AA-2026-18F62E
On the image
A woman with freshly set auburn hair lies propped in a hospital bed in the 1950s, wearing the kind of expression that says she has been ill long enough to stop performing recovery for visitors but not long enough to stop wearing lipstick. The white roses on the bedside table represent the decade's standard protocol for guilt and affection — someone who could not be present as often as they should have been sent flowers instead, which was considered an adequate substitute. A pack of cigarettes sits beside the vase, because in the 1950s a hospital stay was not yet understood as an occasion to quit smoking, and the nurses had not yet been empowered to say otherwise. The call cord snakes down the wall behind her, a technological comfort that promised a nurse would arrive promptly and delivered one who would arrive when possible. She looks at the camera with the patience of a woman who has concluded that being photographed in a hospital bed is just one more thing happening to her this week.
Visually related — by likeness
Woman Recovering in Hospital Bed with White Roses, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-18F62E. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/woman-recovering-in-hospital-bed-with-white-roses-1950s.
@misc{aaAA202618F62E,
title = {Woman Recovering in Hospital Bed with White Roses, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-18F62E},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/woman-recovering-in-hospital-bed-with-white-roses-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Woman Recovering in Hospital Bed with White Roses, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-18F62E UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/woman-recovering-in-hospital-bed-with-white-roses-1950s ER -
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