio, which now reads as comic, was then a straightforward measure of effort and holiday spirit.
Visually related — by likeness
Man in Armchair, Christmas Tree Buried in Tinsel, 1950s. 1952–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-D2F7E3. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/man-in-armchair-christmas-tree-buried-in-tinsel-1950s.
@misc{aaAA2026D2F7E3,
title = {Man in Armchair, Christmas Tree Buried in Tinsel, 1950s},
year = {1952–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-D2F7E3},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/man-in-armchair-christmas-tree-buried-in-tinsel-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Man in Armchair, Christmas Tree Buried in Tinsel, 1950s PY - 1952–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-D2F7E3 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/man-in-armchair-christmas-tree-buried-in-tinsel-1950s ER -
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