AA-2026-5F4F1E
On the image
Three women cross the grass in full skirts, low pumps, and hats, dressed as though the scenic overlook required the same formality as church, which in the 1950s it more or less did. Appearing outdoors for leisure did not exempt a woman from stockings and a proper hat, and the older woman in gray has clearly chosen an outfit built for admiring a view while remaining presentable to anyone who might admire her back.
Behind them, a younger couple has simply sat down on the grass, an informality that marks them as either younger or simply less concerned with the unwritten dress code governing public parkland. The bluff drops toward a wide bay or river, the kind of overlook towns built benches and paths around precisely so families could stand at the edge and say something about the view.
Nobody in the frame is looking at the water. The women are mid-conversation, the seated pair are turned toward each other, and the scenery that justified the trip is, as usual, incidental to the people who came to be seen having it.
Visually related — by likeness
Sunday Overlook Above the Water, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-5F4F1E. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/sunday-overlook-above-the-water-1950s.
@misc{aaAA20265F4F1E,
title = {Sunday Overlook Above the Water, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-5F4F1E},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/sunday-overlook-above-the-water-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Sunday Overlook Above the Water, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-5F4F1E UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/sunday-overlook-above-the-water-1950s ER -
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