Written By: Liz Ronk
The title of a 1957 feature on Brazil published in LIFE magazine reads as if it might have been written last week: “Growing Pains of a Big Country: Ambitious Brazil Has Great Riches, Fine Prospects — and Big Problems.” The operative word here, of course, is “big,” as Brazil is huge in many ways, not least in geographic size (the 5th largest country on earth) and in population (200 million people).
But enormous troubles — many of which stem, at least in part, from the country’s endemic corruption — have held Brazil back from realizing its phenomenal economic potential. As the country hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and, in two years, the 2016 Summer Olympics, the world’s attention is focused on Brazil more intensely now than it has been in years. This gallery features color photos made seven decades ago, when beautiful, troubled Brazil was enduring “growing pains” not dissimilar to what it’s going through today.
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
Brazil in Color 1957
LIFE Magazine
