American Home

Modern living began with the homes of the 1950s. Casting aside the privations of the Second World War, American architects embraced the must-have mod-cons: they wrapped fitted kitchens around fridges, washing machines, dishwashers and electric ovens, gave televisions pride of place in the living room, and built integrated garages for enormous space-age cars. So why was this change so radical? In what ways did life change for people moving into these swanky new homes, and why has the legacy of the 1950s home endured for so long? Diane Boucher answers these questions and more in this colorful introduction to the homes that embody the golden age of modern design.

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 furnishing styles. In this collection of essays, ten experts in turn-of-the-century popular and material culture examine how the struggle between modernity and tradition was reflected in various facets of the household aesthetic. Their findings touch on sub-themes of gender, generation, and class to provide a fascinating commentary on what middle-class Americans were prepared to discard in the name of modernity and what they stubbornly retained for the sake of ideology. Through an examination of material culture and prescriptive literature from this period, the essayists also demonstrate how changes in artistic expression affected the psychological, social, and cultural lives of everyday Americans. This book joins a growing list of titles dedicated to analyzing and interpreting the cultural dimensions of past domestic life. Its essays shed new light on house history by tracking the transformation of a significant element of home life - its expressions of art.

Book Description: This work is an exploration of American building technologies as they evolved during the period between colonial times and nineteen hundred. The manuscript consists of six chapters and an historical glossary of building construction related terms. The chapters cover technological developments in house framing, masonry materials and techniques, plumbing, heating, lighting, and architectural details and finishes. The glossary of terms follows the meanings of building terminology as it developed over the course of three centuries. The intent of this work is to create a detailed, if not utterly comprehensive, body of information tracing the way in which our homes changed as they mirrored the impact of technological change on all aspects of the American condition. We are and have been from the start, a nation of ardent techno junkies. The technological evolution of our homes offers a useful and clear metaphor through which to trace the evolution of our technological development and related national character, through primary focus on the concrete and practical aspects of the technologies of residential architecture. Author Bio: Lee comes from a New England background and has both a lifetime of building experience with historic structures and a formal advanced education in the field of historic preservation. For the past ten years he has worked as a project manager on a variety of high profile museum projects.

Get ready to have everything you’ve ever believed about housing and homeownership challenged. In Bringing Adam Smith into the American Home, authors Jack Ryan and John Tamny make a powerful case that the purchase of a home slows wealth attainment—rendering owners immobile in ways that further restrain their wealth chances—and that the act of homeownership deprives owners of the time and ability to do what they do best, which further dampens individual economic achievement. Thanks to the residential real estate pricing cartel, homeownership has become so costly that it has erected wildly expensive barriers to the very mobility that powers so much individual prosperity. As the cartel prospers, homebuyers and sellers alike suffer its rigidity. Ryan and Tamny call for the evisceration of realtor commissions—the only price in all of capitalism that has not come down even a little over the decades despite capitalism’s brilliant track record of bringing down the price of everything. Ryan, owner of a national residential realty business, recognizes that the very commissions realtors cling to are paradoxically harming them, all the while discreetly but powerfully shrinking prosperity for everyone else. In a book chock-full of insights from Adam Smith, author of the greatest economics book ever written, Ryan and Tamny make their highly original argument available for all as they reveal the truth about the housing market and homeownership.

The story of one man’s journey from his youth in suburban Chicago to an adult in spiritual India and a world of mystics, yogis, and gurus. Within this extraordinary memoir, Radhanath Swami weaves a colorful tapestry of adventure, mysticism, and love. Readers follow Richard Slavin from the suburbs of Chicago to the caves of the Himalayas as he transforms from young seeker to renowned spiritual guide. The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self-awareness and also a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming. Praise for The Journey Home “Here is an inspiring chapter of “our story” of spiritual pilgrimage to the East. It shows the inner journey of awakening in a fascinating and spellbinding way.” —Ram Dass, author, Be Here Now “He tells his story with remarkable honest—the temptations of the 1970s, his doubts, hopes, and disappointments, the culture shock, and the friendships found and lost . . . Add a zest of danger, suspense, and surprise, and Radhanath Swami’s story is a deep, genuine memoir that reads like a novel.” —Brigitte Sion, assistant professor of Religious Studies, New York University

An eccentric, otherworldly guide to the domestic spaces Americans inhabit