A la carte Appetite for art: over one hundred years of menu graphics Until restaurants became commonplace in the late 1800s, printed menus for meals were rare commodities reserved for special occasions. As restaurants proliferated, the menu became more than just a culinary listing. The design of the menu became an integral part of eating out and as such menus became a marketing tool and a favored keepsake.

Menu Design is an omnibus showcasing the best examples of this graphic art. With nearly 800 examples, illustrated in...

Wheels of history: From the Model T and DB5 to the VW Beetle and the Hummer Henry Ford jump-started the age of the automobile with the first assembly-line car in 1908: the Model T. Over the next century the automobile evolved from chugging workhorse to tail fin-era showboat to sleek status symbol, complete with sleek hood ornament. Initially a novelty item, the car grew into a necessity of the modern age, and a vector of freedom on the open road. 20th Century Classic Cars offers a lush visual history of the automobile, decade by decade, via 400-plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann...

A plethora of 1950s ads covering just about anything the dollar could buy, from Las Vegas vacations to cigarettes as healthy mood enhancers. More than a record of bygone products and campaigns, these colorful ads provide an evocative record of everyday American life when McCarthyism was rife and capitalism was king.

The way we wore: The story of modern fashion from couture to mass market The 20th century saw fashion evolve from an exclusive Parisian salon business catering to a wealthy elite into a global industry employing millions, with new trends whisked into stores before the last model has left the catwalk. Along the way, the signature silhouettes of each era evolved beyond recognition. For women, House of Worthcrinolines gave way to Vionnet s bias-cut gowns, Dior s New Look toQuant s Chelsea Look, Halston s white suit toFrankie B. s low-rise jeans. In menswear, ready-made suits signaled the demise...

American beauty: Painting life as it would like to be

An extraordinarily prolific artist, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) produced some 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, not including a prodigious quantity of commissioned editorial, commercial, and advertising work. His death in 1978 was regarded the loss of a national icon, an artist who, like no other, celebrated the American Dream.

Shunning experimentation and avant-garde techniques in favor of effective composition and relatable subject matter, Rockwell created...

What s Wrong in Tinseltown?
The dark side of Los Angeles, 1920 1960

In the years following World War I, Los Angeles was a city awakening to its darker side, transforming itself from a backwater town to a gleaming metropolis and city of the future. But along the way a tarnished patina began to coat its ever-more glamorous facade. As thousands flocked to the city with their dreams and desires, so too came get-rich-quick schemes, phony religions, organized crime, and corruption.

A visual history...