Midcentury Christmas Holiday Fads Fancies And Fun From 1945 To 1970

A celebration of Christmas in the 1950s and '60s Midcentury America was a wonderland of department stores, suburban cul-de-sacs, and Tupperware parties. Every kid on the block had to have the latest cool toy, be it an Easy Bake Oven for pretend baking, a rocket ship for pretend space travel, or a Slinky, just because. At Christmastime, postwar America's dreams and desires were on full display, from shopping mall Santas to shiny aluminum Christmas trees, from the Grinch to Charlie Brown's beloved spindly Christmas tree. Now design maven Sarah Archer tells the story of how Christmastime in America rocketed from the Victorian period into Space Age, thanks to the new technologies and unprecedented prosperity that shaped the era. The book will feature iconic favorites of that time, including: • A visual feast of Christmastime eats and recipes, from magazines and food and appliance makers • Christmas cards from artists and designers of the era, featuring Henry Dreyfuss, Charles & Ray Eames, and Alexander Girard • Vintage how-to templates and instructions for holiday decor from Good Housekeeping and the 1960's craft craze • Advice from Popular Mechanics on how to glamorize your holiday dining table • Decorating advice for your new Aluminum Christmas Tree from ALCOA (the Aluminum Company of America) • The first American-made glass ornaments from Corning Glassworks Midcentury Christmas is sure to be on everyone’s most-wanted lists.

A journey through the Christmases of yesteryear, with artwork, photos, magazine content, and others treasures of decades past. We all have memories of long-ago Christmases locked away in our hearts. This book explores—with vibrant period art, surprising facts, and excerpts from letters, diaries, and magazines through the decades—what the holiday was like from the 1920s through the 1960s. In Christmas Memories, Susan Waggoner, author of It’s a Wonderful Christmas and Under the Tree, looks at bygone holidays from the perspective of those who lived them. Beginning with “Christmas in the Melting Pot,” which depicts yuletide in the early 1920s, she presents detailed snapshots that re-create seasons past. She chronicles the gifts, activities, fads, and fancies that made each Christmas unique; indulges in fantasy shopping at yesterday’s prices; shares thoughts from letters, diaries, and magazines of the era; and makes the past come to life with vibrant period art that lets you revel in the irresistible nostalgia of Christmas memories.

Christmases during and just after World War II.

"The origins of Christmas lie in an Egyptian festival on 6 January, which spread to much of the Christian world as a celebration of the birth and/or baptism of Christ and known as the Epiphany or Theophany. The church at Rome did not adopt this festival but later instituted a celebration of the nativity of Christ on 25 December, which gradually supplanted its observance on 6 January in other churches, leaving this latter occasion as a commemoration of Christ's baptism alone, or of the visit of the Magi in those churches like Rome that had not observed that date previously. This essay traces that evolution and examines the merits of the two competing scholarly theories that have sought to explain the original choice of these particular dates"--

Organizing Christmas is an exploration of the organizational character of Christmas. Taking as its starting point the view that Christmas initially achieved popularity due to its potential to promote social cohesion and political stability, this book both charts and scrutinizes its global emergence as the year's preeminent economic and organizational event. Combining historical narrative, original interviews, and social scientific research and theories, it tells the story of how Christmas has come to dominate the festival landscape and how it emerged as an integral component of the global evolution of contemporary social and economic relations. From the pre-Christian celebrations and politics of the turning of the calendar year, through the power games of Elizabethan England and the wily reinvention of the season by industrious Victorians, to today’s huge economic and logistical exercise that relies on everything from global supply chains to the domestic division of labour, Organizing Christmas demonstrates how the season exemplifies the spirit and practices of industrial, and now post-industrial, modernity. As well as documenting this fact, however, Organizing Christmas also critically interrogates what has become a vast festive-industrial complex. From low-paid factory workers in Yiwu to Santa Claus performers in Kingston, readers are given a chance to consider what the cost of this global festival might be and whether it is a price worth paying. Drawing on intellectual resources ranging from Adorno and Horkheimer’s classic critique of the culture industry, thorough Böhme’s analysis of the sociomaterial production of atmospheres, to Bloch’s ‘principle of hope’, it paints a picture of Christmas as a profoundly important, if deeply contested historical, cultural and, most significantly, organizational phenomenon. Aimed at students and academics in Organization Studies, Cultural Studies, and the Sociology of Work and Employment, as well as the general reader interested in the festive season, Organizing Christmas offers a differing perspective on a subject so familiar and yet so often overlooked.

Welcome to Kitschmasland in a fun and nostalgic look at our infatuation with Christmas holiday decor from the 1950s and through the 1970s. This beautiful revised book covers the gamut of decorations - some whimsical, some beautiful - and a treasure trove of campy kitsch that the author calls Kitschmas! Join a magical tour of retro homes decked out for the holidays, and enjoy a variety of festive holiday decorations from our not-too-distant past. Featuring vintage Christmas ornaments, trees, ceramics, and more, over 400 color photos and vintage magazine images are used to illustrate this whimsical journey through some of our favorite decades. This book is a delight for Kitschmas fans, decorators, and the thousands of people devoted to mid-century decor and design.

Make a cup of tea, curl up by the fire, and take a nostalgic journey to Christmases past with this merry little Keepsake book! A Century of Christmas Memories celebrates 100 years of seasonal firsts and favorites decade by decade, from the 1900s through the 1990s, including movies, songs, events, traditions, toys, and games . . . from the first electric tree lights, first Macy's parade, Bob Hope's USO shows, Bing Crosby's Christmas Special, and It's a Wonderful Life to Etch-A-Sketch, Mr. Potato Head, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Includes summaries of each decade and listings of firsts and favorites year by year. Packed with historic photographs and illustrations, many rarely seen, including magazine covers, Christmas cards, news photos, movie and TV scenes, and more. Get a glimpse of what Christmas was like when you, your parents, or grandparents, were born!

Introduction -- School and neighborhood (My school memories -- Child of the 50s -- Jump rope rhymes -- My love for paper dolls -- The Lennon Sisters -- My bride doll -- Sharing a bike -- My best friend and first crush -- Penny candy in a brown paper sack -- Old fashioned candy -- Cowboy shows, monster movies and playing ball in the street -- F & M school savings program) -- The rise of TV : entertainment for the whole family (Family sitcoms -- TV Westerns -- Fury -- The Riflemen -- American Bandstand -- Dobie Gillis -- My Little Margie -- The Real McCoys -- Lassie) -- What we wore (Teenage fashions in the 1950s -- Junior high -- American Bandstand sets the standards -- Fashions in the 1960s -- Sewing and home ec. -- Fashion sewing in the 1960s -- Amluxen's and learning to sew -- My sewing machine -- Newspaper patterns -- Prom was a special night -- Charm bracelets -- Crinolines -- Hot Pants -- Go-Go boots -- Mohair sweaters -- The shirtwaisted woman -- Padded bras -- Nylons -- Girdles) -- Hair (Hair dye -- How to create a French roll -- Beehive -- The Breck girl -- The first home permanents) -- What our parents wore : hats, aprons, and housedresses (Aprons -- Full aprons -- Hostess aprons -- Kitsch and novelty aprons -- Gingham aprons -- Crocheted apron -- Housedresses -- Hats -- Hankies) -- Drive-ins : the place to be on a Saturday night (Twin City drive-in theatres -- Twin City drive-in movie locations -- Pretending to be the singing popcorn box -- A tank of my own -- Porky's Drive-In -- The first frosty mug -- Bridgeman's) -- Put on your gloves, let's go downtown (Going downtown with my sister.