AA-2026-552FE2
On the image
Three young people in bathing suits have arranged themselves in a human pyramid on a single water ski, the kind of stunt that required not just balance but a shared belief that this was how you spent a summer afternoon at a public beach. A motorboat operator holds steady in the foreground, his job to keep the rope taut and the whole enterprise from collapsing into the river, which it appears ready to do at any moment. In the background, wooden bleachers and a scattered audience suggest this was an organised event—the 1950s version of entertainment being people doing difficult things in public that nobody had asked them to do, and a crowd turning out to watch them either succeed or fall into the water. The tall pines and flat water read as Florida or another warm-weather state where such exhibits were standard summer recreation, part of the era's faith that the public would find novelty and minor athletic danger endlessly engaging.
Visually related — by likeness
Water-skiing demonstration, 1950s riverside resort. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-552FE2. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/water-skiing-demonstration-1950s-riverside-resort.
@misc{aaAA2026552FE2,
title = {Water-skiing demonstration, 1950s riverside resort},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-552FE2},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/water-skiing-demonstration-1950s-riverside-resort}
}TY - ART TI - Water-skiing demonstration, 1950s riverside resort PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-552FE2 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/water-skiing-demonstration-1950s-riverside-resort ER -
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