AA-2026-9DAF07
On the image
A woman in a navy suit and a smaller, older companion stand against the rear wheel of a massive yellow earthmoving scraper at what is plainly an outdoor trade exhibition, the machine roped off behind stanchions in the manner of a museum piece. In the 1950s, heavy-equipment manufacturers discovered that displaying their largest machines at public fairs produced an effect that no brochure could replicate: the sheer scale of the thing made people feel the future was already here and someone was building it. The women have dressed for the occasion — this was a day out, not a job site — and the taller one holds a programme or brochure with the proprietary grip of someone who has collected everything on offer. The tire beside them is taller than either woman, which was, for the Caterpillar and Le Tourneau salesmen of the era, exactly the point. The machine will outlast the brochure by several decades, though the brochure was the one anyone thought to keep.
Visually related — by likeness
Two Women Posed Beside an Earthmover, Trade Fair, 1950s. 1954–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-9DAF07. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/two-women-posed-beside-an-earthmover-trade-fair-1950s.
@misc{aaAA20269DAF07,
title = {Two Women Posed Beside an Earthmover, Trade Fair, 1950s},
year = {1954–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-9DAF07},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/two-women-posed-beside-an-earthmover-trade-fair-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Two Women Posed Beside an Earthmover, Trade Fair, 1950s PY - 1954–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-9DAF07 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/two-women-posed-beside-an-earthmover-trade-fair-1950s ER -
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