Christmas wouldn't be the same without the things. This book examines why the trees, cards, wrapping paper, toy villages and Macy's holiday parade play such an important role in the festivities. Through the medium of mass culture, Christmas is here primarily defined as a secular celebration.
Christmas wouldn't be the same without the things. This book examines why the trees, cards, wrapping paper, toy villages and Macy's holiday parade pla...
It is a story that has gone down in the annals of American art history: a New Yorker visiting upstate Hoosick Falls is entranced by four pictures hanging in the window of a drugstore. Investigating further, he learns they are the handiwork of a 78-year-old widow. Thus begins the rise to fame of Grandma Moses--farmwife, painter, and unlikely celebrity.
In this book Karal Ann Marling, distinguished observer of American visual culture, looks at Grandma Moses as a cultural phenomenon of the postwar period and explores the meaning of her subject matter--and her astonishing fame. What did the...
It is a story that has gone down in the annals of American art history: a New Yorker visiting upstate Hoosick Falls is entranced by four pictures han...
America in the 1950s: the world was not so much a stage as a setpiece for TV, the new national phenomenon. It was a time when how things looked--and how we looked--mattered, a decade of design that comes to vibrant life in As Seen on TV. From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for with a gaze newly trained by TV. A study in style, in material culture, in art history at eye level, this book...
America in the 1950s: the world was not so much a stage as a setpiece for TV, the new national phenomenon. It was a time when how things looked--and h...
It is an institution that seems almost hopelessly out of date, a social relic of bygone times. The very word "debutante" evokes images of prim, poised beauty, expensive gowns, and sumptuous balls, all of which seem anachronistic in these post-women's liberation times. But as Karal Ann Marling reveals, debdom in America is alive and well and ever evolving. For thousands of young women every year, the society debut remains a vital rite of passage, a demonstration of female power; debs continue to be viewed as the finest flowers of a distinctive American culture. The debut and its...
It is an institution that seems almost hopelessly out of date, a social relic of bygone times. The very word "debutante" evokes images of prim, poised...
Where can one find the world's largest prairie chicken, a restaurant shaped like a fish, a massive Paul Bunyan, or an enormous ear of corn? Roadside sculpture is a uniquely American phenomenon and these strange and wonderful figures can be found scattered along highways and standing in small-town squares, particularly in the Midwest.
These odd and oversized attractions have become destinations for travelers. Whether it serves art, commerce, or local pride, the colossus is always a place in itself, a stopping place where the everyday rules of reality are suspended and the observer can gain...
Where can one find the world's largest prairie chicken, a restaurant shaped like a fish, a massive Paul Bunyan, or an enormous ear of corn? Roadside s...
The penny bank craze of the twentieth century began quietly enough. Here, a slotted pottery pig from Scotland. There, a grimacing human face made in Bennington, Vermont. In 1793, penny banks first appeared in America, along with the first large copper pennies. Those who mistrusted paper currency saved their "hard" money in vessels of pottery, glass, and tin. In the 1890s, "China Pig" with a slit in his back sold for a dime. Plump pigs and pennies went together like thrift and future success. To this day, these iconic examples of American folk art and vernacular design are prized additions to...
The penny bank craze of the twentieth century began quietly enough. Here, a slotted pottery pig from Scotland. There, a grimacing human face made in B...
Between 1890 and 1930, the domestic arts, as well as the daily life of the American family, began to reflect rapid advances in technology, aesthetics, and attitudes about American culture. Pictorial, literary, musical, and decorative arts from this era all reveal a shift from clutter to clarity and from profusion to restraint as modern conveniences, ranging from pre-stamped needlework patterns to central heat, were introduced into the domestic environment. However, the household arts were also affected by an enduring strain of conservatism reflected in the popularity of historically inspired...
Between 1890 and 1930, the domestic arts, as well as the daily life of the American family, began to reflect rapid advances in technology, aesthetics,...
Between 1890 and 1930, the daily life of the American family began to reflect rapid advances in technology, aesthetics, and attitudes about American culture. Pictorial, literary, musical, and decorative arts from this era all reveal a shift from clutter to clarity and from profusion to restraint as modern conveniences, ranging from pre-stamped needlework patterns to central heat, were introduced into the domestic environment. However, the household arts were also affected by an enduring strain of conservatism reflected in the popularity of historically inspired furnishing styles. In this...
Between 1890 and 1930, the daily life of the American family began to reflect rapid advances in technology, aesthetics, and attitudes about American c...
