AA-2026-40A5DB
On the image
Two girls in summer dresses stand in a public park before a row of parked 1950s sedans, a scene organized around the postwar assumption that a family's prosperity could be displayed in the open. The cars—a Chevrolet, a Buick, and what appears to be a Mercury or Ford—sit idling in a grassy lot beneath tall oaks, their chrome and pastel paint meant to signify arrival and belonging. The children are dressed for the occasion as if attending a minor ceremony; behind them, couples and families dot the lawn, equally purposeful, equally at ease. The park allowed this casual gathering of automobiles then because cars were still novel enough to be admirable rather than inevitable, and because no one had yet learned to be suspicious of public congregation. The girls hold hands and look slightly uncertain, which is what children do when their parents have brought them somewhere to be visible.
Visually related — by likeness
Park Outing with Automobiles, 1950s America. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-40A5DB. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/park-outing-with-automobiles-1950s-america.
@misc{aaAA202640A5DB,
title = {Park Outing with Automobiles, 1950s America},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-40A5DB},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/park-outing-with-automobiles-1950s-america}
}TY - ART TI - Park Outing with Automobiles, 1950s America PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-40A5DB UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/park-outing-with-automobiles-1950s-america ER -
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