Winter Hike on a Snow-Covered Trail, 1950s

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Winter Hike on a Snow-Covered Trail, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

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Winter Hike on a Snow-Covered Trail, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1950–1959

AA-2026-63B0CD

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Sometime in the 1950s, a small group of people set out on a winter walk through a snow-banked woodland trail, which was the decade's preferred method of demonstrating that one was the kind of family that did things together outdoors. The figures move along a sunlit corridor of packed snow between dark tree lines, dressed in the era's idea of casual winter clothing — which is to say, not especially well. One person has turned back toward the camera with the body language of someone who has just decided this was far enough, a negotiation that plays out on every family winter outing regardless of decade. The tracks in the snow suggest they have been at this long enough to commit but not so long as to regret it. In the 1950s, getting the family outside in winter was a virtue in itself, the destination being largely beside the point, which is why no one in this scene appears to be going anywhere in particular.

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