This is what the world looked like when I was a very small boy. Or maybe, this is what I imagined the world was supposed to look like based on preverbal ponderings of Look magazine. I was unable to live up to the standards of those images. It put me in a bad mood for about 40 years.
Love the flat-head jalopy, too, (with dad's funky Crosley Wagon in the garage, I think,) and why, with a purty sweater girl to go with it, what more could a growin' boy want?
Caught the tail end of these halcyon daze as a mite, myself, but never really did catch up to the implied dream. Like "Kings Row", reality seeped in thru the cracks.
When I was putting this together, one title which I almost used was 'The White America of William Gottlieb', but I figured (among other things) that title was a little too on the nose. Also . . . to be fair . . . in the dozens of such images I selected these from, there were one or two where you can see African-Americans on the periphery.
But they're rare. Unfortunately, this is the image the country wanted to project. Not totally without charm, but woefully incomplete.
I think there's a non-white person in picture #10, in the background. I only caught it because I was gaping at the photo, imagining what it would be like to have to wear crinolines under your skirt to school.
But Gottlieb photographed many African Americans, so I wouldn't call this William Gottlieb's white America. It's a slice of American life that William Gottlieb photographed.
9 comments:
Ah, sweater girls.
This is what the world looked like when I was a very small boy. Or maybe, this is what I imagined the world was supposed to look like based on preverbal ponderings of Look magazine. I was unable to live up to the standards of those images. It put me in a bad mood for about 40 years.
That'll show the commies!
That's a sweet flathead-powered hot rod in photo #11!
Love the flat-head jalopy, too, (with dad's funky Crosley Wagon in the garage, I think,) and why, with a purty sweater girl to go with it, what more could a growin' boy want?
Caught the tail end of these halcyon daze as a mite, myself, but never really did catch up to the implied dream. Like "Kings Row", reality seeped in thru the cracks.
Hey, Coop, luv your boingboing shirt, BTW!
And tellingly, not a single non white face in the bunch.
Astute observation, Jessica.
When I was putting this together, one title which I almost used was 'The White America of William Gottlieb', but I figured (among other things) that title was a little too on the nose. Also . . . to be fair . . . in the dozens of such images I selected these from, there were one or two where you can see African-Americans on the periphery.
But they're rare. Unfortunately, this is the image the country wanted to project. Not totally without charm, but woefully incomplete.
I think there's a non-white person in picture #10, in the background. I only caught it because I was gaping at the photo, imagining what it would be like to have to wear crinolines under your skirt to school.
But Gottlieb photographed many African Americans, so I wouldn't call this William Gottlieb's white America. It's a slice of American life that William Gottlieb photographed.
Post a Comment