All American Ads of the 50s - Softcover

Heimann, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3822811580 ISBN 13: 9783822811580

Publisher: Taschen America Llc, 2002

Synopsis

As McCarthyism swept across the United States and capitalism was king, white America enjoyed a feeling of pride and security that was reflected in advertising.

About this title

Review

Second in a series of books featuring advertising by era, All-American Ads of the 50s offers page after page of products that made up the happy-days decade. The start of the cold war spurred a buying frenzy and a craze for new technology that required ad campaigns to match. The nuclear age left its mark all over the advertisements, with a spotlight on planes, rockets, and even mushroom clouds. Shiny, big, beautiful cars abound, styled to keep up with the space age. Editor Jim Heimann, in his essay "From Poodles to Presley, Americans Enter the Atomic Age," explains: "Car designers came up with exaggerated tail fins for automobiles to express this new accelerated speed." Modernist home interiors look slick and shiny with their molded plastic furniture and linoleum floors. While clothing and furniture styles look strangely contemporary--a testament to our current obsession with vintage--some things have definitely changed. A baby sells Marlboro cigarettes! Also included are chapters on movies, food, and travel. --J.P. Cohen

About the Author

Jim Heimann, a native of Los Angeles is a graphic designer, illustrator, educator and author. Mr. Heimann has written California Crazy: Roadside Vernacular Architecture, Hooray For Hollywood, Out With The Stars, Close Cover Before Striking, Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of the American Drive-In Restaurant, May I Serve You?; American Menu Design, 1920-1960, Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir, California Crazy and Beyond, and writes on popular culture, regional history and architecture for publications including the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. Mr. Heimann has been a faculty member of Art Center School of Design, Pasadena since 1987, and is a frequent speaker at the University of Southern California, UCLA, the California Chapter of the AIA, the Kansas City Art Director’s Club, the AIGA, the Armand Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and numerous other organizations throughout the United State! s. He is currently working on additional volumes of All-American Ads for TASCHEN.

W.R. Wilkerson, III, author of the intro to All-American Ads of the 40s, is the son of Billy Wilkerson who was the founder of the Hollywood Reporter and owner in the 30s and 40s of famous Hollywood hotspots like Ciro’s and the Trocadero. A true child of Hollywood, Mr. Wilkerson currently lives and writes in Las Vegas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Taschen America Llc
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 3822811580
• ISBN 13: 9783822811580
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 928